Stokes Wood Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.

Given their individual starting points when they join the school, most pupils make good progress and achieve well. The school is particularly successful in the promotion of a love of reading and enabling pupils to develop this important skill. Pupils' good attitudes to learning are fostered particularly well, right across the school.

Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make increasingly good progress in all areas of their learning and development. Most teaching is good, and pupils learn well within a stimulating environment. Staff see pupils' potential to achieve well; an atmosphere of mutual respect is encouraged.

Good... leadership from senior leaders and the governing body results from an accurate assessment of the school's effectiveness and a clear focus on improving pupils' progress and the quality of teaching. The school has proved particularly successful in enabling those pupils who qualify for additional government funding to make good progress. Discussions with parents and those who responded to the Parent View survey show that almost all appreciate that their children are happy and safe in school.

The school is regarded highly by its families because of its focus on pupils' personal as well as their academic development. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Not enough teaching is outstanding; some still leaves insufficient time for pupils to discuss and reflect on their learning. Pupils' standards by Year 6 in writing, including in punctuation, grammar and spelling, are not as high as those they achieve in reading and mathematics.

The school has not yet fully extended its work on pupils' vocabulary, and linked work on letters and sounds, to pupils in Years 5 and 6. A few less-experienced subject and key stage leaders are still developing their management skills, particularly in the use of progress data and the monitoring of teaching. Attendance is improving, but the school is still establishing a track record of at least average attendance and there remain some concerns about punctuality.

The school knows it still has work to do to persuade a number of families of the value and importance of education.

Information about this school

This school is larger than the average-sized primary school. Most pupils continue their education at the school from the Early Years Foundation Stage until they leave at the end of Year 6.

The large majority of the pupils come from White British backgrounds. The largest minority heritage group is of Asian or Asian British pupils. A few come from various other backgrounds.

Most pupils speak English as their first language. The proportion who speak English as an additional language is average; few are at an early stage of English language development. The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium (additional funding for particular groups, including those known to be eligible for free school meals) is above average.

The proportion of disabled pupils or those who have special educational needs supported at school action is well-above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is also well-above average. Most pupils receiving additional support have behavioural, emotional and social difficulties, moderate learning difficulty, speech, language and communication needs and/or experience specific learning difficulty.

Others experience a range of other difficulties or disabilities. The headteacher is a member of the City Primary Headteachers' Group. She is a representative on its steering committees with responsibility for promoting physical education across Leicester City and the development of 'nurture groups' across the authority.

The governing body manages two breakfast clubs each day during term time, solely for pupils at the school. The first is to promote the development of pupils' reading and the second involves more traditional childcare at the start of each school day; neither requires separate registration. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for the attainment and progress of pupils by the end of Year 6.