The Edenham Church of England School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

This is a good school where pupils do well in all aspects of their development.

Parents and carers rightly see this as a school where their children feel exceptionally safe because of the high quality of the care, guidance and support provided by all adults. One parent, typical of many, commented, 'This is a fabulous learning environment where every child really matters.' Pupils behave well and persevere when they find things difficult.

The good teaching means they make good progress through the school. Their attainment by the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics is consistently above average and they continue to flourish through Key Stage 2. By the end of Year 6 attainment is ve...ry high in mathematics, well above average in reading and above average in writing.

Throughout the school, reading and mathematics are particular strengths because : teachers are very good at teaching basic word-building and number skills. At Key Stage 2, the quality of pupils' writing is improving but attainment is not as high as in other subject areas. This is because sometimes teachers give pupils insufficient time to write in lessons, and accept work that is poorly presented.

More-able pupils mostly achieve well and produce work of particularly high quality in mathematics. At Key Stage 2, however, talented writers do not always have sufficient opportunities to work independently and develop their skills to the full. The teachers have developed an interesting curriculum with a good balance of academic and creative activities.

Their planning links subjects together well, so in topics such as 'The Victorians' pupils develop skills in reading, writing, mathematics, history and science. Pupils develop an excellent awareness of how to live healthy lives because of the extensive range of opportunities to learn about the importance of regular exercise and a balanced diet. This awareness is enhanced by eating their own produce, grown in the school vegetable patch.

The curriculum provides much to teach pupils about different faiths and cultures and they speak knowledgeably about the diverse lives and beliefs of people in this country and around the world. The school has done well since the last inspection and has a good capacity to sustain this improvement. An important reason lies in the strong and effective leadership of the headteacher.

She is a very good leader who sets her sights high and gives staff the confidence to embrace new ideas. The staff work well as a team and support one another enthusiastically. Self-evaluation is rigorous and, action to rectify weaknesses, effective.

Attainment in mathematics, for example, has been raised from barely average to very high in less than four years by improving the teaching of basic numeracy skills. Middle managers are beginning to develop their roles but not all have the expertise to analyse the progress of different groups of pupils or assess the impact of teaching on learning in their subject.

Information about the school

This is a smaller-than-average primary school where the vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.

The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those with a statement of special educational needs, is broadly average. The proportion of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The school has recently gained national Healthy Schools status and the Activemark award.