Thorner Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. The strong leadership from the headteacher together with senior leaders' constant drive for improvement have led to better teaching and pupils making faster progress. Pupils' skills in reading, writing and mathematics have also improved.

The governing body supports the school well and has a good awareness of its strengths and weaknesses. The early years is outstanding. This is because : high-quality teaching develops children's skills and understanding very effectively.

Pupils behave well, are polite to adults and treat one another with respect. Pupils enjoy being at school and feel safe and well looked after. They behave well and have g...ood attitudes to learning.

The quality of teaching is good. Lessons engage pupils in their learning. Pupils participate readily in lessons and benefit from good-quality questioning.

Pupils make good progress and achieve well. By the time they leave Year 6 they have exceeded expected levels of progress in reading and writing. Skilled teaching assistants provide valuable support for pupils within the classroom, in small groups or one-to-one.

The school is very successful at helping pupils to develop their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. This is enhanced through strong links with the church and local community. Attendance is consistently above average.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : The progress of some pupils in mathematics is not as strong as it is in reading and writing. Teachers do not always give pupils tasks to do to develop their skills and enable them to make better progress. The presentation of pupils' work is erratic.

Teachers' marking and feedback do not always help pupils to correct mistakes and to improve their progress. The checking on the quality of teaching by all managers and governors is not fully in place. Mathematics is not promoted widely across the school through displays of pupils' work.

Information about this school

Thorner is smaller than the average-sized primary school. Reception-aged children attend on a full-time basis. The very large majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds.

Very few pupils speak English as an additional language. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported through the pupil premium is well-below average. (The pupil premium is additional government funding the school receives to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those children who are looked after by the local authority.

) The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is below the national average. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Since the school was last inspected in 2012 there have been considerable changes in staffing including the appointment of a new headteacher.

A nursery and a daily breakfast and after-school club are offered on school premises by a private provider. These were not inspected at the same time as the school. Inspection reports for these providers can be found on the Ofsted website.

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