Ulcombe Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The leadership of the executive headteacher has been pivotal to the success of this school. She has implemented a strong ethos of effective teaching, learning and good behaviour. Staff are highly motivated and share the executive headteacher's vision for the school.

The quality of teaching is good. Teachers are accurate in assessing where a pupil is in their learning and provide work that is of the right level. As a result, pupils make strong progress from their starting points.

Teaching assistants provide effective support for pupils' learning. The curriculum is motivating and challenging. It has been carefully designed to fit the needs ...of the pupils who attend this school.

This is an inclusive school. There are effective links with harder to reach groups, particularly within the Gypsy, Roma, Traveller community. Those pupils who join the school in different year groups are given a warm and friendly welcome.

Good relationships are a real strength throughout the school. They are central to developing the trust needed for pupils to make good progress in their personal and academic development. Children make good progress in the early years because of skilled leadership and effective teaching.

They are well prepared for their learning in Year 1. Pupils report that they are proud of the school and frequently said that they 'love coming to school'. Parents praise the commitment of staff.

They say this contributes to pupils' positive attitudes to learning and good behaviour. Those responsible for governance fully understand their roles. They continually look for ways to improve the school.

They know the school's strengths and areas still left to improve. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well developed through the school's core. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Attendance for some Gypsy, Roma, Traveller pupils is still too low.

Teachers do not develop pupils' skills in phonics rapidly enough.

Information about this school

Ulcombe Church of England Primary is much smaller than the average-sized primary school. Most of the pupils come from Gypsy, Roma, Traveller backgrounds.

Of these 60% are from a transient population of Gypsy, Roma, Travellers and 40% are from a more settled community who travel less frequently. The percentage of pupils from the transient community is increasing each year and is much larger than at the time of the previous inspection. There are very high numbers of pupils who enter and leave the school at different times of the year.

In the two weeks prior to the inspection, eight pupils left and twelve joined the school. There are very few pupils who have been at the school since Reception. The amount of time pupils are at the school varies considerably.

Quite a few pupils go travelling and then return to the school several months later. Many do not attend other schools during the months that they are away. The school keeps the books of all pupils who have left so that when they return pupils can pick up their learning where they left off.

Sometimes pupils enter the school in the later year groups with no previous schooling. The school works in partnership with a range of agencies, including the outreach worker for Gypsy, Roma, Travellers and a schools liaison officer. The school has recently employed a part-time family liaison officer.

The school is part of a collaboration of three small schools, all of which have the same executive headteacher. Staff train together and moderate the quality of work across the schools. Each school in the collaboration has its own governing body.

Further strategic oversight is provided by a board responsible for the three schools. Part of the board's responsibilities include the performance management of the executive headteacher. Children are taught in mixed-age classes.

In the early years foundation stage children are taught in one full-time Reception class with some Year 1 pupils. There are three other classes in the school. The proportion of pupils currently supported by the pupil premium is much lower than that found in most schools.

Pupil premium is additional funding provided by the government for those pupils eligible for free school meals in the last six years, pupils who have been looked-after continuously for one day or more and those pupils who have been adopted from care. When compared to national figures, the proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is much lower to the national average. The school meets the government's floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.