OFSTED ‘Full Report’ – September 2011
OFSTED Report
Overall effectiveness of the school
Grade: 1
Ings Farm Primary School gives pupils an excellent all-round education. It has outstanding capacity to improve further, due to the impact it has had in making and sustaining improvements. Outstanding leadership, management and governance ensure that pupils attainment is high by the end of Year 6. Pupils personal and academic achievement is outstanding because the school has a strong commitment to pupils personal development as well as exceptionally good teaching.
Pupils’ achievement is outstanding because teaching is excellent in almost every class. From starting points that are typical for their age, pupils reach above-average standards at the end of Year 2 and consistently very high standards at the end of Year 6. The school exceeds its very challenging targets. The occasional dip at the end of Year 2, caused by a few boys taking a little longer to learn basic skills, is ironed out later on because provision for pupils individual needs is outstanding. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities make excellent progress because they are given outstanding support so they can work with others. The Early Years Foundation Stage gives pupils a good start to their school life. However, staff in this key stage do not always provide as much challenge as they could to promote higher levels of progress in the children’s learning.
Strengths in teaching across the school include clear instructions to pupils, clear questioning, a well-judged pace and an excellent use of resources, including the use of information and communication technology (ICT). Pupils are tracked rigorously and assessment is used consistently and very effectively to promote pupils learning, ensuring no one falls behind. The school takes extremely good care of all of its pupils and as a result pupils feel very safe and secure. They understand about healthy living and relate well to everyone in the school. However, their understanding of other cultures is limited. The curriculum is outstanding; it is lively, interesting, broad and balanced, with effective connections made between different subjects that provide pupils with memorable experiences. It meets pupils needs extremely well, through carefully-structured lessons ensuring that they achieve excellent outcomes.
Pupils develop extremely positive attitudes to learning and behave exceptionally well. They are proud of their school and take on responsibilities, such as membership of the school council. Pupils enjoy school tremendously, and most demonstrate this through their above-average attendance and exemplary punctuality.
The headteacher, well supported by the deputy headteacher and senior leadership team, is rigorous in ensuring pupils make excellent progress in all aspects of their school lives. Pupils have an outstanding equality of opportunity to do well. Members of the governing body are ardent supporters of the school and aspects of their work are very strong, ensuring that the school is challenged but well-supported to promote further improvements. The schools self-evaluation is accurate. Key areas for development are identified and the school is outstanding in ensuring that new initiatives make a difference. The improvements since the last inspection are many and the school has an outstanding capacity to improve.
What does the school need to do to improve further?
- Improve the quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage by ensuring that there is enough challenge in all activities to promote childrens progress.
- Improve pupils’ understanding of Britain as a multicultural society by ensuring that they have more first-hand experiences of other cultures.
