Ditton Lodge Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. The executive headteacher is a strong leader who has acted decisively to identify and tackle the school's weaknesses. As a result, this is now a good and improving school.

The executive headteacher is supported well by the deputy headteacher and the school's other leaders. A shared commitment to school improvement is raising standards quickly. The quality of teaching is now good and improving.

The school has been successful in changing the focus of teaching from 'doing' to 'learning' and pupils are making better progress as a result. Pupils are polite and well mannered. They behave well both in the classroom and during less structured pa...rts of the day.

Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe and rightly feel safe when they are at school. Achievement in the early years is good and the proportion of pupils who achieve a good level of development is above the national average. Pupils achieve well and make good progress.

At the end of Key Stage 2, standards are broadly in line with the national average and rising. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. All parents who responded to Ofsted's survey said that they would recommend the school to others.

The school prepares pupils well for life in modern British society. Pupils are taught to value people as individuals and they have an appropriate understanding of democracy and the rule of law. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Although the quality of teaching is good overall, inconsistences remain.

As a result, pupils do not always make as much progress as they should when teaching does not sustain their interest and they lose concentration. Until recently, governors have not held the school's leaders to account rigorously enough. Parents of children in the early years are not sufficiently involved in considering their children's progress with the school.

Information about this school

This is an average-sized primary school. There is one class per year group from Reception to Year 6. Children attend the Reception class on a full-time basis.

The school has close links with the privately-run nursery that is housed on the school site. The school has experienced a number of significant changes since the last inspection. In November 2011 the school entered an informal partnership arrangement with Kettlefields Primary School.

Although both schools retain their own governing body, the school has shared an executive headteacher since this time. Previously a first school, the school extended its age range to become a full primary, with the first cohort of Year 6 pupils leaving the school in 2013. The school was subject to extensive building works in order to accommodate the additional pupils.

The school became a designated teaching school in 2013, forming part of the Anglian Gateway Teaching School Alliance. The school has recently withdrawn from its commitment to supporting other schools and is no longer a designated teaching school. The previous executive headteacher retired in July 2014 and the current executive headteacher joined the school in September 2014.

The proportion of pupils who are from minority ethnic backgrounds is about half the national average. Most pupils are of White British origin and there are no other significant groups. A very small minority of pupils speak English as an additional language.

The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is broadly average. The number of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium is well below average. The pupil premium provides additional government funding for those who are known to be eligible for free school meals and children in the care of the local authority.

A breakfast club and an after-school club operate on site. The clubs are led and managed by the school and run by members of the school's staff. The school meets current floor standards; these are the minimum expectations, set by the government, for pupils' attainment and progress.

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