Evelyn Street Primary Academy and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Evelyn Street Community Primary School is an outstanding school. Pupils, staff, parents and carers are unfailingly proud of their school. They work as a highly cohesive unit continually to drive improvement.

The school's innovative curriculum makes an excellent contribution to pupils' outstanding personal development and learning. Staff work very hard to develop and maintain creative partnerships to enhance and enrich pupils' wider experience of school. All staff know individual pupils and families very well and carefully tailor support packages for each pupil to ensure that their welfare and learning needs are exceptionally well met.

This is a happy school; from staff to pupils, smiles and l...aughter are evident throughout the day. High expectations lead to exemplary behaviour and outstanding learning and progress. From starting points that are generally well below those expected nationally, children make very rapid progress to attain above national averages by the end of Key Stage 2.

This is because the school monitors each pupil's performance regularly and quickly identifies those who need help. Teaching is excellent and a variety of strategies is used to ensure pupils remain fully engaged and inspired. Pupils are safe and exceptionally well cared for.

A typical parental comment describes the school as being 'an oasis'. This is because all staff prioritise the safety, well-being and happiness of each pupil. Pupils thoroughly enjoy coming to school and are punctual.

Although strategies for improving attendance have been highly successful in the main, some pupils are absent too often. The school is central to the community and strives to provide support for local families. There are adult-learning opportunities and community allotments on the school site whose produce is sold to the community.

There is an exciting range of enrichment opportunities for pupils such as visits to the Houses of Parliament and to link schools in differing communities. A wide range of partners works with the school, for example the Centre for Independent Living. These partners enable the school to promote tolerance and understanding of disability.

Specialist sports coaches and singing teachers enrich the curriculum, and local environmental educators raise awareness. The pupils use the latest technology to link with schools in France, Spain and especially a school in South Africa. Staff take part in reciprocal visits to share cultural information and expertise which are shared with the pupils.

Leaders and managers are inspirational at all levels and talk about 'what will happen next' even when targets are met and exceeded. They are continually looking to the future and finding innovative ways to make the primary school experience even better for each pupil. Leaders and managers evaluate the school's effectiveness accurately and self-evaluation documentation and plans are detailed, well-focused and are reviewed regularly.

The governing body provides rigorous external assessment of the school's performance and challenges it when appropriate. The detailed on-going evaluation of performance and the continual drive for better methods and experiences to enhance learning means that the school's capacity for continuous improvement is outstanding.

Information about the school

This is a smaller than average-sized primary school.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well-above average. There are below-average numbers of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds. However, the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is average.

The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those with a statement of special educational needs, is below average. The school has Healthy School status. It has gained the following awards: Becta ICT Mark; Active Mark; Arts Council Gold; and the TES best e-learning initiative.

The school is also a leadership development school for those undertaking the National Professional Qualification for Headteachers, and a leading aspect school. Following a period of significant staffing changes, the school now has a settled workforce with the most recent appointment being the new deputy headteacher who started at the school in September 2011. The school has recently registered a childcare provision with Ofsted to enable them to take children aged two in the near future.

The school operates its own breakfast club. Little Treasures, a private day-care provider, operates from the school site and is subject to a separate inspection. The report is available on the Ofsted website.

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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