Lavendon School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school. The headteacher provides exceptional leadership. Her expectations for the school are extremely high and are shared by senior staff, teachers and teaching assistants, pupils, members of the governing body and parents and carers.

Governors too have exceptional knowledge of how well the school is performing and the high quality of teaching and learning. They challenge the school leadership robustly and generate ideas of their own for school improvement. Pupils' achievement is outstanding.

They make excellent progress during their time at the school and leave with standards which are above the national averages in reading, writing an...d mathematics. The majority of teaching is also outstanding. It caters well for all groups of pupils, including those with special educational needs and those who are gifted and talented.

The school's outstanding provision for pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development underpins pupils' exemplary attitudes towards learning and their impeccable behaviour. Pupils state very clearly that there is no bullying and incidents of poor behaviour are extremely rare. Pupils in Reception make excellent progress from low starting points because the staff are extremely skilled at planning work at the right level and adjusting it where necessary during the teaching sessions.

Pupils thoroughly enjoy their learning, which has just the right balance of different activities. The thematic curriculum stimulates real interest within the pupils themselves. It is highly imaginative and subjects and topics are taught successfully to meet the needs of all pupils.

The school not only stretches all pupils academically, but also across a wide range of exciting activities during their enrichment time. Pupils feel extremely safe at school and clearly enjoy all aspects of school life, as shown by their exceptionally high attendance. Parents and carers are full of praise for the school.

They commend the leadership, the quality of teaching, safety and the way in which the children are cared for.

Information about this school

Lavendon School is much smaller than most primary schools. The current headteacher took up post in January 2012 and the governing body has recently created a new post for an assistant headteacher.

There are five classes in the school, four of which have pupils of different ages. Children in Reception are taught as one class. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is much lower than in most other schools.

The proportion of pupils supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is higher than in most other schools. Only a very few pupils are supported by the pupil premium. This is additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children who are looked after by the local authority and the children of service families.

The pupils who attend the school are mainly White British. The headteacher is supporting the local pre-school in order to raise the levels that pupils are achieving prior to joining the school. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.

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