Little Digmoor Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The school has improved because leaders and managers have high expectations of staff and pupils.

They have established a culture where success is sought, achieved and celebrated. Teaching, learning and assessment are good. As a result, all pupils, from the least to the most able, disadvantaged or not, are making good progress.

Teachers are keenly aware of the need to improve pupils' chances in life. They mostly focus precisely on what each pupil needs to do to achieve well. Staff have risen to the challenges set by the new curriculum.

The curriculum is planned well to ensure progress in all subjects. The new assessment systems ar...e embedding well. Checks made within school and with other schools ensure that assessments are accurate.

Nursery and Reception children make good progress. The staff know them well, identify their needs and plan their learning accordingly. Pupils thoroughly enjoy school.

They are very enthusiastic about learning and keen to do well. Their behaviour is excellent. These are major factors in their rapidly improving progress.

Pupils care for, trust and respect each other, adults and the school environment. They have a strong sense of fair play and are very proud of their achievements. Pupils' welfare, safety and well-being are given high priority.

Pupils feel safe, they are safe, and they know how to keep themselves safe. Staff are extremely vigilant in all safeguarding matters. The provision for pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent.

The teaching of British values is an integral part of the curriculum. Parents are very satisfied with the school, and staff morale is high. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Relatively weak spelling, punctuation and grammatical skills continue to hold writing back.

Handwriting and presentation are not always of a high enough standard. Although improving, reading skills are behind where they should be in early years and in Year 1, and the books pupils in Year 2 read are sometimes too easy.

Information about this school

This school is much smaller than the average-size primary school.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium funding (additional funding for disadvantaged pupils) is well above average. Almost all pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is above average.

The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6. Pupils are taught in four mixed-age classes. Nursery children can attend full- or part-time.

Reception children attend full-time. The proportion of pupils joining or leaving the school at different times is above average. The school has its own breakfast club and an after-school club.

It also has nurture provision for pupils with behaviour or emotional difficulties. The school shares its site with a private nursery, which is inspected separately. The present headteacher took up post in September 2015.