Portsdown Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Inclusion lies at the heart of this good school. Leaders and governors have created an ethos focused on enabling all pupils to succeed.

A purposeful atmosphere pervades the school, underpinned by warm relationships between staff, pupils and parents. The senior leadership team, with the support of governors and strong middle leaders, has successfully led improvements to teaching and the curriculum. This has resulted in improved rates of progress across the school.

Outstanding provision in the early years enables children to make rapid progress from low starting points. Children quickly develop a thirst for learning due to the very effectiv...e teaching and the extremely appealing indoor and outdoor areas. The inclusion centre is managed very well.

It provides effective specialist support for pupils who find difficulty in communicating and interacting. The effective teaching of phonics (letters and the sound they represent) means that pupils typically make a good start in developing their literacy skills. However, some find difficulty in using phonics skills fluently as they read unfamiliar words.

Teachers generally keep a close eye on pupils' progress, although they occasionally move on to new work before checking all pupils have grasped key ideas. Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning. Their attendance is improving due to the effective work of the pastoral team, reinforced by the engaging curriculum.

Pupils respond enthusiastically to the motivating and challenging teaching. Parents greatly value the school's outstanding attention to their children's personal, social, and emotional well-being. They know their children feel valued and safe.

Leaders and governors know the school's strengths and weaknesses. However, development plans do not typically include specific criteria to enable the success of initiatives to be fully evaluated.

Information about this school

The school is larger than average.

There are Nursery classes for two- to three-year-olds with 58 children on roll, and three- to four-year-olds with 72 children on roll. Children attend these classes on a part-time basis, with a maximum number at each session of 28 and 40 respectively. In addition, there are two Reception classes with 60 children on roll.

The school has a nine-place inclusion centre for communication and interaction. This is funded by the local authority. All nine pupils are on the school's roll, all of whom have an education, health and care plan.

They are mainly from the older classes. The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above average. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below the national average, as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language.

Around a half of the pupils are disadvantaged, which is twice the national average. There is a breakfast club managed by the governing body and run by school staff. The school meets the government's floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.

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