Acton Primary School earns high praise for improvements in latest Ofsted report

Acton Church of England Primary School has praised the progress of pupils and staff following a period of significant improvement.

In its latest report, education regulator Ofsted rated the school as good, with effective leadership recognised throughout the school, which had previously been listed as requiring improvement.

Inspectors noted that pupils’ progress had resulted in them achieving above the national average in reading and mathematics at the end of Key Stage 2.

High standards of phonics was recognised, as well as effective use of letters and sounds in pupils’ reading.

The report noted the school’s effective system in enabling teachers to assess pupil progress accurately and track their development.

Teaching was described as effective throughout the school.

Inspectors recognised the school’s strong set of values towards the church, which ensures “provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good”.

The report highlighted improvement in early years pupils as a result of good leadership and teaching.

Areas for improvement included implementing consistency in the use of grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Ofsted also recommended the encouragement of pupils’ writing to allow them to “develop and practise their skills frequently across subjects and genres”.

Headteacher Julie O’Neill said the report owed much to the hard work and dedication of staff and pupils.

“I have a fantastic team who work superbly well together, and who are dedicated to making our school the absolute best it can be,” she said.

“The wellbeing of all our pupils is our highest priority and children are encouraged to develop the skills and attitudes which support good learning, such as perseverance, self-motivation and the ability to accept challenge and overcome difficulties.

“Our rich and wide ranging curriculum, where pupils persevere, think and reflect is also a strength of the school, and develops children’s ability to work together and excel across a range of subject areas.”

“We aim for all our pupils to achieve highly in academic subjects, and our progress is above national levels, but our school values lie at the heart of everything we do here.

“They run through our curriculum and are shared and modelled by our staff, governors and pupils.

“As a result, Acton is a happy school, where children enjoy learning.

“The inspection report acknowledges that we are aware of our strengths and areas for development, and we are already working on the areas identified.”