Ofsted
"Nether Alderley is much smaller than the average primary school. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is well below average. Most pupils are of White British heritage. A few speak English as an additional language but none is at an early stage of learning English. The proportion of pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs is below average. The proportion of pupils who leave and/or join the school at other than normal times is broadly in line with the national average. Pupils are taught in four mixed-age, mixed-ability classes. The Early Years Foundation Stage provides for children of reception age. The school has Eco-School status. The school meets the current floor standard, which sets the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.
The school provides pre-and after-school care provision that is managed privately. This provision is inspected and reported on separately."
Key Findings
- This is a good school. The vast majority of parents and carers who returned questionnaires value the school highly. Pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is outstanding. Pupils develop into exceptionally confident, articulate, courteous and caring young people by the time they leave. The school is improving securely but is not yet outstanding because there is not yet enough outstanding teaching and achievement is good.
- Children make good progress and achieve well in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Pupils continue to make good progress as they move up through the school. By the end of Key Stages 1 and 2, attainment is above average. It is higher in mathematics than in English. However, the gap is narrowing rapidly because the school has a strong and effective focus on improving pupils’ writing skills. All pupils, including those who are disabled or have special educational needs, make good progress and achieve well.
- Teaching is good. Teachers have good subject knowledge and form strong working relationships with their classes so that pupils develop positive attitudes to learning. However, there are a few shortcomings. For example, tasks are not always matched closely to pupils’ ages and abilities, and pupils are sometimes uncertain about what is expected of them in lessons.
- Pupils' behaviour is outstanding both in lessons and around school. They enjoy school greatly and this is seen in their consistently above average attendance. Pupils say how very safe they feel in school and that they are exceptionally well cared for by the adults working with them.
- Good leadership and management, including rigorous and committed governance, ensures that accurate evaluation of the school’s work and effective performance management are used astutely to improve teaching and to drive further improvement.