East Ward Community Primary School

Overview

East Ward Community Primary School is described as a school that “truly sits at the heart of its community,” where pupils “flourish in its warm and welcoming environment.” The inspection highlights an “ambitious and relevant” curriculum and “principled and courageous leadership” that places pupils’ best interests at the centre of all decisions. While most aspects of the school’s provision are rated at a strong or expected standard, the report notes that attendance improvements have not yet been secured rapidly for all pupils.

Strengths

• Leaders have developed an “ambitious curriculum” that is “carefully ordered” so pupils build knowledge securely, with particular praise for early years interactions and vocabulary development.
• Staff “know pupils extremely well” and successfully reduce barriers to learning, providing “remarkably well” supported provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• The school fosters strong personal development, with pupils learning to stay safe, manage risks online, and engage in “purposeful talk” and community activities like litter picking.
• Leaders maintain “positive and constructive relationships with parents” and ensure funding is prioritised for disadvantaged pupils and those known to social care.

Areas to improve

• Leaders should “continue to implement and evaluate their attendance strategy to secure consistently high attendance for pupils, including those who are disadvantaged,” as actions have “not secured rapid improvement over time.”

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with leaders establishing “an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility” and ensuring concerns are “actively identified, acted upon and managed.”