Eldon Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 20 March 2024

The sustained high turnover in staffing and the fractured relationships between the school, some parents and carers and the local authority have overshadowed pupils' experiences at this school. These issues have made a considerable contribution to the decline in pupils' education. While pupils are safe, some told inspectors that the many changes to their teachers and staff have made them feel upset. While the school expects all pupils to do their best, pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Many issues, including staff grievances and parental complaints, consume the work of the school. Consequently, the school has been distracted from ensuring that pupils learn all that they should across a broad range of subjects. Pupils behave well. The school sets high expectations for pupils' behaviour from the early years. For example, children in the early years line up beautifully at lunchtime. Caring staff and supportive pupil anti-bullying ambassadors resolve rare incidents of bullying quickly and effectively. Pupils enjoy a wide range of clubs. For example, they take part in morris dancing, board games and mindfulness activities. They benefit from well-organised 'super learning' days. Visitors, such as police officers and sports coaches, help pupils to become active young citizens. Pupils especially enjoy the opportunity to broadcast information about school life from the school's own radio station.

What the school should improve

• The school, including the governing body, lacks the capacity required to resolve the ongoing issues embroiling the school, and to bring about the necessary changes to pupils' learning at the required pace. This has led to a decline in the quality of education that pupils receive. The school should strengthen leadership capacity at all levels, so that improvements are rapid and sustainable.
• The relationship between the school and the local authority is fractured. This hinders resolutions to staff grievances and distracts the school from making sure that pupils benefit from the intended curriculum. The school should repair the relationship with the local authority to bring about swift and appropriate resolutions to staff and parental concerns.
• Communication between the school and parents has not been effective. This has led to a breakdown in trust between the school and some parents. The school should review and enhance its avenues of communication so that trust and transparency are improved.
• Governors have not ensured sufficient oversight of the education that pupils receive. Furthermore, they have not resolved the ongoing staffing and parental issues sufficiently well. This has a negative impact on pupils' learning. The school should ensure that governors provide more effective support and challenge to fully resolve matters and reset the school's focus on pupils' education.
• The curriculum is not delivered equally well across and within subjects and year groups. This prevents pupils from learning all that they should. It hinders their readiness for their next stage of learning. The school should ensure that, despite changes in staffing, the curriculum is implemented consistently well across classes and subjects.
• Subject leadership is not as effective as it should be. Consequently, the variability in the curriculum that pupils receive has not been identified quickly enough. The school should ensure that subject leaders receive support and guidance to monitor their areas of responsibility effectively.
• The school's strategies to identify gaps in pupils' learning are not used consistently well. As a result, pupils' missed and forgotten knowledge is not addressed quickly enough. This means that some pupils' learning is not secure, particularly in subjects other than English and mathematics. The school should ensure that staff identify and resolve gaps in pupils' learning effectively.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)