Ellingham Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 January 2026

Staff warmly welcome pupils at the start of the day. This is a kind and caring community school where positive working relationships exist between staff and pupils. The school is welcoming and works closely with parents and carers. Leaders ensure that they communicate any changes regularly to everyone. This helps to make the school a wonderful place to learn. Pupils achieve well and leave the school fully ready for the next stage of their education. Pupils enjoy their learning because adults make learning enjoyable. The school takes great care to help all pupils, including any pupils who need extra support. Staff ensure that they foster a love of learning for pupils. They are positive role models at this school. Pupils feel confident to share any concerns with trusted adults. Pupils’ behaviour is very positive. They respect each other and adults highly. They settle very quickly and focus on their learning. The school has clear systems for behaviour, which pupils respond to very well. This begins in the Nursery and early years, where staff support children successfully to follow routines and instructions. Leaders place great importance on pupils’ safety. They make sure pupils’ voices and ideas are heard. This enables pupils to understand the importance of keeping themselves safe and healthy, including online. The school provides many opportunities for pupils to experience a wide range of enrichment opportunities, for instance in drama, sporting activities, music and visits to historical landmarks. Pupils take great pride in the responsibilities given to them. For example, ‘wellbeing ambassadors’ join external meetings and share ideas and suggestions with the school proactively. Over time, the school has not prioritised pupils’ attendance as highly as it has recently. This means that overall absence and persistent absence rates are too high, particularly for pupils who are disadvantaged. Leaders have made this a high priority more recently, leading to improvements.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that their strategy to promote attendance and punctuality is fully implemented so that pupils, particularly those who are disadvantaged, attend school regularly. • Leaders should ensure that highly effective teaching is embedded across the school so that adaptations to pupils' learning are precise, enabling all pupils to be fully ready for future learning.

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