Most recent Ofsted report
"Carrington Junior is a good school"
The school received a 'light touch' inspection visit from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) at the beginning of March 2007. Inspectors grade schools on a scale from 1 to 4: Outstanding, Good, Satisfactory or Inadequate.
Carrington was judged to be Grade 2 across the board, with some "outstanding" teaching.
The full report is available here as a PDF file.*
The main summary of the school's overall effectiveness reads as follows:
"Carrington Junior is a good school and the vast majority of parents agree. One parent commented, 'My son has spent four very happy years at Carrington, where he's literally blossomed under the care of his teachers, managed so well by the headteacher'. This is a school where both pupils and staff feel valued and work well together. The head and deputy provide good leadership and pupils achieve well. Pupils reach above average standards and make good progress in English, mathematics and science. As a result, they have good basic skills and are prepared effectively for their future economic well-being.
Staff and governors place a strong emphasis on pupils' personal development. A governor explained, 'Every child matters here'. Consequently, pupils feel safe, contribute well to the school and have a good understanding about how to adopt healthy lifestyles. Attendance is good.
The school provides good care, guidance and support for all its pupils. The school's Social Communications Difficulties Department (SCDD) provides good support for pupils within the autistic spectrum.
Inspectors observed some outstanding as well as satisfactory lessons. They were highly effective when work was matched well to pupils' abilities and there was good promotion of pupils' talk. However, pupils' individual targets are not a prominent feature of lessons. As a result, not all of them are clear about how to improve their work because they are unsure what their individual targets are and how to achieve them.
The curriculum is good and cross-curricular links make teaching and learning more meaningful for pupils, consequently pupils enjoy their lessons.
Leadership and management are good. Assessments are carried out regularly and performance is monitored well. However, information is not always shared so that subject leaders have a clear understanding and overview of progress in their subject areas. Capacity to make further improvement is good as demonstrated by the English results in 2006, the increase in pupils' achievement and the school's successful work to raise boys' achievement."