Gillingham Primary School

Gillingham Primary School

Address: School Road, Gillingham, Dorset, SP8 4QR Unique reference number (URN): 149413

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Attendance is a high priority. Leaders monitor pupils’ attendance diligently. The school fosters positive relationships with families and takes a caring approach to identifying barriers and working together to overcome them. For example, the school offers places in the breakfast club for those who need it. In addition, the school's 'soft start' provision helps the pupils who might find the start of the day more difficult. Pupils feel supported and learn how to manage overwhelming emotions, such as anxiety. This helps pupils to attend regularly. The school’s clear and proactive strategy has led to pupils’ attendance being close to the national average.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

The school's values of resilience, community, safety, respect, learning and ambition shape pupils’ positive attitudes toward their learning and behaviour. Pupils' attitudes to learning are positive. The school provides high-quality pastoral care for pupils who require behavioural and emotional support. Staff insist on high standards of behaviour from the early years onwards. They establish consistent routines in the classroom. This helps most pupils to settle quickly and concentrate well. A positive culture of respect runs through the school. Pupils understand the importance of reporting their concerns to a trusted adult. Any concerns are dealt with swiftly.

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Early years Expected standard

In the early years, staff establish clear routines for children that foster independence from the start. The school works in partnership with parents and carers to aid their transition into Reception. Children show an eagerness to learn and benefit from a curriculum that builds understanding of language, number and the wider world.

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Early years Expected standard

Adults provide sensitive emotional and physical care, creating a classroom where kindness prevails. Children form positive relationships with both peers and adults. The learning environment, indoors and outdoors, is purposeful, sparking curiosity and sustained concentration. Activities such as making ‘cakes’ for the ‘Tiger Tea Party’ with modelling clay help to develop fine motor skills.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff consistently model vocabulary and encourage talk through stories, role play and daily interactions. For example, in the pretend veterinary surgery, words such as ‘prescription’ and ‘stethoscope' are used.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders prioritise early mathematical and reading skills. Children count and add, explaining their reasoning based on prior teaching. Staff model letter sounds and check that pupils can read simple words confidently. They match books to children’s phonics knowledge and provide targeted support for those who need extra practice. As a result, most children achieve a good level of development and are fully prepared for Year 1.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The curriculum for personal, social, health and economic education teaches pupils to appreciate individual differences. Pupils learn about important topics, such as healthy eating, online safety and the difference between harmful drugs and helpful medicines.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Equality and equity lie at the heart of the school's work. Pupils listen to a carefully chosen selection of artists, such as Bob Marley, through the ‘musicians of the month’ initiative, which promotes diversity and broadens cultural understanding. Neurodiversity and mental health weeks supplement the taught curriculum. These promote inclusion and wellbeing, helping pupils grow into confident, compassionate individuals.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The relationships and sex education curriculum is delivered thoughtfully and age appropriately. Older pupils understand healthy relationships and issues, such as the impact of social media on body image. Workshops delivered by the fire brigade and local police reinforce home and road safety. Pupils learn about online safety, including privacy and security. This develops their knowledge and confidence to make safe choices at school, at home and when online.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Clubs include sports, such as football, athletics and cross country, as well as creative options, such as coding and art, to help to develop pupils' talents and interests. Leaders track participation in these activities so they can take deliberate action to ensure that disadvantaged pupils benefit from the opportunities on offer.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

A range of leadership roles, including sports leadership and librarian roles, develop pupils' sense of responsibility. The bronze ambassadors organise games for younger pupils at breaktimes so that everyone is included.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils understand the fundamental British values and demonstrate respect for all. They have secure knowledge of the importance of democracy and how it contributes to the principles of fairness, respect and equality. They use this information to make informed decisions about elections for the school council and contributions to wider community activities, such as Remembrance Day services and the Victory in Europe Day celebrations.

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Achievement Needs attention

Over time, outcomes show that the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 is below average. Gaps in knowledge, including for some disadvantaged pupils, persist, and some pupils leave the school without the secure knowledge they need for secondary education.

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Achievement Needs attention

Leaders have raised expectations of handwriting, sentence construction and number formation, supported by a structured programme. It is too early to see the impact that this is having on pupils' writing fluency, which slows progress through the curriculum and affects the overall quality of pupils’ work. Pupils generally achieve close to national averages in the Year 1 phonics check and the Year 4 multiplication tables check. The school has improved the wider curriculum, and pupils demonstrate appropriate retention of knowledge. For example, Year 3 pupils use precise language, such as ‘neolithic’, when discussing historical periods such as the Stone Age.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Until recently, the curriculum and teaching have not always enabled pupils to make progress through the school as they should. Typically, teachers have secure subject knowledge and explain concepts clearly. However, at times, teaching does not always break subject content into manageable steps. Sometimes, it lacks precision for some disadvantaged pupils who require the greatest accuracy and detailed delivery. As a result, some pupils struggle to secure fundamental skills, such as basic mathematics and handwriting. This hinders their writing fluency and the accuracy of mathematical calculations.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Sometimes, the checks that teachers make of pupils’ understanding do not consistently identify where misconceptions occur. This leads to gaps in some pupils’ understanding that are not always addressed. Sometimes, errors in spelling, punctuation and handwriting are missed, leading to repeated mistakes over time.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders accurately understand the quality of the curriculum and teaching across the school. In each subject, leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum that is intended to develop pupils’ knowledge and skills progressively. This is most evident in the wider curriculum. For example, in geography, pupils build their understanding of ‘climate’ by learning about tropical biomes and the impact of temperature on plants, fruit and animal habitats and growth.

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Inclusion Needs attention

For some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including those who are disadvantaged, barriers to learning are not always fully understood. Targets for some pupils lack precision and sometimes do not include their most significant needs, particularly in relation to pupils' learning. At times, teachers do not consistently adapt the curriculum for some pupils with SEND or disadvantaged pupils to help them develop the important knowledge and skills they need.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders acknowledge the need for different approaches to secure success. Wider strategies for pupils with SEND, including disadvantaged pupils, sometimes lack clarity and impact. While leaders know how additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is spent, it is not having as much impact as it could. Gaps in knowledge for older pupils persist. The school has not always effectively identified how well these strategies help pupils to close their gaps.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Despite this, staff place a clear emphasis on developing children's social and emotional resilience. This helps them to self-regulate so they are ready to learn. Furthermore, the school collaborates with external professionals, such as educational psychologists, to identify the complex needs of pupils with SEND. For example, the 'Sky Base' supports pupils with autistic spectrum condition well, helping them to learn in a safe and predictable environment while also supporting them to learn and play alongside their peers in school. This is, rightly, a source of pride for pupils and staff alike.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Areas for improvement have taken time for leaders and governors to explore and begin to address. They have rightly prioritised the recruitment of appropriate staff, the development of rigorous performance management processes and the behaviour and attendance of pupils. Much has been achieved in these areas. However, there is more work to do, particularly to ensure the curriculum is taught and assessed consistently well. It will take time, and continued monitoring and refinement, to realise the impact of more recent changes, for example the provision for pupils who speak English as an additional language and those who are disadvantaged.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders, trustees and the local governance committee remain dedicated to continual improvement. Governors' recent training in the use of pupil premium funding has improved their understanding and oversight of the support pupils receive from the school. Governors and leaders have benefited from working with colleagues from Pickwick Academy Trust to refine their approaches and gain a better understanding of any gaps in their expertise and processes.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

The school has strengthened the wider curriculum, maintained the focus on early reading and improved the culture of respect and positivity throughout the school. Staff feel positive about working at the school. They benefit from high-quality professional development, for example around the teaching of phonics or subject leader development. They value the focus on wellbeing provided by the school and the trust. They appreciate the open and supportive culture that exists. Many parents and carers appreciate the care their children receive.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

This is a happy, welcoming and nurturing school. There is a culture of equality, where pupils feel special and cared for. Positivity ripples throughout the school. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are fully included in all aspects of school life. However, their barriers to learning are not always fully understood, which limits the achievement of some pupils.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

The school is ambitious for pupils and wants them to achieve well. Pupils are starting to benefit from a wide range of improvements to the curriculum. In particular, the school supports pupils’ social and emotional development well. The academic curriculum is still developing and does not currently enable all pupils to achieve as well as they could. As a result, some pupils’ readiness for the next stage of learning is impaired. For older pupils who have fallen behind, gaps in pupils’ knowledge persist.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Most pupils understand and live up to the school's rules of ‘be kind, be safe, be a learner’. Pupils show genuine care and politeness towards one another. Warm relationships exist between pupils and adults. This helps pupils to feel safe. While bullying does occasionally occur, pupils feel confident that trusted adults will help resolve concerns or worries they may have. They enjoy coming to school and attend well.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Leaders enrich the curriculum with a wide range of trips and visits, both to the local area and beyond. Residential trips, swimming, mini-Olympics and tournaments through the local sports partnership all support pupils’ wider development. The very many contributions pupils make to their school and local community, such as visiting the local residential home, class litter picking or the harvest festival at the local church, help to build pupils’ character and prepare them for life in modern Britain.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that staff understand all the specific barriers that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), including disadvantaged children, face so they can fully support these pupils to be successful. Leaders should ensure that the checks that teachers make on pupils’ learning are embedded across the school so that all groups of pupils, including disadvantaged and those with SEND, achieve well across all subjects of the curriculum. Leaders should ensure that pupils routinely develop the knowledge and skills they need in writing, with a particular focus on fluent handwriting, sentence structure and letter formation, so that pupils are ready for the next stage of their education. Leaders at all levels should strengthen their oversight of the impact of school improvement actions taken and ensure that all pupils receive the support they need to achieve as highly as possible across the curriculum.

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About this inspection

This school is part of Pickwick Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, James Passmore, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Rob Ward.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

The inspection started on 6 January 2026. Inspectors returned on 10 March 2026 to gather additional evidence in line with ‘Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy’. This was not due to concerns with the school.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator and groups of staff. The lead inspectors met with the chief executive officer of the trust, the chair of the trust board and other representatives of the trust leadership and trust board.

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Team inspectors:

Gavin Summerfield, His Majesty's Inspector Richard Light, His Majesty's Inspector Lisa Dadds, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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School capacity

Inspectors spoke with some parents at the start of the school day. They considered responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments. Inspectors also considered responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.

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School capacity

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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School capacity

The school includes a resourced provision for pupils with autistic spectrum condition, known as 'Sky Base'. This provides specialist teaching and support for 14 pupils.

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School capacity

The school uses one unregistered alternative provision.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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What does this mean?

The type of Special Educational Needs provision provided at the school (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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average

2023/24 (final) 39% 46% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2023/24 (final) 56% 62% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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average

2023/24 (final) 61% 58% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2023/24 (final) 50% 59% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2024/25 (2 term) 5.7% 5.2% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 5.0% 5.5% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 5.2% 5.9% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2024/25 (2 term) 11.7% 13.3% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 11.7% 14.6% Close to average

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national average

2022/23 (3 term) 13.5% 16.2% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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