Meadow View Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Meadow View Primary is a diverse and inclusive school. Adults have high ambition for all pupils.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, remember the knowledge they learn. Pupils' mental health and well-being are a priority.

Pupils live by the school's three rules of 'Aim High, Be Safe, Be Kind'.

These rules help pupils to feel safe. The school welcomes pupils, including those who join throughout the year, warmly. Pupils benefit from the nurturing environment.

Pupils gain confidence because staff help them when they need additional support in lessons.

Pupils are happy to come to school. They attend school ...well.

Leaders work tirelessly to support families who need additional help. The school has built strong and trusting relationships with the local community.

There are many leadership opportunities for pupils.

They have roles as reading ambassadors, classroom buddies, sports crew, young interpreters and house captains. Pupils are tolerant, respectful and kind to each other. They become confident ambassadors who are proud of their school.

Pupils take part in a range of clubs at lunchtime and after school. They experience a broad range of carefully planned activities and go on a wide range of trips, including trips to universities, science museums and sporting competitions. These experiences give pupils opportunities they would not otherwise have.

A range of visitors, including authors, add depth to the curriculum. Pupils are inspired and ambitious for the future.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Reading and vocabulary are at the heart of learning in this school.

Phonics teaching begins immediately for younger pupils joining the school. Staff are well trained to deliver an established and consistent phonics scheme. Staff quickly spot children who fall behind.

They ensure that those children catch up through additional support. Pupils who start at the beginning of the year achieve well in phonics. Those who begin later make rapid progress.

There is a sharp focus on ensuring that pupils learn a wide range of ambitious vocabulary. In early years, for example, the vocabulary that leaders want pupils to learn is displayed in all areas of provision for staff to use in their interactions. This means that pupils consistently hear the same new vocabulary from all staff.

Stories, rhymes and songs are used to enhance learning. This means that children in the early years learn and remember new vocabulary. All pupils visit the local library weekly.

They also have access to a well-stocked school library. Staff help pupils to choose age-appropriate books. As a result, older pupils have a love of reading.

They talk confidently about how they choose books and why. Many pupils join the school in key stage 2 at various times. Some pupils are new to the English language.

As a result of effective phonics teaching, they learn to read quickly.

Leaders have worked hard to develop the school's curriculum. They understand the context of the local community.

The curriculum ensures that pupils are taught how to become citizens of a diverse community and of modern Britain. In subjects that are well developed and established, pupils achieve well. In these subjects, the curriculum is well mapped out across the different year groups.

Pupils build on what they have learned over time. They apply what they have learned before to new learning. A small number of subjects are not as well established.

In these subjects, there is still work to do to ensure that pupils achieve highly across the whole curriculum. Teachers receive quality training that is enabling them to teach the whole curriculum with increasing confidence. The school engages with external experts to ensure that they are delivering high-quality teaching.

Leaders are also well supported by learning networks within the trust.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those pupils who speak English as an additional language are supported effectively. Pupils with additional needs are identified quickly.

Bespoke support is put in place to ensure that they can access the same curriculum as their peers. Staff in the early years model language clearly. They use effective questioning to check understanding and develop vocabulary.

They use resources to support learning. For example, one teacher was asking questions while children used puppets and blocks to repeat the class story. The school works effectively with parents of pupils with SEND and engages with external experts when appropriate.

As a result, pupils make rapid progress from their starting points.

Pupils behave very well. There is a calm and friendly atmosphere.

Pupils are mostly engaged and attentive during lessons. There is very little low-level disruption. Pupils play well together at social times.

At lunchtime, they line up calmly and clear up after themselves. Leaders have ensured that pupils celebrate the different cultures in their school. They learn about people who live different lives to themselves.

Pupils learn about the British values of the rule of law, democracy, tolerance, respect and individual liberty. As a result, pupils are tolerant and accepting of others.

Trust leaders and governors have a clear, shared vision.

They work together with school leaders to challenge and support decisions. There is a real drive for continuous improvement in order to enhance the life chances of pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some areas of the curriculum are not yet as well sequenced and delivered as others. In these subjects, pupils achieve less well. Leaders should continue to embed and monitor the recent changes to all areas of the curriculum so that pupils achieve highly across all subjects.