Meadow View Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say they enjoy coming to school and feel safe.

Learning is important to them and teachers want pupils to do their best. However, not all teachers have secure subject knowledge to make sure that pupils develop their understanding well.

Pupils' favourite things about school include the residential trip, listening to class reading books and physical education.

Pupils keenly shared the sports they have participated in. They think the multi-sports, after-school club is the best.

Pupils speak positively about the school rules and rewards they receive.

They would like to see more rewards, especially for meeting the school values of respectfu...lness, resilience, reflection, resourcefulness and responsibility. However, not all pupils follow the school rules. Sometimes, lessons and lunchtimes are disrupted by poor behaviour.

Not all adults apply the agreed behaviour management rules. This lack of consistency makes it difficult for pupils to be clear about what the consequences of poor behaviour are.

Pupils enjoyed taking part in anti-bullying week but those who talked to us did not have a secure understanding of what bullying is and the different forms it can take.

Pupils say that bullying happens, and teachers help to sort it out.

Parents are supportive of the school, especially when their children are new. They feel that their children have been helped to settle in well to school life.

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

Children in the early years are not taught phonics in a way that helps them to remember the sounds that letters represent. Children do not repeat and practise the sounds well enough. For example, in trying to learn a new sound children repeated it three times.

Elsewhere, children are not taught how to use their phonic knowledge to spell words. This means they are unable to write well. Teachers have not accessed phonics training that helps them to deliver effective phonics teaching.

Senior leaders have looked to find ways to improve the teaching of reading across the school. In some reading comprehension lessons pupils learn and remember how to answer different types of questions well. This is not consistent in all year groups.

In some classes activities do not match what the teacher intended, or pupils' needs and abilities.

Many pupils enjoy mathematics. However, in lessons, pupils all start at the same point.

They must wait until their work is marked before they can move on to the next stage. This slows the pace of their learning, particularly for the most able pupils, who cannot work on more challenging mathematics quickly enough.

Curriculum leaders who are new to the role are passionate about their subjects.

They are keen to improve how their subject is taught. The curriculum leader for history has a system to help teachers know exactly what pupils need to learn and when. However, pupils' books do not show that this has been fully implemented.

History is mostly taught using English objectives. The curriculum leader is working to change this. That said, pupils think history is exciting.

They can tell you a lot about what they have already learned in the subject.

The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has an effective system to identify pupils' additional needs. However, pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not always get the support needed to help them access learning.

Until recently, leaders have not been able to access some of the specialist support and expertise needed to manage pupils with more complex SEND well. This is no longer the case. Leaders have sourced support from an alternative provider to help them use accurate strategies to help pupils with SEND.

Children in Reception do not learn as effectively as they could. Some time is wasted because children are not taught to use the different areas of the classroom well enough. Adults do not intervene during children's play to encourage and model effective use of language.

Children's levels of independence and language development are not as strong as they need to be.

Governors are ambitious for Meadow View Primary. They want it to be an inclusive school where every pupil meets their potential.

Governors challenge the executive headteachers' actions, but do not follow this through well enough to lead to positive effect.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Safeguarding procedures are thorough.

Leaders work hard to make sure that they keep pupils safe. The safeguarding governor has a secure overview of the school's procedures.

Staff training is undertaken every year on how to keep children safe in school.

Staff are confident in applying the school procedures for reporting any concerns they may have.

Senior leaders have created a positive culture of support for families. The community café helps with this work.

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe, including online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

Phonics is not taught well enough in the early years. This means pupils cannot remember the sounds that letters represent.

This hinders their early reading and writing. Leaders need to make sure that staff access the training they need, and continue to engage with external support, to make sure that teachers and teaching assistants have the skills they need to teach phonics effectively. .

In mathematics, pupils spend too long on simple tasks before they move on to more challenging activities. This means that many pupils become distracted and disengage with learning. Leaders need to make sure that tasks are well matched to pupils' needs.

. Subjects, beyond English and mathematics, are too often taught using the objectives for English rather than the subject. Curriculum leaders need to make sure that the content, sequencing and implementation of their curriculum plans enable pupils to effectively develop the necessary skills and knowledge, particularly in history.

. Some pupils do not follow the behaviour systems consistently. Some pupils are not clear about what these systems are.

Some staff do not apply the behaviour system effectively. This leads to some disruptions to lessons and lunchtimes. Senior leaders need to review the behaviour system to make sure that it is clear to staff and pupils and that it is applied consistently.

. In Reception, children are not trained to use the well-resourced areas of provision. Adults do not intervene in a timely manner to model language.

Children do not learn as effectively as they could and time is wasted. Children need to be taught to use the different areas of the classroom by adults who model language well. This would develop children's independence and language.