Meadows Primary School and Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Good teaching with some that is outstanding, notably in the early years, ensures that pupils make good progress in a wide range of subjects, including English and mathematics, in every year group. Pupils show a keen interest in learning and behave well in lessons and around the school.

All pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs or disability, make at least good progress from their starting points. The headteacher, acting deputy headteacher and governing body take a strong lead in driving improvement. Rigorous checks on teaching, with good training and support where it is needed, maintain the quality of ...classroom practice and improve achievement.

The good teaching of letters and the sounds they make (phonics) means that pupils quickly develop good reading skills from an early age. Children in the early years make good progress and develop a love of learning. Teachers plan activities that are very well matched to pupils' interests and abilities.

Pupils enjoy coming to school, and take pride and pleasure from their learning and progress. Attendance is improving and is above the national average. The school successfully promotes pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

Consequently, pupils have a good understanding of their social responsibilities and helping others less fortunate than themselves. The school uses effective procedures to ensure that pupils are safe and protected. Pupils say they feel safe at school and well looked after by staff.

The local authority has provided effective support to the school and this has helped in bringing about improvements in all areas of school life. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Teachers do not consistently ensure that tasks for the most-able pupils in mathematics are fully matched to their abilities. Senior leaders have not ensured that the good and better teaching practice in the school has been shared sufficiently well between teachers.

While there is some high-quality marking in pupils' books providing clear guidance for improvement, this good practice is not consistently applied across all classes. Some recently appointed middle leaders have not had time to demonstrate positive impact.

Information about this school

Meadows Primary School and Nursery is a larger than average-sized primary school.

Children in the Nursery attend part time either morning or afternoon. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those who are supported by pupil premium funding, is above average. The pupil premium provides additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.

Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below that in most schools but increasing. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is above average compared with similar schools nationally.

The school meets the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. There have been changes to the staff recently with several new members of staff starting in September 2015. An acting deputy headteacher and acting assistant headteacher were appointed in January 2016.