Meanwood Community Nursery and Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school and discovering new learning with their friends. Pupils at this school are kind and caring.

They form strong and trusting bonds with each other and staff. They know that they can talk to any member of staff if they are worried. Pupils' behaviour is commendable.

They adhere to the school's core values. For example, they are responsible and respectful.

Typically, the school's expectations of pupils' achievement are high.

This helps to make sure that pupils achieve well overall across a range of subjects. Pupils are polite and welcoming. They are curious about the world around them and contribute positively to the calm and ...purposeful nature of the school.

Pupils excel in different sports and like to perfect their musical skills. They enjoy playing the piano and drums, singing in the school choir and going to see orchestral recitals. Pupils appreciate fundamental British values, including those of the rule of law and democracy.

They undertake their leadership responsibilities earnestly. Some pupils thrive as school council members and sports leaders.

Pupils support many worthy causes.

They have raised funds for a local hospice and for families caught up in conflict in different parts of the world. Pupils look forward to trips, including to the seaside.

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

The school has devised an ambitious and carefully constructed curriculum.

This enables pupils to build their knowledge and skills over time. Teachers know precisely what pupils should learn and when they should learn it.

The school's published data for 2023 indicates that the proportion of pupils who met the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics was below the national average.

A high number of pupils start and leave the school at various times during the academic year. Consequently, many pupils do not consistently benefit from the school's well-thought-out curriculum. This impacts adversely on their achievement.

Pupils who have attended the school from the early years onwards typically achieve well.

Teachers have the skills that they need to deliver the curriculum successfully. In most subjects, assessment strategies are used effectively to check how well pupils are learning.

Assessment information is then used to provide tailored support when this is needed. However, in a few subjects, teachers do not systematically check how well the curriculum has been learned. This means that occasionally, pupils have gaps in their knowledge that are not identified.

Added to this, at times, the activities that pupils complete, do not reflect the ambition of the curriculum. This prevents pupils from achieving as well as they could.

Reading is a high priority.

Staff promote reading for pleasure, as do the pupil librarians. Pupils are especially keen on reading the work of popular children's authors. They also enjoy poetry.

The phonics and early reading curriculums are taught effectively by well-trained staff. Children learn phonics shortly after they start at the school in the Reception classes. Children in the Nursery enjoy singing along to nursery rhymes and repeating words and refrains from different books during story time.

Staff ensure that the books that pupils read match the sounds that they know. Those who find reading more difficult are quickly identified and are supported well to catch up. This helps these pupils to become confident and fluent readers over time.

The school identifies pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) quickly. Staff work with a range of specialist partners, and parents, to make sure that pupils get the support that they need promptly. When necessary, teachers adapt the delivery of the curriculum for these pupils.

This helps to ensure that pupils with SEND achieve well and access the same curriculum as their peers.

Pupils behave well throughout the school. Lessons are rarely disrupted by poor behaviour.

Children in the early years listen carefully and follow instructions closely. The school's various initiatives to reduce absence are having a positive impact. Pupils' attendance at school is improving as a result.

Pupils' personal development is at the heart of the curriculum. Older pupils enjoy helping others. Pupils regularly attend different clubs, including for karate, dodge ball, tennis and netball.

Pupils are passionate about their community; they regularly sing in the local church and a residential care home. Pupils learn about appropriate personal relationships. They know how to keep themselves healthy, both mentally and physically.

However, pupils are not as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they could be. For example, some pupils' understanding of spirituality and cultural diversity is lacking.

Governors have a clear and accurate oversight of the school's strengths and areas for development.

Staff report that leaders are mindful of their well-being and workload. They appreciate the time that they are given to adapt learning activities for pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, the activities that pupils complete are not sufficiently ambitious to reflect the intended curriculum. This means that some pupils do not achieve as well as they could. The school should work with staff to raise expectations and to follow the curriculum closely, so that pupils achieve all that they are capable of.

• In a few subjects, teachers do not systematically check on how well pupils have learned the intended curriculum. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their learning that go unchecked. In these subjects, the school should ensure that assessment strategies are consistently applied, so that pupils can build their knowledge on what they already know.

• Spirituality and cultural diversity are not promoted consistently well. Due to this, pupils' understanding in these areas is not as strong as it could be. The school should ensure that staff get the support that they need to promote cultural diversity and spirituality across the school, to better prepare pupils for life in modern Britain.