Meath Green Infant School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Meath Green Infant School offers a particularly welcoming community where children thrive. First-class leadership and teamwork in early years ensure that children get off to a flying start in Reception. The headteacher and her staff nurture warm relationships, so pupils feel safe and secure.

Parents and carers are united in their praise for the school, describing it as 'a wonderful school where our children flourish'.

Pupils are supported to develop language skills and acquire a love of reading. They develop a sense of curiosity, and relish their learning and discussing their work.

Lessons are enriched by a wealth of high-quality outdoor learning opportunitie...s and a range of clubs and activities. Skilled teachers and teaching assistants communicate their infectious enthusiasm to help pupils really enjoy school.

Standards in reading, writing and mathematics are high.

In other subjects, although learning is engaging, not enough is always expected of these willing pupils. Staff are working diligently to ensure that the level of challenge is consistently high across all subjects.

Pupils delight in behaving well here, and any unkindness or inappropriate behaviour is rare.

Pupils value the school's rules, know what is expected of them and look out for each other. They trust that adults will listen to and resolve any worries they may have.

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

The headteacher, leaders and staff at Meath Green Infant School form a tight-knit, caring team with a passion to achieve the very best for each and every pupil.

Teachers ensure that pupils make good progress in English and mathematics. Very effective leadership has reinvigorated the teaching of these core subjects. Here, staff training is coupled with ambitious and detailed planning that makes it clear what pupils have to learn and in what order.

Stimulating and engaging lessons and activities support all pupils to achieve success.

In Reception Year, leaders have prioritised developing communication and language skills and nurturing a sense of curiosity. Expert interactions between staff and children and particularly high-quality resources underpin the first-class provision across all areas of the early years curriculum.

Learning builds on what children already know and can do, and they make particularly strong progress.

In key stage 1, learning across different subjects is strong and impressive in some aspects, such as art. Teachers work together to share subject knowledge and to design carefully mapped sequences of learning through the years.

Learning is enriched and extended well by the school's impressive outdoor learning environments. In science and some foundation subjects, staff are at an earlier stage of implementing their plans. Here, teachers need to check pupils' knowledge and vocabulary more accurately before delivering new content.

Leaders have plans in place to do this.

The promotion of reading is given top priority. Teachers and teaching assistants are skilled and confident in teaching phonics.

They work in seamless partnership to develop pupils' reading skills and skilfully assess their progress. Pupils are supported to read with books that match their reading levels and to develop the habit of reading for pleasure. Appropriate support is given to any pupils who are falling behind their peers.

Leaders are planning to enhance the impact of these support sessions through further monitoring and training. Over time, pupils are supported to become fluent and confident readers.

Teaching assistants support and challenge disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) particularly well.

Leaders seek support from a range of outside agencies to ensure that pupils with SEND receive a suitable, tailored programme. The overwhelming majority of parents are keen to praise the support on offer and say how well staff know their children as individuals.

Pupils behave very well, and any disruption during lessons is rare.

They play happily at breaktimes and are considerate of others. Leaders are working hard with families to ensure that the attendance of a small number of pupils improves. Pupils' personal development is at the heart of the curriculum at Meath Green.

There is a rich range of clubs and activities currently on offer, or soon to return. The school endows pupils with resilience, confidence and a passion for learning. They are well prepared for their next stage of education.

Leaders have forged particularly strong links with parents and the local community. These are built on mutual trust and respect. Parents really value the tireless dedication and hard work of staff at all levels, particularly during the pandemic.

One parent spoke for many in saying: 'The school during lockdown was faultless in their provision of support and learning.'

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils feel safe here and their parents confirm this.

Suitable checks are made to ensure that all adults are safe to work with children. Regular safeguarding training enables staff to recognise signs that may suggest a pupil is at risk of harm. Staff know what to do if they are concerned.

Leaders work proactively with external agencies when necessary to ensure that pupils get the help they need.

There is an effective system in place to ensure that staff report and record any concerns they may have about pupils. However, some aspects of the school's record-keeping relating to safeguarding and behaviour lack detail.

Safeguarding leaders and governors have plans to address this. This is required as a matter of priority.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The curriculums in science and some foundation subjects are not yet sufficiently well planned.

For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied. Leaders have started to identify key components of knowledge and to sequence these across the year groups in these areas, but this work is not yet complete. Further work and training are required to ensure consistency of implementation across classes and to assist all pupils to learn with increasing success in all subjects.

• Some record-keeping in relation to safeguarding and behaviour lacks sufficient detail. This runs the risk that leaders' actions may not precisely meet all the education and well-being needs of vulnerable pupils. More complete and robust systems of record-keeping and monitoring by leaders and governors are urgently needed to rectify this.

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