Melsonby Methodist Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

This is a good school. Pupils behave well, have an excellent awareness of how to stay fit and healthy and make an outstanding contribution to the school and the wider community. They have high levels of attendance and develop outstanding workplace skills.

All staff provide exceptionally sensitive care and support which ensure that pupils' well-being and personal development are promoted extremely well and that pupils are happy and feel safe. Pupils make good progress because good teaching makes learning fun and the curriculum offers many memorable experiences, including exciting opportunities for pupils to answer probing questions and explore for themselves in investigative and open-ended activities. ...There is outstanding use of partnerships to provide a wealth of learning opportunities, including with the local secondary school and through visits and welcoming visitors to the school.

While activities are interesting, they occasionally lack sufficient challenge, especially for the most able, and some lessons lack pace so that chances are missed for pupils to engage quickly with tasks. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities make outstanding progress because of the highly effective support and teaching they receive. Parents and carers are highly supportive of the school as a result of its outstanding engagement with them and its encouragement of pupils' spiritual, social and moral development, in line with its Christian values.

Pupils have a good understanding of life in other countries and of different faiths, but their understanding of the multicultural make-up of society in the United Kingdom is less well developed. The school has much useful information about pupils' skills and abilities, which is used well to measure the progress pupils make from their starting points. It is not yet well enough used to ensure that work is closely-matched to the learning needs of individual pupils.

While marking informs pupils how well they have achieved in individual tasks, it is less successfully used to tell pupils how to improve their work. Older pupils do not always know the levels at which they are operating. The highly-respected, skilful and inspirational headteacher offers outstanding leadership.

She employs a collegiate approach to planning and monitoring which includes all staff and governors and ensures that self-evaluation is extremely accurate. Accordingly, the school has initiated appropriate and highly successful strategies which have raised attainment and brought about improvements in English and the Early Years Foundation Stage. Given its track record, the good quality of provision and good outcomes for pupils, the school's capacity to improve is good, and it provides good value for money.

Information about the school

This school is very much smaller than the average-sized primary school. Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average.

The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is average but the proportion of pupils with a statement of special educational needs is above average. The school has achieved Healthy School status and Activemark. Children in the Reception class are taught in a class which includes Key Stage 1 pupils.