Meltham CofE (VC) Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Key Findings

This is a good school. It is not outstanding because, while achievement is good, attainment is not as high in mathematics as it is in English.

Also, while teaching is good overall and a small amount is outstanding, there remains some which is no better than satisfactory. Typically, most children start school with skills that are below those expected for their age, although this can vary from year-to-year. Whatever their starting point, children make good progress in the Early Years Foundation Stage and their language development is much closer to expectations as they start Year 1.

This good progress continues through Key Stage 1 and 2, so pupils leave Year 6 with attainment which is above aver...age in English and broadly average in mathematics. The quality of teaching is typically good. The large majority of lessons observed were good or better and pupils enjoy positive relationships with their teachers.

Work seen in pupils' books and school data confirm that pupils make good progress as they move through school. However, in a small minority of satisfactory lessons, the best practice in the school is not evident. From an early age, children develop good social skills and positive attitudes to their learning.

Pupils are happy to come to school and, as a result, attendance has been consistently above average for many years. Pupils behave well and demonstrate maturity in quickly resolving the few incidents that occur. Pupils also enjoy the many ways they are actively involved in school life, for example acting as Playground Champions.

Leaders, including the governing body, know the school's strengths and weaknesses well. They use evidence from a wide range of monitoring activities to identify accurately the priorities for further development. They have also effectively used performance-management processes to improve the quality of teaching over recent years.

Information about the school

This is a larger-than-average-sized primary school. A large proportion of pupils are from a White British heritage and a smaller than average number are from minority-ethnic groups; very few speak English as an additional language. The proportion of pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs is below average.

The number of pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals is under half the national average. The school meets the current floor standard. Since the time of the last inspection a new Chair of the Governing Body has been elected.

The school has been awarded Healthy School status, Food for Life (Bronze), and Activemark. A privately run before- and after-school club operates on the school site. This provision is subject to a separate inspection and a report about its quality can be found on the Ofsted website.

Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory and 4 is inadequate Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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