Green Meadow Independent Primary School

Green Meadow Independent Primary School Robson Way, Lowton, Warrington WA3 2RD

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Outstanding

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher’s vision to nurture each pupil to build confidence and a love of learning is at the heart of all this school does.  All staff are highly committed to the values of the school and the ethos of care and support permeates throughout. Relationships between staff and pupils are exceedingly strong.  Good teaching and a broad curriculum support pupils so that the majority attain at least expected standards in each year group.  Teachers capture the interest and enthusiasm of pupils. Effective, personalised learning helps to ensure good progress for pupils.  Teachers plan carefully to meet the social and emotional needs of pupils. On occasion, some teaching does not stretch and challenge all pupils.  Pupils are polite, articulate and proud of their school. The behaviour of pupils is excellent.  Pupils speak positively about their learning and appreciate opportunities to take on responsibility across the school.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Pupils say that they feel safe in school. They have a clear understanding of how to keep themselves safe, both personally and online. Parents feel that their children are safe and well looked after.  Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. They are positive about the progress made by their children and speak highly of leaders and all staff. Communication with parents is strong.  Leaders have improved the rigour of monitoring teaching and learning since the last inspection. However, teachers are not provided with incisive feedback on how to improve their practice. Leaders’ views of the school are overgenerous.  External links with effective schools are not fully established. Staff lack opportunities to share good practice and to moderate pupils’ work at key stages 1 and 2.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 (‘the independent school standards’) and associated requirements.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of leadership and management by: – ensuring that feedback to teachers clearly identifies how they can improve their practice – develop links with other schools so that effective practice can be shared and opportunities taken for moderation at key stage 1 and key stage 2 – ensuring that the school’s self-evaluation is precise and gives an accurate picture of the school’s strengths and areas for development.  Improve the quality of teaching and learning by: – systematically tracking and analysing the progress that pupils make across all subjects from their starting points in order to take action to ensure rapid and sustained progress across the curriculum – ensuring that learning activities and teachers’ subject knowledge consistently stretch and challenge pupils of all abilities, particularly the most able – ensuring that written feedback for pupils consistently follows the school’s policy.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The school met all of the independent school standards by the end of the inspection. The provision of an appropriate medical room, compliant website and access to required information for parents now meet the standards set by the Department for Education.  Green Meadow Primary is a good school. The vision and commitment of the headteacher to provide a nurturing and caring environment for all pupils is palpable throughout the school. With the headteacher’s strong vision and the support of the management team, staff provide good opportunities for pupils to grow in confidence, enjoy school and make good progress.  Leaders have the support of parents, staff and pupils. Staff are highly committed to pupils and are fully supportive of the inclusive ethos of the school. Relationships between pupils, staff and parents are a strength of the school.  Leaders thread the values of respect, tolerance and diversity throughout the life of the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

school. There are regular activities to celebrate differences in people, cultures and religions, which encourage pupils to develop into caring and respectful citizens. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted well.  Leaders ensure a broad and balanced curriculum which follows the national curriculum. Pupils’ learning is enriched with additional extra-curricular activities such as cake- decorating, recorder, rounders, computer and craft clubs. There are plenty of opportunities on offer to spark the enthusiasm and curiosity of pupils. As a result of this varied and interesting programme, pupils enjoy their learning.  Senior leaders know the pupils and school well, but the self-evaluation of the school’s effectiveness is overgenerous. Leaders accept that links with external partners, such as other successful schools, would enable them to more robustly analyse their performance

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

and more stringently hold themselves to account.  Teachers’ performance is managed effectively. Leaders set targets for improvement and quality assure the provision, but incisive feedback following lesson observations is not given to teachers. Teachers have little opportunity to learn from best practice outside school.  Leaders track pupils’ attainment against the national curriculum expectations for their age. Teachers use this assessment well to plan future learning. However, assessment is not finely developed enough to enable leaders to assess precisely the progress pupils make against their own individual starting points. New systems are being developed but are not as yet fully in place across the school.  Communication with parents is strong. Parents feel supported and listened to. Parents are overwhelmingly supportive of the school and the support provided by leaders and teachers to improve the confidence and self-esteem of children.

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Governance

 The headteacher is the sole proprietor of the school. There is no governing body.  The headteacher and senior management team work closely to effectively govern the school and ensure that policies are up to date and take account of latest government guidelines.  The proprietor ensures that the statutory requirements of the early years are met.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The independent school standards for safeguarding are met. The school’s current safeguarding policy is up to date and is available on the school website.  Leaders work closely with parents and external agencies as appropriate to make sure that all pupils are safe and supported. Parents are positive about the school’s approach to safeguarding and are confident in staff to keep their children safe at school.  Appropriate training for staff is undertaken regularly and all staff are fully aware of their responsibilities in ensuring that pupils are safe. They carry out their roles with vigilance and care.  The premises are well maintained and safe.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good.  Pupils show a good level of interest in their lessons and are enthusiastic about their learning. Attitudes to learning are exceedingly positive throughout the school. Positive relationships between pupils and staff help pupils in their learning as pupils want to do well to make staff proud of them.  Teachers show care and respect for pupils and create a safe environment for learning. As a result, pupils are able to take risks and contribute ideas, even when they are unsure of themselves.  Teachers plan lessons well to meet the requirements of the national curriculum. Lessons are pitched appropriately to enable pupils to reach age-related expectations.  Teachers provide clear explanations and frequently question pupils to probe their understanding. Teaching assistants are deployed effectively, are skilled and make a positive difference to pupils’ learning. When pupils struggle, support is quickly provided

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

and a range of effective strategies is used to help pupils to catch up.  A broad and balanced curriculum of a wide range of subjects enables pupils to develop a wide range of skills and knowledge. For example, Year 6 pupils in geography were studying earthquakes and could talk confidently about building infrastructures and the impact of different footprints for buildings.  Pupils make good progress across the wider curriculum. The teaching of art is a strength across the school. Pupils learn about different artists and acquire a range of techniques from early years through to upper primary. They produce impressive artefacts and develop good artistic skills.  Pupils’ reading, writing and mathematics skills are developed well in the early years and are built on as they progress through the school. The teaching of writing is strong and clear progress can be seen as pupils move from short words to sentences to developing

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

the stamina needed for extended writing.  There is a strong culture of reading throughout the school. Lessons often begin with a book as the stimulus for learning. The library is well stocked and provides a welcoming environment where pupils are encouraged to read for pleasure. Older pupils ‘buddy read’ with younger pupils during lunchtime sessions and enjoy this voluntary activity.  Parents receive detailed, regular reports regarding the progress of their children and are happy with the communication from teachers. Parents who spoke to the inspector at the time of the inspection felt that their children were taught well and made good progress in school.  The subject knowledge of staff is generally strong in most subject areas. Some gaps in subject knowledge prevent teachers from allowing a free flow of ideas and maximising opportunities to extend pupils’ learning.  Teachers’ planning for a wide range of different academic needs within a class is not

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

consistently effective. As a result, some pupils wait for others to finish tasks and therefore their progress slows as a result. Some tasks set are not sufficiently demanding for some pupils and so some are not consistently stretched and challenged in their learning, including the most able pupils.  Homework is set regularly and gives pupils the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of topics covered in class. Classrooms celebrate the high- quality work produced by pupils.  The school’s policy for assessment of pupils’ work is not followed consistently in the giving of feedback. Hence, there are occasions when pupils are not clear on the next steps to improve their learning. The school’s policy for embedding time to respond to improvements is also applied inconsistently.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.  Leaders and staff are committed in their responsibility to ensure that the school provides a safe and nurturing environment which allows every pupil the opportunity to succeed and flourish.  Strong, secure relationships between pupils, and between pupils and staff, create a caring, family culture which is evident throughout the school. The recent ‘kindness award’ shows how leaders promote care and compassion. As one pupil told the inspector, ‘We are usually kind, but during kindness week, we were all just extra kind.’ Relationships between all are warm and respectful.  Pupils thrive on responsibility and talk proudly about helping younger pupils to read, being ’buddies’ and how they would welcome even more responsibility through a school council. Pupils are articulate and compassionate in discussions and are clearly happy in

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Personal development and welfare

school.  Pupils spoken with during the inspection were clear about bullying and that it did not happen at Green Meadow. They told the inspector that, on rare occasions when there were any friendship issues, staff were quick to resolve them effectively.  Pupils reported that they feel safe in school and are well taught how to keep themselves safe, both personally and online. Pupils know about the risks posed by the internet and social media and are taught about road safety, stranger danger and healthy eating. All parents spoken with during the inspection are confident that their children are kept safe and are well looked after. All staff who responded to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire also agree.  Teachers ensure that pupils of all ages have an awareness of British values such as democracy, liberty, rule of law and respect for others. Pupils show an awareness of British and international politics and can articulately discuss issues.

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Personal development and welfare

 Pupils are accepting of differences and can talk about other faiths and religions, saying that ‘everyone would be treated equally here’. Pupils show compassion to those less fortunate than themselves and are proud of the fundraising they have done to support local and national charities.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  Pupils show positive attitudes to learning and are very proud of the school and their work. From a variety of backgrounds and experiences, pupils develop here as confident, self- assured learners. They are self-disciplined and motivated to learn.  Pupils’ conduct around the school and during social time is exemplary. Pupils mix well together in and play as a cohesive group during snack- and lunchtimes. Pupils are polite and thoughtful in outdoor spaces and look out for younger pupils with a watchful and caring eye.  No derogatory language or stereotypes were heard during the inspection and school logs show that this behaviour does not occur in Green Meadow. Pupils talk positively about the good behaviour of pupils and the inclusive nature of the school.  Pupils’ positive attitudes to school are reflected in their good levels of attendance, which represent enormous improvements for some pupils. The school works hard to make sure

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Behaviour

that any pupil who previously may not have attended school regularly now feels part of the learning community and enjoys coming to school. Parents cannot speak highly enough of the support that the school provides in this area and are grateful that their children are now happy to attend and learn.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 School records show that pupils achieve standards that are at or above those expected for their age in a broad range of subjects across all year groups. Evidence from pupils’ work in lessons and scrutiny of workbooks shows that attainment is good in a range of subjects. This includes the achievements of the small number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.  Good progress is evident in pupils’ work on literacy, where they are developing the skills and stamina to write at length.  Pupils’ personal outcomes, such as improvements in self-esteem, confidence and attendance, are excellent. These result in pupils having high aspirations for their futures; for example, pupils told the inspector that they are considering careers in areas such as medicine, law, teaching and biophysics.  While leaders track the attainment of pupils across the curriculum, leaders do not establish individual pupils’ starting points. As a result, there are no secure baselines from

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Outcomes for pupils Good

which leaders can assess progress. It is therefore difficult for leaders to judge whether rates of progress for individuals are as rapid as they could be. Leaders have rightly identified this as an area for development.  Pupils read regularly and often. They practise speaking and communication skills across the curriculum and their listening skills are well developed. Pupils develop an extensive and rich vocabulary and their verbal reasoning skills are strong. Written reasoning, for example in mathematics, is not as strongly developed.  Achievement for the most able pupils is strong. Leaders are successful in preparing pupils for entrance examinations to independent grammar schools and ensure that pupils are prepared well for national curriculum tests if pupils are entered for them at the end of key stage 2.

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Early years provision Good

 All areas of learning are covered effectively in early years.  Children enter the early years with skills and knowledge typical for their age and stage of development in almost all areas of learning. Children make good progress in early years, and as a result, the proportion of children achieving a good level of development was in line with the national figure in 2016.  Leadership of early years is strong and is focused on improving outcomes for all children so that children are well prepared for year 1. Leaders are knowledgeable, enthusiastic and meticulous in their tracking of children’s achievements and progress.  Teachers have a deep knowledge of individual children and this helps to ensure that their needs are well met. Teachers and teaching assistants regularly track the progress of children, quickly giving extra support to those who need it.  There are very good relationships with parents and all parents are happy with the start

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Early years provision Good

their children get in early years at Green Meadow. Parents are regularly invited to contribute to their children’s ongoing assessments and to take part in learning at home, for example by recording ‘wow’ moments for the school to celebrate with the child.  The indoor learning environment is purposeful and supports effective learning. The Reception class is well resourced with materials, games, dressing-up clothes and many other activities to engage children in their learning. The outdoor space is similarly well developed and engages and stimulates the interests of children. This bright, vibrant and busy environment encourages children to extend their learning in all areas.  Children are well behaved and follow instructions quickly. Children move around their indoor and outdoor areas sensibly and have a very positive attitude to learning. Occasionally, the level of purposeful learning taking place is reduced when children wait

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Early years provision Good

for others to finish a task. Some teaching is not always focused on moving on pupils as rapidly as possible.  Good reinforcement of phonic skills and a wide range of available activities support children in becoming confident readers and writers. Children make good progress in reading and writing; for example, one child was writing only short words at the beginning of the academic year and is now writing sentences such as ‘Winston took the chick to the farm’. Children are taught about punctuation and their handwriting practice prepares them well for year 1 and beyond.  The positive and warm relationships between staff and children help the children to develop emotionally and socially. Children learn happily together or alongside their peers. As a result of these positive relationships, pupils develop high self-esteem and confidence.  Leaders make sure that children are safe. Staff are trained in all aspects of safeguarding

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Early years provision Good

and welfare arrangements are strong. The early years provision meets all aspects of the independent school standards.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Website www.greenmeadowindependentprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Email address greenmeadowteachers@gmail.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26–28 February 2014

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Information about this school

 Green Meadow Independent Primary School is a small coeducational day school. It is located in a residential area of Lowton.  The school provides a breakfast club, after-school club and holiday clubs for 51 weeks of the year. The clubs are run and staffed by the school.  The school is in a purpose-built building which was opened in 2009.  Green Meadow is registered for up to 168 pupils aged from three to 11 years. Children are taught in a Reception class, two key stage 1 classes and two key stage 2 classes.  The school previously received a standard inspection from Ofsted in February 2014.  The school now meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed learning throughout the school.  The inspector met with pupils, both formally and informally, to listen to their views.  Meetings were held with the headteacher/proprietor, other leaders and a group of parents.  The inspector scrutinised a wide range of documentation that covered: information about pupils’ attainment; the school’s self-evaluation and its improvement plan; and records relating to teaching and learning, pupils’ attendance and behaviour, and safeguarding of pupils.  The inspector observed pupils at breaks, lunchtimes and in lessons. The inspector scrutinised pupils’ work in lessons and looked at a sample of their books.  The inspectors considered the views expressed by three parents via the free text facility on Parent View but there were insufficient responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, for these to be taken into consideration. Inspectors took into account the six

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Information about this inspection

responses to a questionnaire for staff.  The inspector checked the school’s compliance with the appropriate regulations for independent schools.

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Inspection team

Helen O’Neill, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Parent View You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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