Spring Meadow Infant School

Inspection of Spring Meadow Infant School High Barns, Ely, Cambridgeshire CB7 4RB

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 3–4 March 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy to attend Spring Meadow Infant School. Pupils, parents and staff appreciate that it is a safe, nurturing place with a strong sense of community. Pupils have exciting opportunities to help them learn about their city of Ely and take part in community events. They read widely from the well-stocked library. They talk enthusiastically about their favourite books and authors. However, the curriculum and the teaching are not supporting pupils to achieve as well as they can.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils get along well during lessons and at breaktimes. They are mostly kind to each other and teachers sort out any worries quickly. Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning. They enjoy sport and after-school clubs, such as cookery, street dance and choir. Pupils enjoy their extra responsibilities. For example, the school council has done some research to find ways to help support classmates with disabilities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are considerate of others’ needs. They understand and respect each other’s differences. They recognise that some classmates need extra support because they can sometimes find school difficult.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s assessment unit offers strong provision for pupils with complex needs. Leaders’ precise identification of both needs and support helps the pupils achieve as well as they can.

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better?

Changes within the local community have meant that pupil numbers are on the decline. This has had repercussions on staffing. Uncertainty within the school workforce has meant that staff confidence has been low. The headteacher’s shared vision has helped to improve this. She has provided appropriate training and support, which are valued by the majority of staff. The headteacher and governors have an accurate view of where the school is on its journey. Together, they demonstrate a strong capacity to raise standards. Parents are very supportive of school leaders. Parents engage well with staff and value opportunities to be involved in their children’s learning.

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better?

Curriculum plans do not yet fully reflect leaders’ high expectations for what pupils know and can do. The headteacher has restructured the teaching team. This has meant that some middle leaders are new in post. Curriculum plans for some subjects are in the early stages. For reading, phonics and mathematics, there is a clear structure that is mostly implemented well. This is not the case in some other subjects.

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better?

In key stage 1, reading books are well matched to pupils’ phonic skills. The teaching of reading is well structured, and pupils develop effective comprehension skills. By the end of Year 2, almost all pupils can read fluently and with expression. Children in the Reception Year learn very quickly how to write words by applying their phonic 3–4 March 2020

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skills. However, across the school, pupils do not develop their writing skills as quickly as they should. In some subjects, such as writing, presentation is weak.

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In writing, leaders have not ensured that teachers’ assessment of pupils’ learning supports individual needs. This is particularly the case for pupils who already have strong skills and abilities for their age. Teachers have not considered what these pupils already know. Teachers are not considering precisely enough what pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) need to do next. This is preventing them from achieving as well as they should.

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Leaders identified that pupils were becoming confused between different concepts. This was because teachers were not planning to deepen pupils’ learning well enough so that they develop understanding and retain knowledge. Some curriculum leaders do not know how well their subjects are being taught. They do not know well enough whether pupils are learning more or remembering more over time.

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Children skip enthusiastically into the Nursery and Reception Years at the start of the day. Children fully engage with the activities in the well-resourced classrooms. The school’s values help pupils to be kind, brave and curious. From the Nursery Year to Year 2, pupils develop skills to work independently or within groups. Pupils are articulate and reflective, and can say what they find difficult in their learning.

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School trips, for example to London and the zoo, are used well to enhance pupils’ learning and introduce new topics. Pupils talk proudly about Ely Cathedral and their local community. They can discuss different faiths and are keen to share their learning and talk about the different people who visit.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that pupils’ welfare is given a high priority. Leaders carry out all checks on staff to make sure that they are suitable to work with children. Staff receive regular safeguarding training. They are aware of the signs that pupils may be at risk of harm and they report any concerns to leaders. Pupils have an appropriate awareness for their age about the potential dangers when using the internet.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Not all curriculum subjects are sufficiently developed. This is preventing pupils from receiving a good-quality curriculum that helps them develop their understanding of the world around them.  Teachers are not using what they know about pupils’ learning to plan activities that will develop learning further. This means that pupils who have skills and 3–4 March 2020

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knowledge above the curriculum on offer are not having their needs met well enough. Teachers across the school must ensure that they are building on what pupils already know.  Pupils’ writing across the school is not well enough developed. Some pupils’ work does not reflect what they are capable of. Leaders need to ensure that the writing curriculum builds on what pupils already know so that pupils can achieve as well as they are able to.  Leaders of some subjects are new in post. They do not know whether pupils are achieving well enough through the curriculum. They need to ensure that their monitoring is rigorous so that they can hold teachers to account more precisely for the quality of teaching and learning.  In some subjects and year groups, pupils are not encouraged to take pride in their work. Leaders need to ensure that there is a consistency in the presentation of pupils’ work across the school.

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 With the exception of those in the assessment unit, pupils with SEND are not achieving as well as they should. Targets to improve are not clear and therefore learning is hindered. Teachers need to draw on the good practice and expertise from adults working in the assessment unit to make sure that pupils in classes receive their full curriculum entitlement.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 3–4 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10121351 Type of school Infant

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Michele Gemelos and Leigh Garland (co-chairs) Headteacher Annette Blewett

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School details

Website www.springmeadowschool.cambs.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14–15 November 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Pupil numbers have fallen significantly since the previous inspection.  The school has a speci ally resourced provision for up to 10 pupils with SEND, with a range of complex needs.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 During the inspection, we met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, curriculum leaders, the special educational needs coordinator and teachers from all year groups. We also spoke to several groups of pupils to talk about their learning across the curriculum. We met with three members of the local governing body, including the chair of governors, and a representative from the local authority.  We did deep dives in the following subjects: reading, writing, mathematics, geography, science and physical education. We spoke to leaders of these subjects. We visited lessons, spoke with pupils and teachers, listened to pupils 3–4 March 2020

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read, and looked at pupils’ work and documentation to understand the quality of education.  We looked at the school systems and processes for checking adults’ suitability to work with children. We spoke with teachers, staff and pupils to check safeguarding arrangements.  We considered the 72 parent responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, 49 responses to Ofsted’s free-text survey and 26 responses to Ofsted’s survey for staff. We spoke with staff and pupils to gain their views of the school. We also spoke with parents on the playground at the beginning of the day.

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Inspection team

Cindy Impey, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda Allison Ofsted Inspector 3–4 March 2020

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regulates and inspects to achieve 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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