King's Meadow Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: King's Meadow Primary School Shakespeare Drive, Bicester, Oxfordshire OX26 2LU

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Outcome

King's Meadow Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are welcomed warmly at the start of each day. They enjoy attending this school where they are part of a community that is dedicated to being ‘kind, motivated and successful’. Staff prioritise getting to know pupils and their families well. Older pupils take on roles such as ‘young leaders’ to support other pupils at playtimes while modelling care and responsibility.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a happy school where pupils know their best interests are at the heart of every decision. The school has high expectations of what pupils can, and should, achieve and their attitudes to learning. Pupils achieve well across the curriculum alongside developing strength of character and perseverance. They behave very well in lessons and around the school. Pupils respond with empathy to others who need help and celebrate each other’s successes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit greatly from the school’s extensive enrichment opportunities. The school ensures that pupils have the chance to discover new talents and interests and engage in the local community. Pupils make a tangible, positive contribution to school life by taking on one of the many leadership roles. For example, the many elected council teams meet weekly to discuss pupils’ views and organise upcoming events.

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

This school is constantly striving to deliver the best provision for its pupils. Staff are tenacious in how they remove barriers to learning for pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The provision for pupils with SEND is highly effective and ensures that these pupils achieve well. Pupils with additional needs are identified early. Appropriate support is then put in 5 and 6 November 2024

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place intelligently. This enables pupils to access learning while also encouraging increasing independence and resilience.

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The school has an ambitious curriculum that has been designed to connect knowledge together and enable pupils to remember what they have been taught. Staff teach the curriculum well, demonstrating strong subject knowledge. They check what pupils know frequently and address misconceptions quickly with expert explanations and modelling of examples. Children in early years have an excellent start here. They benefit from high- quality interactions with staff and carefully considered learning activities. The warm relationships with staff help children settle quickly and develop impressive concentration and curiosity.

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The school has identified that refinements in some areas of the curriculum will help more pupils achieve highly. For example, in mathematics, the curriculum is sequenced well. However, opportunities for thinking at greater depth are not consistently identified and embedded. This means that some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could. In writing, the curriculum is ambitious but is not broken down into the clear steps that pupils need to learn. This means that some pupils do not develop writing knowledge and skills as quickly as they could. The school has begun work to improve outcomes in these two areas of learning, with improvements already evident in pupils’ work.

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Reading and literacy are at the heart of this school’s curriculum. Children start to learn to read right from the beginning of Reception. Pupils benefit from a phonics programme that well-trained staff deliver to a consistently high standard. Staff make frequent checks on pupils’ phonics knowledge, identifying pupils who need extra help. These pupils receive effective additional support to keep up or catch up with the pace of the programme. Pupils go on to become confident and fluent readers. The wide range of rich texts that are embedded across the curriculum give pupils a love and appreciation of reading. Pupils are excited to learn and prepared well for their next steps after key stage 2.

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The school provides pupils with impressive wider development opportunities. This means that pupils become thoughtful and confident learners who want to make a difference in their school. They appreciate the wide array of enrichment that helps prepare them for later life. The opportunities to perform, produce plays, learn to play musical instruments and compete in sport to a high level, teach pupils how to manage themselves in new situations. Pupils develop a strong sense of character through the school’s focus on ‘growth mindset’. This teaches pupils to be kind to themselves and motivates them to keep trying in the face of challenge.

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Governors are highly effective in holding the school to account. They ensure that they have the information that they need to accurately evaluate the school’s strengths and to identify any areas for improvement. Staff feel valued and are proud to work at this inclusive school. 5 and 6 November 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum in mathematics does not precisely identify where and how pupils need to be challenged to think more deeply. This means that some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could because these opportunities are not used consistently in lessons. The school should continue to refine their curriculum in mathematics to deliberately build in opportunities for thinking at greater depth.  In writing, the curriculum does not precisely set out the steps that pupils need to be taught. This means that some pupils do not develop writing fluency as quickly as they could. The school should ensure that they carry out the curriculum development that they have planned. This will enable staff to teach and support all pupils more effectively, particularly those with SEND, so that they achieve as highly as they can.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted's website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school's work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in June 2015. 5 and 6 November 2024

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school's pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 5 and 6 November 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Co-chairs of governing body Laura Lewis Annabel Williams Headteacher Lindsay Daulton

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4 June 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school currently uses one unregistered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school's education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, senior leaders, curriculum leaders, the special educational needs and disabilities coordinator, the school business manager and teachers. The inspector also met with representatives from the governing body and spoke to the local authority school improvement adviser.  Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 5 and 6 November 2024

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 The inspector observed breaktime activities.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector considered the responses to the staff survey and spoke to a range of staff about their views on the school. They also reviewed the school development plan and governors’ minutes.  The inspector took account of the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire and the additional free-text responses. The inspector also spoke to parents at the school gate.

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Inspection team

Alexandra Aldridge-Gibbons, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 5 and 6 November 2024

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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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