Green Meadow Independent Primary School

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

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Inspection dates: 19 to 21 November 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy here. They are looked after well by caring staff. The school keeps them safe. Pupils feel secure when they are at school. Pupils get along nicely with one another and rarely fall out. Pupils conduct themselves exceptionally well throughout the school day.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy growing their own fruit and vegetables in the outdoor planting area. They benefit from extra-curricular trips, such as to a zoo. They take pride in carrying out various roles around the school. These responsibilities include eco-councillors and reading buddies. Pupils raise funds for several charitable causes. They engage positively with the local area through initiatives, such as singing at care homes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for what pupils should learn. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) whose additional needs are catered for well. Pupils achieve well across many parts of the school’s curriculum.

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better?

The school ensures that pupils learn a broad and balanced curriculum. This curriculum reflects the subjects and general expectations of the national curriculum. The school has adopted schemes of work for each subject, which clearly outline a logical order of learning for pupils. The school delivers much of its curriculum well. In most subjects, pupils develop an ample body of knowledge over time.

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better?

In some subjects, pupils regularly re-visit their prior learning. This helps pupils to strengthen their retention of knowledge over the longer term and deepen their understanding of fundamental concepts. In some other subjects, this is not consistently the case. In these subjects, pupils’ recall of previous learning is less secure and their grasp of some concepts is not as strong as it could be.

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better?

The school carries out regular checks on pupils’ learning. It often provides pupils with appropriate guidance in response to this assessment information. However, there are times when the school does not use assessment strategies as effectively as it could to identify and address pupils’ gaps in learning and misconceptions. In these instances, some pupils still have historic gaps in their knowledge.

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better?

The school identifies potential SEND early. Pupils with SEND are supported well. Staff adapt the delivery of the curriculum appropriately to meet these pupils’ various additional needs.

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better?

The school is currently revising its personal development offer to increase the range of opportunities, such as clubs and school trips that pupils can experience. Nonetheless, overall, it does provide suitably well for pupils’ development. For example, pupils learn some of the ways that people can be different to each other. They learn to be respectful and tolerant of those from different cultures and 19 to 21 November 2024 backgrounds. They develop a secure knowledge of how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Pupils also learn how to keep themselves safe, including when online.

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better?

The school has a sharp focus on ensuring pupils quickly become fluent readers. The school provides pupils with highly individualised reading lessons. This helps pupils to quickly acquire a secure knowledge of letters and the sounds that they represent. It also helps pupils to address any gaps in their phonics knowledge quickly. Many pupils quickly become confident readers and use expression well when reading aloud.

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better?

The school encourages a love of reading. It promotes interesting books and high- quality texts in the school library and class reading areas. Pupils have recently enjoyed creating their own poetry based on poems that they have read in their English lessons.

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better?

Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and behave well. They are attentive in lessons. There is little disruption to their learning. A small number of pupils do not attend as frequently as they could. The school takes effective action to address the barriers that sometimes prevent pupils from attending school regularly.

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better?

The proprietor meets her statutory obligations. For example, she carries out thorough checks to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. The proprietor also ensures that the school premises are kept in good condition and that classrooms are inviting places in which to learn. Furthermore, the proprietor has ensured that the school complies with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.

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better?

However, the proprietor’s systems for ensuring that all of the independent school standards (‘the standards’) are consistently met are not as robust as they could be. This occasionally limits the school’s responsiveness to issues that might affect its ongoing compliance with the standards. For example, inspectors identified some minor issues with the school’s attendance register and the information that it provides in some policies. These were rectified by the end of the inspection. Additionally, some of the school’s checks on the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ learning are not as rigorous as they could be. At times, this impacts how quickly the school is able to address aspects of the curriculum that need further refinement.

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better?

Staff are happy at the school. There is a strong team spirit among the staff. They feel that their workload is manageable and that leaders give them the additional time that they need to carry out extra tasks and responsibilities.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 19 to 21 November 2024

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In some subjects, the school has not ensured that staff routinely revisit pupils’ previous learning. This means that some of this learning does not stick in pupils’ long-term memory and some do not develop a secure knowledge of certain broader concepts. The school should improve how it supports staff to ensure that pupils retain knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of some subject- specific concepts.  The school’s checks on pupils’ learning do not identify pupils’ knowledge gaps consistently well. At times, this means that some gaps in pupils’ learning are not addressed as swiftly as they could be. The school should develop its assessment strategies further so that it can quickly identify and subsequently help pupils with gaps and misconceptions in their learning.  Some of the school’s quality assurance systems are not as robust as they could be. This means that the school does not evaluate the implementation and impact

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

of the curriculum as well as it could. It also means that the school is not always fully assured that the standards are consistently met. The school should strengthen its quality assurance procedures to ensure that the curriculum is delivered consistently well.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 19 to 21 November 2024

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School details

Unique reference number 135998 DfE registration number 359/6011

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School details

Inspection number 10342069 Type of school Other independent school

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £5,885 to £7,175

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School details

Website www.greenmeadowindependentschool.co m Email address greenmeadowteachers@gmail.com

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 to 5 March 2020 19 to 21 November 2024

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Information about this school

 The proprietor has recently undertaken the headteacher position due to unexpected staffing changes.  The school is registered to admit up to 198 pupils aged from 3 to 14. It is a non- selective school. It increased its upper age range from 11 to 14, and its admissions capacity from 31 to 198, through a material change inspection in 2019 commissioned by the Department for Education (DfE). However, the school did not progress with its original expansion plans. It does not admit key stage 3 pupils due to insufficient demand. The proprietor is currently reviewing whether or not to maintain the registered age range and admissions capacity.  The school operates from premises at Robson Way, Lowton, Warrington WA3 2RD.  At the same location, the proprietor also operates a nursery school which is registered separately with the DfE. This nursery is called First Steps Nursery.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection 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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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors conducted deep dives in these subjects: geography, early reading and mathematics. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also observed some pupils read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documentation, including that relating to the standards and the curriculum.  The lead inspector spoke with the proprietor. 19 to 21 November 2024  Inspectors talked to staff about their workload and well-being.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with the leaders responsible for attendance, behaviour and pupils’ personal development.  Inspectors spoke with pupils about their wider experience of school.  Inspectors looked at a range of policies and documents related to pupils’ welfare and education. They observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: 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.  Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff. There were no responses to the online survey for pupils.  An inspector spoke with parents and carers at the end of the school day. Inspectors also took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including

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Inspection team

David Spruce, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Victoria Burnside His Majesty’s Inspector 19 to 21 November 2024 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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