Medina Primary School

Inspection of Medina Primary School Medina Road, Cosham, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3NH

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 January 2025

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 14 and 15 January 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

A strong, inclusive ethos is at the heart of this school. It is committed to serving and welcoming all pupils and their families. The care given to pupils by staff means that pupils love coming to school. Pupils embrace the school’s rules to help them make the right choices, meeting the school’s high expectations for behaving well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for pupils’ achievements, including for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils. The school has a strong understanding of individual pupils’ needs. Staff think carefully about how to make every day successful for every pupil. As a result, pupils now achieve well and much better than they did.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite, well mannered and respectful. At social times, older pupils teach their peers games and how to use equipment safely. Other pupil leadership opportunities, such as those of reading ambassadors and eco warriors, enable them to learn tolerance and empathy for others. Pupils also benefit from taking part in shoe box appeals by collecting items for children living in other countries. Pupils develop a strong understanding of the world around them, for example through visits from the NSPCC.

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

The school is coming out of a period of transition. The previous difficulties are reflected in the low provisional published outcomes in 2024. Over the last year, there have been many changes to teaching and leadership roles. Nevertheless, the school has taken decisive action to further improve the curriculum. As a result, pupils now achieve well. Staff are positive about the school, the journey of improvement and the way that they are looked after and supported. Everyone works well together to make sure that changes impact positively on pupils.

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

Across all subjects, the school now identifies the most important knowledge pupils need to know and remember. The school sequences this knowledge in a logical order from early years to Year 6. The school quickly identifies pupils’ individual needs. Across the curriculum, adaptations in lessons for pupils with SEND link well to their individual needs. As a result, pupils with SEND achieve well.

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

Staff’s subject knowledge is strong. Pupils benefit from opportunities to discuss learning with each other, as it deepens their thinking. In nearly all subjects, staff check pupils’ understanding effectively. They ensure that pupils have remembered and can build on previously taught knowledge. However, in a few subjects, the school has not established strong systems for checking if pupils have remembered previously taught knowledge. This means that in these instances, staff do not have the strategies to build pupils’ understanding over time as well as they could.

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

As soon as children enter Reception, the school prioritises phonics teaching. This means pupils at the earliest stages of reading get the effective support that they need. Teachers regularly assess how well pupils have learned the sounds taught. The school provides any 14 and 15 January 2025

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necessary additional support swiftly for pupils. As a result, pupils who fall behind quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to become confident, fluent readers. Pupils enjoy the texts that they read. Pupils of all ages speak with enthusiasm and understanding of the books that their teachers read to them. The school is developing pupils’ writing knowledge. Leaders have developed systems so that pupils have more opportunities to write and spell words accurately. However, not enough children write to a high standard. This aspect of the school’s work is still being embedded across the whole school.

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Pupils show a strong sense of right and wrong. Strong routines established in the Reception class mean pupils learn to focus well on their learning. As a result, pupils across the school work hard in lessons because they want to improve further. Their learning is rarely disrupted by the behaviour of others. Outside, pupils play well with one another. The school has a calm and reassuring approach to pupils who sometimes find it hard to behave in the way the school would like. Well-trained staff ensure pupils can recognise and reflect on their feelings and the impact on themselves and others. As a result, there is a warm and happy atmosphere in the school.

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The school’s personal development provision for pupils is exceptional. The 10 ‘Medina Moments’ ensure pupils benefit from a rich set of well-planned experiences. The school has put in place a wide range of clubs, and take-up is extremely high. Pupils learn about the world of work through purposefully planned visits from adults working in different professions. Through assemblies, themed events and the curriculum, pupils take pride in celebrating the diversity around them. Pupils engage well with the local community. For example, they collect items that they donate to the local food bank.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s work to further develop pupils’ writing skills is not fully embedded. Therefore, not enough pupils produce writing of a high standard. The school should further develop staff’s expertise in the teaching of writing so that gaps in pupils’ knowledge and skills are closed effectively.  In a few subjects, the school has not fully established systems of checking how successfully pupils remember key knowledge. Consequently, there are gaps in pupils’ knowledge. The school should ensure that there are robust systems in place across the subjects so pupils’ misconceptions can be identified and addressed effectively. 14 and 15 January 2025

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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). 14 and 15 January 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 9 and 10 July 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school provides a breakfast club run by the school on site.  The school has undergone a significant change with the headteacher starting in September 2024.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade. 14 and 15 January 2025

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 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 inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with senior leaders, staff and pupils. The lead inspector also met with representatives of the governing board and a representative of the local authority.  The inspection team carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, art and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum documentation, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also discussed the currciulum in some other subjects.

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 Inspectors considered the responses to the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire, including the free-text comments. They also took account of the responses to the confidential staff survey and gathered the views of staff and pupils throughout the inspection.  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 reviewed a range of the school’s documentation, including leaders’ plans for improving the school, minutes of the governing board meetings, records of attendance and behaviour incidents.

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Inspection team

Neil Pilsworth, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

James Everett Ofsted Inspector 14 and 15 January 2025

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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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