King's Meadow Academy

Inspection of King’s Meadow Academy Wakefield Road, Fitzwilliam, Pontefract, West Yorkshire WF9 5BP

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Inspection dates: 11 and 12 February 2025

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

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The headteacher of this school is Dan Gough. This school is part of Waterton Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), David Dickinson, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Stephen Johnson. 11 and 12 February 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

King’s Meadow Academy is a rapidly improving school. Staff know pupils and their families very well. Parents and carers appreciate the care and support their children receive. It is a school that welcomes visitors and the wider community warmly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Since the previous inspection, leaders have made many positive changes. These have been timely and wide-ranging. For example, the ‘well-being quad’ is well resourced and is used to support pupils’ mental health. The school has increased its ambitions for pupils’ achievement. This is reflected in the improving curriculum. However, these changes are not fully embedded, and it is too soon to see the full impact of these changes on pupils’ knowledge in the long term.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know the school rules, ‘be ready, respectful and safe’, and they follow them closely. The school is a calm and nurturing place in which to learn and develop. It is orderly because it ensures that all pupils, including those in Reception, follow the school routines consistently. Pupils are happy and safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school offers pupils a range of opportunities to learn outside of the classroom. Pupils enjoy the trips and visits they experience, such as to local museums, wildlife parks and residential visits, where they learn to face different challenges.

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

After a challenging period, the school has started to make improvements to the quality of education. Where the curriculum is further improved and more ambitious, pupils are achieving more. Leaders are mindful of staff’s workload and well-being. As a result, curriculum development is happening in phases, and some areas are more developed than others.

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

Over time, the impact of teaching has been variable. This has been compounded by a number of staffing changes. This has meant that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), have not always achieved as well as they could, including in national tests. Leaders have now stabilised staffing. They have introduced a clear model for teaching, known as the ‘KMA Way’. Teachers receive regular training; this approach is new. There is more to do to ensure that this model is used consistently and that pupils learn the curriculum securely as a result of it.

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

The curriculum is clearly sequenced. However, there are inconsistencies in the school’s approach to teaching writing. There are weaknesses in pupils’ handwriting, grammar and spelling knowledge. This limits the quality of pupils’ written communication.

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

The school prioritises reading. There has been significant training for staff on teaching children to learn to read. This has helped to ensure that the chosen phonics programme is followed consistently. Pupils who fall behind in their reading are supported to catch up quickly. Pupils, especially in the early years and key stage 1, enjoy daily story time. The 11 and 12 February 2025

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school is developing a programme to support pupils with their reading fluency. This work is in its infancy.

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Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported well. The school works effectively with different agencies so that pupils’ needs are met, and it ensures that teachers follow pupils’ support plans.

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The school has prioritised improving pupils’ attendance. Central to this work is the positive partnership between the school and parents and carers. The school works hard to understand the barriers that some families face so that it can put in place the most appropriate support. Rates of attendance have improved significantly.

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Pupils show positive attitudes to learning. Teachers regularly reward pupils for their achievements and hard work. Pupils value this. Some pupils’ resilience and skills that help them to learn independently are not as developed as they could be. This sometimes limits some pupils’ academic achievement and personal development, including children in the early years.

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From the start of Reception, children learn to be kind to each other and respect one another. The school is committed to equality and inclusion. Pupils are proud of the fact that everyone is welcome at their school. The school has developed a strong sense of community. For example, pupils enjoy being placed in houses named after the school’s values: kind, motivate, aspire and achieve. Pupils enjoy working together in their houses and taking part in competitions to win house points. This motivates pupils. Pupils benefit from the range of opportunities to develop their interests and talents, such as in choir, sports and crafts.

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Trustees and local governors have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and priorities. They fulfil their responsibilities well. There is a strong sense of teamwork and demonstrable commitment from all leaders to the school’s continued improvement.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Recent positive changes to the school’s curriculum and how it is taught are not fully embedded. This means that the full impact of the curriculum has not been realised. The school should embed the curriculum and ensure that it is implemented consistently. This way, pupils can learn and remember it and make the progress through it of which they are capable.  The school’s writing curriculum is not having the impact on pupils that it should. Some pupils’ achievement in writing is hindered by weaknesses in handwriting, spelling, 11 and 12 February 2025

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punctuation and grammar knowledge, and this limits the effectiveness of pupils’ written communication. The school should ensure that pupils’ literacy skills are developed further and that pupils can use and apply fundamental writing skills accurately across the curriculum.  Some pupils’ resilience and skills to learn independently are not as developed as they could be. To an extent, this is limiting these pupils’ academic and social development. The school should further develop ways to build pupils’ resilience, sustained concentration and skills to learn independently, ensuring this impacts pupils’ academic and social development positively.

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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). 11 and 12 February 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 21 and 22 September 2022, 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 runs its own breakfast club.  The current headteacher was appointed in September 2023.

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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.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 11 and 12 February 2025

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 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with various leaders from the school and from the trust. The lead inspector met with members of the local governing body and the board of the trustees. Inspectors reviewed documentation relating to governance, including minutes from governors’ meetings.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading and English, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, 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 curriculum in some other subjects.  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

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extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils formally during the inspection and spoke with them at social times and in lessons.  Inspectors met with groups of staff formally during the inspection and spoke with them throughout the inspection. Inspectors also considered the opinions expressed through the staff survey.  The lead inspector took account of responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey, including the free-text responses.

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Inspection team

Dan McKeating, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Adrian Fearn Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 February 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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