Malmesbury Primary School

Inspection of Malmesbury Primary School Malmesbury Road, Morden, Surrey SM4 6HG

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 18 and 19 March 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Malmesbury Primary is a warm and welcoming school. Pupils enjoy their learning and are safe here. They know that there are adults to speak to if they need additional help. The school provides a nurturing environment. Pupils behave well around the school because they are expected to do so. They are courteous, polite and confident. The school is a friendly and caring community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s vision to ‘bring out the best in everyone’ is embedded in the school’s ethos. Pupils benefit from a broad and enriched education. The school has high expectations for pupils. They make good progress through the curriculum, and typically, they achieve in line with national outcomes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides a range of enrichment activities so that pupils gain valuable life experiences. These include events such as ‘European Languages Day’, where the school encourages respect and curiosity about different cultures, values and beliefs. Pupils take part in talent shows, residential trips and sporting competitions. They contribute to the life of the school by becoming librarians, playground leads or school council representatives.

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

Pupils study an ambitious curriculum. The curriculum is well designed so that learning develops over time and pupils have time to practise and apply their skills. For example, in music, pupils apply their knowledge of rhythm, pitch and notation to compose their own pieces, which they then perform to their peers.

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

Pupils can typically remember their learning well. In geography, for instance, pupils recall their knowledge of climates and habitats when learning about tropical countries. Teaching revisits prior knowledge to build understanding well. Teachers explain and use new vocabulary and terminology with pupils and ask questions to prompt pupils to reflect on their learning. The school has introduced a focus on oracy and language development across the curriculum. While staff model this well, pupils do not consistently use ambitious vocabulary themselves or give longer, sustained responses in discussions.

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

The school has prioritised pupils’ reading. Staff have received appropriate training and follow the agreed phonics programme consistently. Pupils read books that are closely matched to the sounds that they know. Teachers routinely check pupils’ progression in reading. This ensures that additional support can be provided for those who need it. Help is carefully focused on what pupils need to become accurate and fluent readers. The curriculum introduces pupils to both modern and classical texts. Storytelling and theatre workshops on ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Oliver Twist’ have captured pupils’ imagination and support a love of reading.

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

Staff identify quickly the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Most of these pupils make progress well through the curriculum alongside their 18 and 19 March 2025

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peers within the classroom. Clearly structured lessons and targeted support, as required, ensure pupils build their understanding securely.

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Children in the Reception and Nursery classes are provided with a strong foundation. Children take part in meaningful activities that particularly develop their understanding of number and support their motor skills. To illustrate this, children frequently engage in woodwork and use tools under careful supervision. Children benefit from high-quality interactions with staff, who support their communication and encourage children to be curious. For example, children explore what happens to oats when you add milk, and they make houses for chickens based on their reading of ‘The Little Red Hen’.

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The curriculum supports children’s and pupils’ early writing development exceptionally well. Children write in full sentences and show control over their handwriting. However, this is not sustained as pupils advance through the school. This is particularly the case when older pupils write in subjects other than English, as the same high standards for writing are not applied consistently.

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Pupils are well mannered. They understand the school’s rules and these are consistently applied. Younger children build positive relationships. They learn how to take turns and treat one another kindly. Pupils’ attendance is rising, although some persistent absence remains. The school’s work to increase the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is not having the desired impact with some harder-to-reach families. This means that some miss valuable learning opportunities and have gaps in their knowledge.

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The schools’ personal, social, health and economic education programme is well organised. Pupils learn how to stay healthy and how to keep themselves safe, including online. Trips are thoughtfully planned to enrich the curriculum. For example, pupils visit the Houses of Parliament and conduct field trips, while younger children visit farms. Pupils also take part in numerous clubs, including German, rugby, choir and gardening.

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Staff are very proud to work at the school. Leaders provide them with effective professional development and ensure their voices are heard. Governors work with leaders to support their ambitions for further improvement. Together, they create a nurturing and inclusive environment.

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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 support pupils’ language acquisition and improve writing outcomes is not embedded across the curriculum. While teachers model ambitious vocabulary and frequently question pupils, they do not consistently encourage pupils to give more sustained responses or apply that vocabulary. This means that some pupils 18 and 19 March 2025

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are not developing their communication skills as well as they could and the intended impact on writing outcomes is not fully realised. The school should ensure that its strategies to develop language are frequently applied to support pupils’ discussions and generate ideas for written responses.  Teachers’ expectations for the quality of pupils’ writing varies across the curriculum. This means that some pupils do not achieve as well as they could in their writing. The school should ensure that they routinely provide pupils with opportunities to develop their writing in line with the same high standards across the curriculum.  Persistent absence remains high, particularly for some pupils who are disadvantaged, including those with SEND. This means that some pupils may miss valuable knowledge needed to build their understanding. The school should ensure it is doing all it reasonably can to identify barriers to attending school and support families in

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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). 18 and 19 March 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Porsha Nunes-Brown

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 1 and 2 October 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses one registered alternative provision and one unregistered provision.  The school provides a breakfast club and after-school clubs.

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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 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.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and took that into account in their evaluation of the school. 18 and 19 March 2025

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 Inspectors met with senior leaders, representatives from the governing body, a representative from the local authority, teachers and support staff.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, geography, French and music. 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. Other subjects were also considered as part of this inspection.  Inspectors scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school and priorities for school improvement.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. They also spoke to pupils, parents and staff and took into consideration Ofsted’s online staff and pupil surveys.  Inspectors checked the school’s policies and records, including those related to

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behaviour and pupils’ wider development.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour across the school, including as they arrived and left 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.

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Inspection team

Sarah Saunders, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

David Atter Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 March 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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