Melbourn Primary School

Melbourn Primary School

Address: Mortlock Street, Melbourn, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 6DB Unique reference number (URN): 110614

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Expected standard

Many pupils progress soundly through the curriculum from the early years. Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, secure their phonics skills quickly from the start. Many develop increasing fluency with mathematical facts such as times tables. Over time, however, disadvantaged pupils have not achieved as well as they should. Leaders are tackling this persistently and effectively. For example, their work to improve standards in early reading and mathematical fluency is already making the right difference for younger pupils who are disadvantaged.

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Achievement Expected standard

In many subjects, most pupils grasp the key ideas quickly. They make helpful links in their learning and increase their understanding. They acquire the right vocabulary to express what they know clearly. Overall, most pupils achieve in line with national expectations. They have the right skills and enthusiasm for learning to be ready for their next steps.

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Achievement Expected standard

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities make progress well from their various starting points.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders have worked closely with families to develop good relationships. There is a shared understanding that pupils need to be in school regularly for them to learn effectively and take advantage of social opportunities on offer. They provide a sensible balance of support and challenge to families. As a result, leaders have made a real difference to pupil attendance through their diligent work. This means attendance is now close to national expectations for all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Leaders ensure that staff know and follow the school behaviour policy, both with rewards and sanctions. Staff implement the agreed school approaches in their lessons and at breaktimes. They provide reminders of expectations and rules for the few pupils who need them. Consequently, the majority of pupils follow the school rules to be ‘ready, respectful and safe’. The school is a calm and orderly environment with learning at the heart.

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Attendance and behaviour Expected standard

Through the curriculum, circle times and assemblies, pupils learn that bullying is wrong. Serious incidents of misbehaviour are recorded appropriately and dealt with in line with school policy. For some pupils, more bespoke support is in place to help them. Leaders devise careful plans to ensure that pupils feel safe and learn to manage their actions.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have worked hard to ensure that the broad curriculum sets out what pupils are to learn and how this knowledge will build as pupils move through the school. Teachers get the right help to develop their subject expertise so they can teach this curriculum well. For example, leaders have been strengthening teachers' subject knowledge in some subjects, such as art and physical education. This has further strengthened the delivery of the curriculum so that pupils can securely master key skills, step by step.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders are clear about the most important vocabulary that pupils need to learn. This starts in the early years and builds understanding over time. It enables older pupils to explain complex ideas clearly, for example older pupils talk confidently about valves and ventricles in science, and similarly explain latitude and longitude in geography.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Reading is taught well across the school. Pupils who need it get effective support to catch up. In mathematics, teachers use their checks to spot where extra teaching or support is needed for some pupils. They put this in place swiftly. In a few subjects, teachers are developing and strengthening their strategies to adapt the curriculum to more precisely meet the needs of all pupils.

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Early years Expected standard

Staff use their checks from the start, and throughout the year, to put in place a curriculum which interests children and develops their skills. Reading and books are at the heart of this. As a result, children delight in the language of stories. Children independently use the rich vocabulary they learn from stories in their imaginative play. They enthusiastically join in with the common phrases in the books that their teachers read aloud to them.

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Early years Expected standard

Children are attentive in phonics lessons. They get plenty of practice to develop their early reading skills with books at the right level. Most children learn to read fluently. The school works well with parents to help them to support their children's learning. Across the curriculum, staff know the most important words for children to understand and learn. They make sure that these words are introduced clearly and practised regularly, in lessons and through play. Staff purposefully use both their conversations and interactions with children, as well as the play-based activities on offer, to secure and extend children’s vocabulary and essential skills. Consequently, children are typically well prepared for the next stages of their learning in Year 1.

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Inclusion Expected standard

The number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) has increased in recent years. Leaders identify individual pupils' needs swiftly. They have developed an effective range of provision in response to this. Leaders are continuing to work on further increasing the expertise of their staff to enable them to understand and meet the needs of all pupils.

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Inclusion Expected standard

Staff carefully check what pupils know and can do, whether they join in the early years or at different points later in their school lives. They use this information to put extra support in place for those who need it. For some pupils, the school provides extra help, for example with reading. This help is effective and ensures that pupils with SEND progress well.

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Inclusion Expected standard

In lessons, teachers introduce new ideas clearly. They adjust tasks for those pupils who need it, to help them build their confidence as well as their skills. For some pupils, the school has developed a more bespoke offer. This provides tailored support to help the pupils to manage their behaviour and for others to develop their early communication skills. Leaders work closely with external agencies to shape the help they put in place. The school uses extra funding so that pupils who need it can access support and enrichment opportunities. Leaders review their provision comprehensively and are continuing to adjust and make changes as they spot new ways to further improve.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders know the school well. They understand their changing context and the pressures which influence their work. They take a measured approach to managing the pace of change for staff. When they spot that there is more to do, they put things in place. Some of their actions are more recent, in response to the changing needs of pupils at the school. Leaders know there is still even more to do to be able to consistently evaluate and adjust their actions.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Governors have a wide range of skills and fully understand their statutory duties. They use their expertise to ensure that children are safe and to support and challenge leaders. Together, leaders have established a clear vision for the school and their work. They keep the best interests of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, or have special educational needs and/or disabilities, at the heart of their work when making decisions.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders, including governors, recognise the pressures on staff and are mindful of their wellbeing. They invest in the right training and support for staff to ensure they are able to carry out their roles with confidence and skill. Staff appreciate the care and support of leaders. There is a strong sense of team spirit here.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The school works hard to engage with parents and carers constructively. Governors aim to increase their visibility and extend their links with the school community.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The curriculum for personal, social and health education is clearly sequenced and builds pupils’ knowledge over time. It focuses on equipping pupils with the vocabulary they need and to identify and understand their feelings. Pupils discuss tricky issues sensitively. They extend and deepen their knowledge about how to keep themselves safe and healthy through other subjects. For example, pupils learn to look after their health through the physical education curriculum. Similarly, they develop a secure understanding of online safety through computing lessons.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils feel part of their local community through their visits to places of interest close by. However, the school also works to expand pupils’ horizons beyond the village and equips them for life in modern Britain, for example through trips to a diverse range of places of worship, museums and the theatre. This is all carefully planned to stimulate pupils' understanding of the world and their curiosity to explore and enjoy it. Pupils learn fundamental British values such as tolerance. They describe how these influence their actions to be kind to others, or to raise funds for charity.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

A wide range of clubs enable pupils to pursue their interests and develop their talents in areas such as the arts, music and sport. Leaders carefully check that disadvantaged pupils benefit from these, and other opportunities such as instrumental lessons, along with their peers.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pastoral support is a strength of the school. Leaders are vigilant and identify pupils and families who need extra help. Effective support is put in place swiftly to provide them with the help they need to access the same opportunities as their peers.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are greeted warmly by staff on arrival. This sets a positive tone for the day ahead. A few pupils need extra support to be ready to make the most of the learning opportunities available. This is provided. Leaders have worked hard to ensure that pupils feel welcome and pupils now attend regularly.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Most pupils behave very well. They value the care of their teachers and staff in keeping them safe. They trust staff to help with any unkind behaviour or worries. Sometimes the school puts in place effective extra help and sanctions so that pupils’ behaviour improves.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

In the early years, children are eager to take part in lessons and play together. They listen carefully to adults. They try hard with their phonics and early mathematics skills. Children develop the physical, learning and social skills they need to move on confidently. Most older pupils enjoy their lessons. Many pupils achieve in line with national expectations by the end of their time here. They have the right skills and attitudes to be ready for their next steps. The school puts in place extra help for pupils who fall behind with their learning or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. In many subjects this is already effectively helping pupils to catch up. However, progress through the curriculum has not been as consistent for some pupils who are disadvantaged. Leaders are ambitious to further strengthen provision in the area so that disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as they

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

All pupils benefit from the broad experiences that the school provides. They learn to play a musical instrument proficiently. Pupils develop their fitness at after school sports clubs and by joining the ‘golden mile’ and outdoor learning in the school's extensive grounds.

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Next steps

• Leaders should ensure that teachers follow their guidance to both adjust and implement the curriculum consistently well for pupils, including disadvantaged pupils to further accelerate their progress and achievement. • Leaders should further strengthen the checks they make in order to evaluate the impact of interventions and/or support for pupils and make the necessary adjustments when needed.

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Team inspectors:

James Adkins, Ofsted Inspector Bryony Surtees, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors is Dr Tracy Moffat-Griffin.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher, special educational needs coordinator, designated safeguarding leads, teachers and support staff. They also spoke with governors, including the chair of governors and a representative of the local authority. Inspectors spoke with pupils at different times of the school day. Inspectors took account of the views of parents and staff, through conversations and consideration of responses to surveys.

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About this inspection

The school does not currently make use of any alternative provision.

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About this inspection

Headteacher: Stephanie Wilcox National average: 272

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school. National average: 15%

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 62% 62% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 63% 61% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 60% 60% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 79% 75% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 69% 72% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 66% 72% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 69% 71% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 72% 74% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 71% 73% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 69% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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average

2023/24 (final) 36% 46% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 33% 44% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2024/25 (revised) 53% 63% Close to average

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average

2023/24 (final) 64% 62% Close to average

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average

2022/23 (final) 67% 60% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) 47% 59% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 4.8% 5.5% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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