Crown Meadow First School & Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Crown Meadow First School & Nursery continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a caring school. Adults teach pupils the school values of empathy, diversity, curiosity, independence, and resilience from when children start in Nursery.

As a result, the relationships between adults and pupils are respectful. Pupils say they are happy at school and enjoy their learning. They have positive relationships with their friends.

Behaviour in lessons and around the school is good. Positive attitudes to learning start in Nursery and continue throughout the school. Pupils say that if children are unkind to each other, adults sort it out.

Bully...ing is rare.

Leaders have high aspirations for what they want pupils to achieve. They are continually looking at how they can make the school even better.

For example, leaders have secured extra funding to improve the outdoor learning space for early years.

The school offers a range of experiences for pupils beyond the classroom. This includes forest school, trips to Cadbury World, sports clubs, and an origami club.

Pupils value these opportunities. Pupils speak with pride about the roles they can take on, for example, being a junior sports leader, a house captain, or a learning buddy in the classroom.

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

The curriculum is broad and balanced.

All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), study all subjects. Pupils with SEND achieve well. Lessons are well-planned and sequenced.

Leaders from different phases plan together. This means that pupils build on what they know year on year.

Subject leaders are given time by leaders to check on learning in their subjects.

They provide effective support and training for both teachers and support staff. As a result, adults have strong subject knowledge. However, until recently, there has been instability in the leadership of design and technology.

There is now a well-sequenced plan in place for the delivery of design and technology, but it is too early to see the difference it is making to pupils' learning.

Children in Nursery get off to a good start. Adults are attentive to their needs.

Activities focus on developing independence and a curiosity for learning. When they arrive at Nursery, children learn to tick off their names on the register. They learn to take off their coats independently.

Staff plan opportunities well to develop children's vocabulary. For example, skilful questioning encourages children to describe the colours of a traffic light and explain what the colour means when they play crossing the road. Adults check on pupils' development.

They use this information purposefully to talk to parents about how their child can practise their learning at home. In Nursery, children begin to learn to use resources well. This helps them to develop their understanding of number, shapes and colours.

This prepares them well for the next stage of their education.

Reading is a priority for the school. Leaders promote a love of reading through activities such as 'author of the term' and 'bookworm bear' in Reception.

Pupils read every day. Parents get good support from staff to help them when their child reads at home. There is an effective reading programme in place.

Leaders regularly check how well pupils are learning to read. When pupils are falling behind, leaders act quickly to give pupils extra help. As a result, pupils are becoming confident, fluent readers.

Adults plan learning activities that match pupils' abilities and needs well. As a result, pupils engage well in lessons. No low-level disruption interferes with learning.

Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Every term, pupils have a day that is focused on fundamental British values. Work in books shows that pupils know what democracy means and they can apply this to their learning.

Leaders consider staff's workload carefully. Meetings after school are well planned. Staff say that they are purposeful.

Activities such as yoga and cake baking support staff's well-being. Staff value the support leaders give them.

Governors are committed to ensuring the school continues to improve and that pupils achieve well.

For example, governors asked for extra training from the school's improvement adviser to further develop their skills and knowledge. As a result, they are asking the right questions of leaders about pupils' progress to hold them to account more effectively.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Leaders have extensive experience and knowledge about how to support pupils' welfare. Staff have regular training.

They report concerns; confident in the knowledge that leaders will deal with them effectively.On entry to the school, visitors are given information about how to report a concern. Appropriate checks are completed on all adults who work at, or visit, the school.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe through assemblies and the curriculum. For example, in Nursery, children learn about road safety. Pupils say they feel safe.

Parents and staff agree.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Until the start of this year, there has been instability in the leadership of design and technology. The improvements made by the new leader in the planning and delivery of the design and technology curriculum is beginning to make a difference to pupils' learning.

However, this is still at an early stage. Leaders need to embed these improvements to ensure that all pupils achieve well in this subject.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 13 June 2012.

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