Kirk Merrington Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Kirk Merrington Primary is an outstanding school. Pupils greatly enjoy coming to school as shown by one pupil who commented, 'the school is kind, loving and caring; people make each other happy'.

This reflects the outstanding care, guidance and support that pupils receive which contribute very well to pupils' personal development and well-being. The school is exceptionally well led by the headteacher, who is very effectively supported by a team of staff committed to promoting the best possible outcomes for every child. Children get off to a good start in the Reception class and thoroughly enjoy their learning enabling them to make good progress.

However, provision for children in the Early Ye...ars Foundation Stage, although good in respect of adult interaction particularly by support staff, is limited by the restrictions in the amount of opportunities and space available for children in independent activities. Pupils make consistently good progress from Year 1 to Year 6 and by the time they leave, attainment is high. This is because teaching is good and sometimes outstanding.

Lessons progress at a brisk pace and pupils have a good understanding of their learning. Teachers have good subject knowledge and work is mostly matched well to pupils' needs. However, new assessment procedures have been introduced in reading and writing and these are not yet fully embedded to enable staff to identify 'next steps' in learning more precisely.

The curriculum is outstanding and the high quality range of activities that are planned for pupils during and beyond the school day, contribute greatly to their enjoyment in learning. Pupils say they feel very safe in school because they know the adults care for them very well and they have an excellent understanding of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle. They promote healthy lifestyles through exhibitions that are open to parents, carers and members of the local community, choose healthy foods and participate in a wide range of sporting activities.

Their behaviour is exemplary and they are very polite and courteous. Pupils demonstrate a high level of responsibility taking on important jobs within the school and in the many outstanding contributions they make to the school and to the wider community. Attendance is above average and pupils are developing their skills at a rapid rate which is preparing them extremely well for the next steps in their education and future lives.

They have high aspirations of what they want to achieve in the future. The school has highly effective partnerships with other agencies, which promote pupils' learning and personal development very well. The school is vigilant in ensuring that all pupils have equal opportunities to make the progress they are capable of.

As a result of rigorous monitoring and evaluation and effective action taken, many aspects of the school's work have improved since the last inspection. However, although the school improvement plan identifies very appropriate priorities based on the school's own self-evaluation, it does not always identify ways in which success can be measured. The school has good capacity to build further upon its many successes.

information about the care and protection of pupils (safeguarding) and pupils'

performance data. They scrutinised questionnaires from 54 parents and carers, 12 staff and 16 pupils. The inspection team reviewed many aspects of the school's work.

It looked in detail at a number of key areas. The attainment and rates of progress of pupils, particularly higher attaining pupils and in writing. How good the quality of teaching and assessment are and how well work meets the needs of all pupils.

The quality of leadership and management at all levels and whether leaders have successfully improved the quality of teaching and learning. The outcomes for all groups of pupils, to help evaluate equality of opportunity. The outcomes and provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage and if the needs of reception children are met within the mixed-age class.

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