Morpeth Stobhillgate First School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement Leaders' plans for improvement lack precision, timescales and accurate targets. As a result, governors have not challenged and supported senior leaders with sufficient rigour. Pupils are not making the progress of which they are capable.

Not enough pupils are reaching and exceeding the standards expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics. The quality of middle leadership requires further development. Subject leaders have not had the opportunity, routinely, to check on the content of the curriculum and the standards reached by pupils.

Consequently, pupils are not making enough progress across the wider ...curriculum. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is variable. Some teachers have good subject knowledge and high expectations, but this is not always the case.

Pupils' reading books are not matched well enough to their phonic knowledge and skills. Pupils' progress in their writing is not consistently good enough. Pupils do not take pride in their handwriting and presentation.

Work is often untidy and careless. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment in the early years is not consistently good. The school has the following strengths The recently appointed headteacher has an accurate view of the school's strengths and areas for further development.

He has already taken incisive action to improve the quality of teaching in phonics and mathematics. The quality of phonics teaching is consistently high. Over the past two terms, leaders have improved the way mathematics is taught.

The rate of progress pupils make in mathematics is already increasing. Pupils behave very well in school. Leaders promote pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively.

Information about this school

The headteacher was appointed in September 2018. This school is smaller than the average-sized primary school and has falling pupil numbers. The proportion of pupils who are eligible for support through the pupil premium is below the national average.

The proportion of pupils with SEND is broadly average. Nearly all pupils are from White British backgrounds. Children in Reception attend full time and children in Nursery attend part time.

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