Water Meadows Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school Hersden Village pupils are a credit to their school. They are very welcoming, friendly, polite and proud of their school.

They have very positive attitudes to learning and are enthusiastic in all they do. The headteacher, acting headteacher, senior leadership teams, chief executive officer, deputy chief executive officer, the directors and governors lead the school exceptionally well. They ensure that there is a very strong and highly effective collaborative culture.

Strong leadership has secured improvements and created a culture of achievement and aspiration. It actively develops teachers' expertise and their skills as leaders. Children... have an excellent start to education in the early years.

Children are nurtured, thrive and make strong progress from their starting points. Early years leadership is outstanding. Teaching and learning are good.

As a result, pupils make typically good progress from their starting points in reading, writing and mathematics. Additional funding is used well to support the learning of vulnerable pupils. Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieve well.

On occasion, teachers' expectations are not high enough. Challenges for pupils are not always sufficiently demanding for them to achieve the depth of learning of which they are capable. Too few pupils, particularly but not only the most able, achieve the higher standards by the end of key stage 2.

Pupils enjoy a rich, vibrant curriculum that stimulates and inspires them to learn. It provides them with memorable learning experiences. In some subjects, however, there is not always sufficient challenge to enable pupils to achieve greater depth in their skills, knowledge and understanding.

Pupils behave well and feel safe in school. Their well-being and safeguarding are high priorities. Safeguarding is effective.

Pupils enjoy school. Attendance has improved as a result of leaders' relentless hard work. However, leaders acknowledge the need to strengthen their work with parents and carers, promoting regular attendance for all pupils.

Governors and directors provide appropriate support and challenge to leaders.

Information about this school

The school is part of The Stour Academy Trust. The multi-academy trust (MAT) has a board of trustees who refer to themselves as directors.

The chief executive officer (CEO) and the deputy chief executive officer work closely with the school. Local governance is provided by a local advisory board. The headteacher was appointed in September 2017 and is also the headteacher of another school in the MAT.

Currently, the school has three classes with mixed-age groups and one Year 6 class. In 2020, the school will be expanding to a one-form entry school with plans for further expansion to a two-form entry school in 2022. An acting headteacher is working alongside the current headteacher, prior to becoming the substantive headteacher in September 2020.

The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is above average. The proportion of pupils with SEND is above average. The school offers a daily breakfast club.

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