Mereside Primary School in Shrewsbury celebrates ‘good’ Ofsted rating
Staff, students and governors at Mereside CE Primary School in Shrewsbury are celebrating after Ofsted removed them from special measures and graded the school as ‘good’, following a two-day full inspection on 17 and 18 June 2014.
The school’s last full inspection in December 2012 judged that the school required special measures.
The inspectors now say that ‘teaching has improved significantly since the school’s last inspection and is helping the vast majority of pupils to make good progress’.
They say that ‘pupils who were previously falling behind have now caught up and are achieving well in all subjects’, and that pupils are ‘energised by the broad range of subjects and topics they study and the varied events and activities provided by the school’.
Inspectors observed 15 lessons and, during their time at the school, they held discussions with pupils, teachers, parents and governors, listened to students’ reading and reviewed pupils’ work.
In their report, inspectors say that the quality of teaching has ‘improved markedly’ since the school’s last inspection – and found that there is no inadequate teaching and that the vast majority is of good or outstanding quality.
They found that ‘pupils now make more consistently good progress in reading, writing and mathematics in all classes’, that current Year 6 pupils have made ‘remarkable progress’, and that the pace of improvement to pupils’ achievement is ‘rapid’ in most classes.
Inspectors found pupils to be attentive, well behaved and keen to learn.
And they praise the headteacher and deputy headteacher for providing ‘strong, ambitious leadership’, and say that teaching and support staff work well as a cohesive team, and that staff morale is high.
The report also praises the school governors, saying that they have been very proactive and effective in helping the school to improve since its last full inspection, and have ‘skilfully supported and challenged the school’s leaders to improve teaching and learning’.
And it praises Shropshire Council for providing ‘effective support and challenge since the school’s last full inspection’.
The report identified two areas for improvement that are needed if the school is to be recognised as ‘outstanding’. It says they need to improve pupils’ achievement further in mathematics, and build on the improvements made to the quality of teaching by always providing more ambitious targets for higher ability pupils.
Headteacher Liz Holmes said:
“We are absolutely delighted with the outcome of the Ofsted inspection. Every member of the school community has worked together as a cohesive team to drive up standards at the school, and this report is testament to everyone’s hard work and dedication.
“We will now strive to build on our recent improvements and achievements and are aiming to become an outstanding school at our next full inspection.”
Ann Hartley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children’s services, said:
“I’m thrilled that Ofsted inspectors have recognised the substantial improvements that have been made at Mereside in a relatively short period of time. This is the result of a lot of very hard work on the part of staff and governors at the school and I’m really pleased for the head and her team. I’m also pleased that the council’s support for the school has been praised.
“Pupils and their parents can be confident that the school now provides a good education which prepares children well for the future, and I congratulate all those who have played a part in this success.”
Further information
There are 4 Ofsted grading categories:
Grade 1: Outstanding
Grade 2: Good
Grade 3: Requires Improvement
Grade 4: Inadequate
