Duffield the Meadows Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 1 October 2024

Parents and carers overwhelmingly support this caring school. They value the warm welcome the school extends to pupils and families. One parent, reflecting the views of many, said: 'The staff are dedicated, focused and kind…they expect the best from all children and this shows in the high standards of behaviour, manners and care they show each other.' Pupils demonstrate this positive behaviour during social times. They are good friends to each other. They are safe and happy. The school nurtures the personal development and well-being of pupils. Pupils thrive from the quality of wider opportunities that the school offers. They enjoy the choice of clubs such as sports, gardening, choir and sewing which broaden their interests. Pupils are confident and flourish through the activities and events provided by the school. The school is ambitious for all pupils to achieve well, and many pupils do. They take pride in their work and enjoy demonstrating what they have remembered. Pupils achieve well in the core subjects of English and mathematics but their depth of understanding in other subjects is sometimes less secure. Pupils are motivated to work hard and do well.

What the school should improve

• While leaders have specified the knowledge that they want children and pupils to learn, this is not always clearly translated into sequences of learning that secure depth of understanding over time. As a result, some pupils are not learning everything that was intended and are not making explicit connections with previous learning. Some do not understand the distinction between subject disciplines. The school should refine the curriculum implementation to ensure that all pupils are building their knowledge in a coherent way both within and across subjects. This will help them to deepen their understanding and achieve higher standards.
• While staff check on pupils' learning with effective questioning, they are not always agile in determining whether learning can be moved on quickly to the next stage or where concepts need to be presented differently or revisited to help pupils understand. This can result in pupils revisiting learning unnecessarily or gaining misconceptions. The school should ensure that teachers' skills to evaluate their checks on pupils' learning are precise to maximise learning time while ensuring that pupils' needs are met where they lack understanding.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)