Mayespark Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 15 November 2023

Pupils are proud to be part of the Mayespark community. School life is underpinned by the core values of respect, determination, honesty, unity, love and politeness. Pupils relish the opportunity to become a 'values ambassador' through being a good role model of these values. Pupils rise to the school's high expectations for their learning and behaviour. In lessons, they are focused and on task. They take their learning seriously and achieve well across the curriculum. At break- and lunchtimes, they play happily, enjoying the range of activities available to them. Relationships between staff and pupils are based on mutual respect. Pupils trust adults to deal with any issues if these arise. Pupils are safe in school and well cared for. The school is committed to promoting the development of the whole child. Pupils have a wide range of opportunities that broaden their experiences. They can attend a variety of after-school clubs, such as those for cookery, art or glow-football. They also have the opportunity to take on roles of responsibility, such as those of a school council member, a reading buddy or a young leader. Pupils are involved in regular fundraising events. They also contribute to the local community through events such as singing in the local residential home for older people. Pupils have been involved in local campaigns to improve their community and have also taken part in a 'big educational conversation' project at the town hall.

What the school should improve

• Some subject leadership is new, with expertise and experience still being developed. In some instances, this means that the school is in the process of working out how early years should provide the starting point for learning in different subjects. In other instances, it means that guidance for teachers on how to explicitly link pupils' previous learning with what comes next is also still being established. The school needs to continue to focus on strengthening subject leadership so that the curriculum thinking and its implementation match its vision for the quality of pupils' learning.
• Sometimes, for the weakest readers, including pupils with SEND, support for early reading is not as well targeted as it needs to be to meet pupils' needs. This means that these pupils can struggle to process and remember what they are expected to understand and practise. The school needs to make sure that, for these pupils, the early reading curriculum breaks down key knowledge into small enough chunks so that pupils can remember and apply what they have been taught.

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