Meadow Park School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 26 March 2024

Many of the pupils at this school have been permanently excluded or are at risk of being permanently excluded from mainstream school. Meadow Park School offers them a second chance. Staff at the school quickly form close relationships with pupils. This helps pupils to feel safe and relaxed. Pupils have a trusted adult to whom they can talk if they have any concerns. Pupils benefit from clear and precise expectations around behaviour. Most pupils behave well in lessons and try their best. Now and then, when pupils do not meet these expectations, staff calmly support them using the 'three Rs' system of 'refocus, regulate and reflect'. This allows pupils to return to class quickly and to continue with their learning. Pupils enjoy a breadth of activities to develop their skills and interests. For example, key stage 4 pupils take part in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award. There are table tennis and cookery clubs for pupils to enjoy. Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe. Recently, pupils worked with a local football club to make a video to promote the dangers of knife crime. The school has high expectations of what pupils can achieve socially and academically. Most pupils rise to these expectations and achieve well.

What the school should improve

• Pupils in key stages 3 and 4 who have difficulties with reading do not get the support that they need to overcome gaps in their reading knowledge. This means that they lack fluency in reading and struggle to access some areas of the curriculum. The school should ensure that it puts in place an effective programme of support to help these pupils with their reading.
• Those responsible for governance have not held the school suitably to account. As a result, the school does not take a strategic approach to ensure that identified weaknesses are addressed in a timely way. Those responsible for governance should ensure that the school is suitably supported and challenged to take a more strategic approach to successfully achieving its improvement priorities.
• Many pupils' attendance is still stubbornly low. These pupils do not benefit from the many opportunities offered by the school, including the curriculum. As a result, they are not learning academically or socially as well as they could. The school should ensure that effective systems are put in place to improve pupils' attendance.

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