Merrydale Junior School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 11 March 2025

This is a happy, warm and welcoming school. The school's values of belonging, excellence, aspiration and respect are very important to the whole school community. Many pupils arrive at the school at various times throughout the four years, with little English. It is important to the school that new pupils feel welcomed and quickly belong in the community. This is through respectful behaviours shown by all. Pupils behave well and engage in their learning. The high aspirations of the staff and pupils permeates through everything that they do. Pupils have the resources they need to support their learning and can choose what to use and when. This ensures that pupils become independent with their learning. Pupils accept that getting things wrong helps them build their resilience. They particularly enjoy practical activities and are keen to explain what they did. Most pupils achieve well across the curriculum. Pupils understand and adhere to the school's high expectations set for them. Therefore, pupils ensure that they adhere to these expectations. Many pupils have leadership responsibilities, such as being members of the school council or taking part in a local leadership programme with other schools. Pupils routinely raise funds for charity. These opportunities help to develop pupils' confidence and self-esteem.

What the school should improve

• In a few subjects, the school has not identified the most important subject content that pupils need to know and remember over time. Sometimes, this means that key content is not taught and leads to gaps in their knowledge. The school should ensure that, in these subjects, the most important content is identified and taught and that pupils know and remember this over time.

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