Minehead Middle School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 25 February 2025

Pupils and staff appreciate the stability and rapid improvements the school has put in place. Changes in staffing have settled. Pupils have nurturing relationships with their teachers. Through the raised expectations, pupils understand the school's ambition for them to achieve well. Despite this, work to improve some parts of the curriculum are developing. This means some older pupils have gaps in their knowledge. The school has established sharp routines and expectations for pupils' conduct. Most pupils respect these. They enjoy the positive recognition and celebration of their achievements. The school is calm. Suspensions have reduced considerably. Teachers use common language and routines to ensure there are high expectations for learning. Pupils actively engage and interact in class. Pupils learn about their physical and mental health. The extensive pastoral team help pupils when they need it. Incidents of bullying have decreased considerably. Pupils have confidence that when reported, the school deal with it. The school design many extended opportunities for pupils through clubs, trips and the much-anticipated enrichment week. For example, at lunchtimes, many pupils enjoy the opportunities in the library, such as chess club. Pupils take on different leadership roles to contribute to the school community. They enjoy these roles and carry them out with pride. Pupils describe the pupil leaders who help them and support the school as role models.

What the school should improve

• A few subjects have recently made significant change to their curriculum content. This means some older pupils are learning content not based on their prior learning, or they have lower starting points. Pupils have gaps in their knowledge as a result. The school needs to ensure where there are significant curriculum changes, it addresses the gaps pupils have in their learning.
• The extended leadership team do not have clear oversight of the areas they have accountability for. This is because the systems and evaluations to quality assure are not in place. As a result, they do not know with clarity what needs to happen to bring further improvement. The school and the trust need to make sure all leaders have the mechanisms and support to effectively evaluate the impact of their work.

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