St John's Mead Church of England Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 13 December 2022

Pupils are happy and safe. Parents say that they value the love of learning that the school instils. Equally, parents speak positively of the care their children receive. Bullying is rare. When it does occur, leaders take swift and effective action to resolve it. The school's values permeate its work. Leaders have a clear vision and expectation that pupils 'value effort, others and self'. Pupils live up to these expectations and behave well. Pupils have positive attitudes and respect each other's learning. As a result, a calm and purposeful atmosphere permeates the school. Pupils learn about respect and tolerance. Leaders provide experiences for pupils to understand and appreciate difference. For example, leaders invited local musicians and performers to share different types of artistic culture. These include, for example, a reggae group and an African theatre group. Pupils learn about different types of families and relationships. Pupils learn how to manage their emotions and develop their resilience. Leaders noted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on pupils' mental health and adapted the personal development curriculum. This now helps pupils to learn how to recognise their own emotional states. Pupils learn how they can take on challenges to develop their character.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, pupils do not always recall knowledge from their previous learning as well as they could. Where this is the case, they are not well prepared for what comes next. Teaching should ensure that important subject knowledge is clearly identified and explicitly taught, so that pupils can draw more readily on what they have learned before.

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