Sheffield primary school taking ‘effective action’ to improve according to Ofsted

Meynell Primary School, in Parson Cross, had been ordered to improve by Ofsted inspectors following two consecutive visits.

Now, following a recent monitoring inspection visit in March, the school has been told that further improvement is needed in order for the school to become ‘good’.

In a letter to headteacher Vikki Garratt, inspector Chris Cook said that the school should ensure that all incidents of name-calling are reported so that staff can deal with them effectively and that work should be done to reduce the number of fixed-term exclusions.

He said: “Pupils reported that there are some cases of homophobic name-calling that are not reported to adults and are, therefore, not addressed.

“Your records show that racist name-calling has increased this year. You recognise that there is further work to do to ensure pupils understand that this is not acceptable.”

However, he noted an improvement in the behaviour of the few pupils who ‘struggle to manage themselves’ following the introduction of a new behaviour policy in September 2017.

In the report, he also praised senior leaders and the Tapton School Academy Trust – who run the school – for taking steps to improve Meynell Primary, highlighting improvement in teaching and learning across the school.

He added: “These actions have had a dramatic effect on attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2018.

“The proportion of pupils reaching the expected standards increased: in reading by 32 per cent; in writing by six per cent and in mathematics by 37 per cent compared to the previous year.”

Vikki Garratt, headteacher, said: “We are pleased with the outcome of the monitoring visit and feel as though it reflects the hard work and dedication of all our children, families and staff over the last two years.

“The school has capacity to continue this improvement and the team are fully committed to continuing the journey towards a good education for all of our children and securing a ‘good’ Ofsted judgement.”

Angela Lant, Director of Primaries at Tapton School Academy Trust, said: “Meynell School is in a strong position to continue this journey of improvement.

Staff work hard and are dedicated to the needs of the children and families at Meynell. We are all pleased that this has been recognised by Ofsted.”