National Whole School Silver Wellbeing Award April 2024
The Needs Analysis appears to confirm many strengths and an embedded positive and supportive culture and climate that has existed at Meldreth prior to engaging with RAW! I thought the detail captured within the NA documentation was excellent. These two points in particular stood out to me:
"Parents and carers aware of the importance of core strength development as a set of critical skills for learning, for work and for life - 89% of parents agree that: ‘The school supports my child’s wider personal development’
"Our Positive Behaviour Policy outlines our therapeutic approach to supporting pro-social behavior in school. All staff are aware that behavior is a form of communication which can illustrate what could be “under-the-surface” when children exhibit difficult or dangerous behaviour and of the “Amygdala Hijack” and the impact this has on emotional self-regulation."
And in your impact statement:
"Our Positive Behaviour Policy sets out the high expectations we have of pupils’ behaviour and conduct. We adopt a zero tolerance approach to bullying and this is supported by the whole school community. Pupil leaders regularly remind others of what they should do if bullying occurs and staff are vigilant to any issues, which allows swift action to be taken when necessary.
Pupils have a positive attitude towards their education and feel happy and safe at the school, this is shown through high attendance rates for all pupil groups – currently 0.2% above national and 98% of parents/carers agreed with the statement ‘My child feels safe at school’ Parent survey Feb 24
Exclusion rates at the school are low and pupils displaying dangerous or difficult behaviour are supported to prevent exclusion. Excellent support is provided for the small number of children struggling to regulate their emotions using both within school expertise and the support of outside agencies e.g. YOUnited, Allyance play therapy, CAMHS.
The welfare and learning of every pupil is the collective responsibility of all staff and is seen as a collaborative task. Staff devote time to develop a deep knowledge and understanding of all pupils and work hard to develop harmonious relationships with families.
Pupils are always keen to learn and can be trusted to work as part of a class, group or independently in different areas of the school. Pupils play an active part in self-monitoring behaviour..."
Marius Frank - Co-Head of Education, Youth Justice Lead
PSQM Gilt Pilot September 2023
Thank you for the privilege of looking through your PSQM GILT submission. There is some excellent practice and science has clearly moved forward. Examples of children’s learning were of high quality so I suspect there is so much more happening than is demonstrated in the submission documents.
- Science subject leadership has been strengthened and developed. Science is valued and improved through embedded and sustained processes for subject leadership.
- Science teaching has been strengthened and developed. Subject leadership responds to development needs in science teaching.
- Science learning has been strengthened and developed. Subject leadership develops and evaluates teachers’ practice.
- Science has been enriched. Children’s experiences of science are enriched
The school has clearly given the children some amazing opportunities to collaborate, talk and develop their understanding of science and its relevance to society. What a great school to learn science in.
It is lovely to see your reflections on developments at Meldrith Primary School and the impact it has made on yourself, teachers and children. Science Week did look truly amazing and well thought through in terms of your aims.
Early Reading Audit November 23
During the visit, it was evident that reading for pleasure is at the heart of the school’s approach to teaching reading. “Recommended Reads” are shared with parents and the school’s Reading Ambassadors produce a reading newsletter which is shared with pupils and their families. Buddy Reading is used across the school, providing regular opportunities for pupils to read with one another across year groups.
Children are encouraged to choose books which interest them, and pupils’ book reviews and recommendations were displayed in some classrooms. Reading at home is actively encouraged. For example, question prompts and ideas for wider reading are shared with parents. Boom Reader has recently been introduced to further support feedback and communication with parents.
Liz Holmes - Cambridgeshire English Advisor
Leadership of Safeguarding Review November 22
Pupil Voice
The children were aware of lots of ways in which the school kept them safe.They mentioned the ‘little people’ barriers at the front of the school to prevent unsafe parking, the provision of first aid, fences to prevent children being pecked by the chickens’ and fences.
It was felt that there was nowhere that the children did not feel safe although a few children remembered, previously, that animals sometimes used to access the site and soil the grounds. They didn’t like this.
The children didn’t have any ideas of ways to make the school safer, saying the fences were secure (and unclimbable) and that there were teachers outside wherever you go.
All of the pupils had someone to talk to if they felt worried or concerned. They were happy to talk to class teachers, friends or other ‘trusted adults’. One child added, ‘you can talk to any teacher and they will listen to you’. One pupil said that his class had a box, into which he could put post-it notes and ‘the teacher checks the box every day’.
The children also felt able to speak to staff if they felt sad and were equally happy to speak to lunchtime staff as their own class teachers. The children believed that the school helped children to behave well. They also described how the anti-bullying counsellors or peer mediators might have a role to play in responding to any problems. It was felt that pupils ‘usually’ treated each other with respect and that bullying was rare. Where poor behaviour occurred, the children were directed towards restorative behaviours e.g., saying sorry. The children believed that the school would respond seriously to bullying incidents with pupils being listened to and staff acting quickly.
The school helps children to stay safe on-line. Children knew not to share personal details or passwords. Others explained that they mustn’t use their own name on apps and if they felt unsafe they could block, report and get adults. One pupil said that he’d delete messages that were upsetting The children evidently loved their school and spoke at length about enjoying Friday fun maths, having ipads on which to play games and the games that they played on the adventure playground.
If they could change anything about their school the children said that Year 1 would like their OWN toilets, they’d like school meals to be bigger (and perhaps have mozzarella on the jacket potatoes rather than cheddar) and they would like to organise a day a year when the children, themselves, are teaching the lessons.'
Staff Voice
Staff were confident that safeguarding was taken seriously. They spoke of the ID required for visitors, coloured lanyards, photo sign-in and the two door entry system.
They had received annual training which contained new information as well as revisiting key messages. They had received sessions in person and some further online training about KCSIE changes. The code of conduct had been read by all staff and they had signed a Google Form saying that they’d adhere to the guidance. It was felt that the code of conduct became second nature over time – with a clear message being given by the school that living and working within a community could be difficult.
The staff discussed how, in practice, decisions could be made to ensure that staff kept themselves safe. It was felt that everyone shared information about any relationships within the community, that went beyond the usual boundaries of professional contact, so that the leadership team were aware and avoid any complications.
Staff all knew who the DSLs were and felt confident to pass on and record concerns. Although it was known that the local railway made county lines a local issue, staff were also alert to other potential contextual matters. To aid awareness, child protection is raised at every staff meeting and Friday briefing so that trends could be discussed, alerts raised or prevention put in place.
The staff explained that where there were live issues e.g., the use of an inappropriate app – this is shared with parents.
The school addresses issues related to harmful sexual behaviour in the annual training and staff felt confident to ‘put a safety net around pupils’ where necessary and refer matters up. NSPCC resources have been used with pupils in the past and further advice sought from county as necessary. A lot of work has been undertaken with families. Help has been offered through parenting courses, the promotion of free school meals, via newsletters or through referrals to external agencies including YOUnited. Early Help referrals are made externally.
If staff had a concern about a colleague they would flag it to the Headteacher and insisted that they would ‘always log it’. One staff member added, ‘it is encouraged, if it is a worry and you don’t record it…what might happen next time’.
It was felt that the school was really supportive to individuals and their families, not just with regards to academic learning but also social / emotional / mental heath … all those aspects make the child who they are. It was accepted that families are under pressure but that the school aimed to meetthe needs of the whole child. It was added, ‘we’re all vigilant’ and agreed that all staff felt confident to raise matters without being scared. It was stated that the provision was ‘very child centred’ and had a ‘good environment with a real sense of community’.
Health & Safety Audit - October 2022
Overall Performance Indicator 91% - Substantial Assurance
The school 'is making significant efforts to manage health and safety both operationally and strategically. Risks are consistently being managed to meet legal and best practice standards.'
'At the outset of the assessment it was established that Meldreth Primary School wanted to establish the strengths and weaknesses in their health and safety management system. Policies and some risk assessments were well evidenced, and it was acknowledged that the purpose of the audit was to establish where any gaps where and how the school could fill these in going forward.'
'From the discussions held and observations made, the school’s Headteacher has a committed and responsible attitude towards health and safety management.'
Maths Audit November 23
During the learning walk, many aspects of effective maths lessons were seen (e.g. – high expectations for pupils’ verbal explanations, use of concrete manipulatives and clear visual representations, purposeful partner talk, a mini-plenary to check on progress and refocus pupils, use of sentence stems, anticipation of misconceptions, references to story books and ‘real life,’ and a focus on efficient use of rekenreks). Books also showed elements of effective practice (e.g. – pupils drawing their own pictorial representations, independent recording, carefully chosen tasks rather than whole worksheets, high standards of presentation, annotations by staff, and scaffolding for pupils with SEND).
Rebecca Moseley - Cambridgeshire Maths Advisor
Healthy Schools Cambridgeshire Accreditation - May 22
‘I just wanted to follow up this morning’s meeting by saying that it has been a pleasure to meet with you and to learn so much about the inspiring and diverse range of activities that are provided to the pupils at Meldreth Primary to enrich their life experiences and to empower them to make decisions and healthier choices.
It is evident that you have been prioritising the importance of health and wellbeing for both staff and students for some time now and a whole school approach has been embedded to maximise long-term impact. The engagement of local as well as national programmes and initiatives reflect the commitment of the school to constantly seek improvement and variety in provision – well done, your achievements are impressive and deserve to be shared and promoted.’
Joanne Howling | Healthy You Healthy Schools Coordinator
‘I completely echo those sentiments - it was a pleasure hearing about all of the amazing work Meldreth are doing, you and the staff should all be extremely proud of yourself! Also if there is any write up of the Change 4 Life Club or a few paragraphs you could write which offers a bit more detail about the programme I would really appreciate sharing this work as learning/practice sharing opportunity with some of my Public Health colleagues who are looking into healthy weight initiatives.’
Amy Children's Commissioning Manager Public Health Directorate Cambridgeshire County Council