Meridian Primary School

Meridian Primary School is a school in transition. It has experienced a period of instability and now has new leadership, including an interim headteacher, with support from governors and the local authority. Inspectors found that leaders have moved quickly to establish a clear vision and values, and that staff feel supported and considerate of workload and well-being. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and pupils generally feel safe and have positive relationships with staff. However, several important changes are still at an early stage, and the school requires improvement across the inspected areas. The strongest aspects of the school's work are in early reading and mathematics, where the curriculum is well structured and teachers know what to teach and when. Pupils enjoy reading, learn phonics well, and benefit from a curriculum that helps them become confident and fluent readers. Many pupils also achieve well in mathematics. In the early years, children are learning routines well and sharing stories and rhymes that build important foundations for reading. Nevertheless, expectations are not consistently high enough across the curriculum. In several subjects, staff have not had effective training and do not understand the curriculum well enough to design tasks that build on what pupils already know. Assessment is not used well enough to identify prior knowledge, and pupils with SEND do not consistently receive work matched to their needs. Behaviour in classrooms is not consistently well managed, so some pupils become distracted and miss learning. These weaknesses mean that many pupils are not making as much progress as they could.

Strengths

• Pupils and staff have positive, courteous relationships and pupils feel safe seeking help.
• Pupils are keen to demonstrate the school's values, including respect for differences.
• The teaching of early reading and phonics is well structured and helps pupils become fluent readers.
• Mathematics is a strength, with a well-sequenced curriculum and tasks matched to pupils' knowledge.
• Children in Reception are learning routines well and benefit from stories and rhymes that build reading foundations.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Governors and leaders have developed well-considered improvement plans and staff feel supported.
• Pupils experience trips and visitors that enhance learning and learn about life in a diverse Britain.

Areas for Improvement

• Expectations for pupils' behaviour in classrooms are not consistently high enough across staff.
• Some pupils are distracted, do not listen well to instructions and miss learning as a result.
• Staff training and professional development in some subjects are not effective enough.
• Teachers and middle leaders lack detailed subject knowledge in some areas and design tasks that do not match the intended curriculum.
• Learning tasks do not consistently build on pupils' prior knowledge and are sometimes too easy or too difficult.
• Assessment approaches are not effective enough in identifying what pupils have retained and what they need to learn.
• Pupils with SEND do not consistently receive work aligned with their identified needs.
• Subject-specific vocabulary and language development are not personalised to pupils' needs, including in the early years.
• Some improvement plans, including for behaviour and writing, are still in the early stages of development.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Meridian Primary School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.2% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.1% of pupils at Meridian Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Meridian Primary School had 19.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.7% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 13.9% of pupils at Meridian Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Meridian Primary School received £7,002 and spent £7,024 for each of its 180 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £155,000 (-£859 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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What is Meridian Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Meridian Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Meridian Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Meridian Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Meridian Primary School have?

Meridian Primary School has 180 pupils on roll.

What age range does Meridian Primary School cover?

Meridian Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Meridian Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 58% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Meridian Primary School?

Meridian Primary School is at Harbour Avenue, Comberton, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB23 7DD.