Meadowside Primary School

Meadowside Primary School is a larger-than-average primary school within the Green Shoots Partnership federation. Following the May 2026 inspection, safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe, but every evaluated area of provision—achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development—requires attention. Teaching quality is inconsistent, so pupils do not achieve as well as they could: national test outcomes are generally at or below average, higher standards and greater depth are consistently below national averages, and gaps in knowledge are most noticeable for pupils with SEND. Foundational writing and mathematics are not consistently secure, and pupils with SEND have declining attendance while too many pupils arrive late. The school has experienced profound and ongoing turbulence, which has contributed to a decline in provision. Leaders and governors are committed to pupils' best interests, and there are signs of improvement, including better curriculum planning, training for subject knowledge, consistently effective early reading, and developing support for social, emotional and mental health needs. However, leadership roles and monitoring are not precise enough, governors lack sufficient information, and many parents are concerned about SEND provision. Reception teaching does not consistently prepare children for Year 1, personal development plans are not fully realised, and learning behaviours and the behaviour policy are applied inconsistently. Overall, the school requires sustained improvement in leadership oversight, SEND provision, teaching consistency, attendance, and behaviour.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with robust policies and an open culture of safeguarding.
• Pupils feel safe and enjoy warm relationships with staff and each other.
• Rare incidents of bullying and antisocial behaviour are dealt with swiftly and effectively.
• Older pupils look out for younger pupils, and pupils show kindness and care.
• Leaders have improved curriculum planning since the previous inspection, setting out a well-organised curriculum with clear knowledge and sequence.
• Leaders have provided training so teachers have the subject knowledge to teach the whole curriculum.
• Early reading is taught consistently well, and pupils who find reading tricky receive effective support.
• Nursery and Reception are welcoming, well-resourced environments with a curriculum matched to children's developmental needs.
• Children in Nursery are well prepared to transition into Reception, and staff work well with parents before children start.
• Support for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs is developing successfully.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes in national tests are typically in line with national averages.
• Pupils know how to stay safe, maintain healthy lifestyles, and understand positive relationships.
• Pupils take on responsibilities, act as ambassadors, and represent the school in sport; enrichment and residential opportunities are well planned.
• Governors and leaders are committed to keeping pupils' best interests at the heart of decisions, including safeguarding.
• New leadership introduced in September 2025 is seen by many staff as responsive and supportive of wellbeing.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement requires attention because inconsistent teaching means pupils do not achieve as well as they could.
• National test outcomes are at or below national averages, and higher standards and greater depth are consistently below national averages.
• Pupils have gaps in curriculum knowledge, most noticeably those with SEND, and foundational writing and mathematics are underdeveloped.
• Attendance of pupils with SEND has declined, and too many pupils arrive late, disrupting lessons.
• Teachers do not clearly teach expected learning behaviours, and pupils call out during discussions.
• The school's behaviour approach is not used consistently, so disruptive behaviour continues without correction.
• Teachers do not teach the curriculum consistently well, and activities do not enable all pupils, especially those with SEND and the most able, to learn effectively.
• Writing and mathematics are taught with inconsistent effectiveness.
• Teachers do not consistently check what pupils know and understand, so they miss when pupils need challenge or support.
• Reception teaching does not consistently prepare children for Year 1, and staff do not check learning, extend language, or develop writing well enough.
• Leaders and staff do not have a thorough understanding of SEND needs, and provision for SEND and other barriers still needs improvement.
• Monitoring of support for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND is not precise enough, so ineffective support is not always recognised or changed.
• Roles and responsibilities of leaders at all levels are not sufficiently clear, and key functions are not undertaken well enough.
• Leaders do not monitor provision precisely, do not know the impact of training, and governors lack the information to hold leaders fully accountable.
• Staff morale is mixed, and many parents are concerned about key aspects of the school, particularly SEND provision.
• Personal development plans are ambitious but not fully realised; PSHE is not taught consistently, leaving gaps in British values and topical understanding.
• Leaders have not checked disadvantaged pupils' participation in clubs, so these pupils have not benefited fully from extra-curricular provision.

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 Meadowside Primary School attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.5% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Meadowside Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Meadowside Primary School had 27.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.0% 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, 9.4% of pupils at Meadowside Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.5% 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 Meadowside Primary School received £6,170 and spent £6,353 for each of its 435 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £367,000 (-£844 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Kettering · North Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

What is Meadowside Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Meadowside Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Meadowside Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Meadowside Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Meadowside Primary School have?

Meadowside Primary School has 435 pupils on roll.

What age range does Meadowside Primary School cover?

Meadowside Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Meadowside Primary School?

Meadowside Primary School is at Park Road, Burton Latimer, Kettering, Northamptonshire, NN15 5QY.