Meadowside Primary School

Meadowside Primary School is a warm, welcoming and nurturing school where pupils feel safe and are well cared for. Behaviour and personal development are notable strengths: pupils generally behave well, bullying is rare, and they benefit from a range of leadership opportunities and wider experiences that prepare them for life in modern Britain. Early reading is a priority and is taught well, with effective phonics and support for pupils who fall behind. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified swiftly and supported appropriately. However, the quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision require improvement. The school has begun to review its curriculum, and some subjects such as mathematics and science are well sequenced, but an ambitious curriculum is not securely in place across all subjects. In some areas, important knowledge is not clearly identified or organised, and the reading curriculum beyond phonics lacks rigour. In the early years, the curriculum is not coherently set out and activities are not well matched to key areas of learning. Assessment is not consistently effective in checking what pupils know and remember, which leaves gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Leadership has a shared vision and staff feel well supported, but strategic oversight is not sufficiently robust. Some checks do not give leaders an accurate understanding of how well the curriculum is being implemented or its impact. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, although some record-keeping is not robust enough. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was previously graded good.

Strengths

• Warm, welcoming and nurturing culture where pupils feel safe and well cared for
• Pupils generally behave well and bullying is rare
• High expectations for behaviour have had a positive impact
• Strong early reading and phonics provision with effective staff training and catch-up support
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and supported well
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and present information clearly
• Good personal development through leadership opportunities and wider experiences
• Staff appreciate leaders’ consideration of workload and well-being
• Parents are supportive of the school and value the care their children receive
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum is not securely in place across all subjects
• Important knowledge is not always clearly identified or sequenced over time
• Reading curriculum beyond phonics lacks rigour and is not fully developed
• Early years curriculum is not coherently set out and activities are not well matched to key areas of learning
• Assessment in some subjects does not check pupils’ understanding well enough, leading to gaps
• Strategic oversight and checks on curriculum implementation and impact lack precision
• Some safeguarding record-keeping is not robust and does not always record actions taken
• A minority of older pupils occasionally become distracted or show attitudes below leaders’ expectations

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 96.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 3.8% 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, 3.9% of pupils at Meadowside 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 Meadowside Primary School had 26.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.2% 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, 8.8% of pupils at Meadowside Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.4% 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 £6,647 and spent £6,690 for each of its 205 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £21,000 (-£105 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 Gloucester · Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

What is Meadowside Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Meadowside Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Meadowside Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Meadowside Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Meadowside Primary School have?

Meadowside Primary School has 205 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, 45% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Meadowside Primary School?

Meadowside Primary School is at Elmore Lane East, Quedgeley, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL2 4LX.