Meadowbank Primary School

Meadowbank Primary School is a larger-than-average primary within the Education Learning Trust and has a resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Inspectors found the school meeting expected standards across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development. Safeguarding standards are met. Pupils are happy, behave well and achieve well by the end of Year 6, particularly in reading and mathematics, and are well prepared for secondary school. Strengths include an effective phonics programme, a positive reading culture, strong inclusion and support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, and a coherent personal development programme. Leadership is well regarded, governance is secure, and staff feel supported. Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment activities and take on meaningful leadership roles. The main area for improvement is foundational writing and number formation. In the early years, many children do not master accurate letter formation and some develop misconceptions about numerals, so they are not as well prepared for Year 1 as they could be. Teachers sometimes let errors in letter and number formation go unchecked, which affects pupils' fluency and accuracy, especially in transcription. Leaders have begun work to improve writing, but this is at an early stage. Published data also shows disadvantaged pupils' combined reading, writing and mathematics attainment, and their writing attainment, below national averages, although the report notes that the gap is narrowing.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well by the end of Year 6, especially in reading and mathematics
• Effective phonics programme and a strong reading culture
• Positive pupil behaviour and attitudes, with bullying rare and handled well
• Attendance is similar to national averages, and SEND attendance is often above national averages
• Strong inclusion and effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Ambitious, well-organised curriculum with effective recap and building on prior learning
• Strong personal development, wellbeing and British values provision
• Effective leadership and governance, with high-quality staff development and workload support
• Early years provides a positive start, with caring relationships and effective routines
• Wide enrichment through trips, clubs, music and leadership opportunities
• Specially resourced SEND provision supports language, communication and inclusion well

Areas for Improvement

• Handwriting and letter formation are not consistently secure, especially in the early years
• Some pupils do not master correct number formation, with misconceptions persisting for a small number
• Teachers sometimes do not check or correct errors in letter and number formation
• Gaps in transcription skills affect some pupils' fluency and accuracy
• Support for children's writing development in the early years is not as effective as it could be
• The school's writing improvement initiative is still at an early stage
• Disadvantaged pupils' combined reading, writing and mathematics attainment is below national averages
• Disadvantaged pupils' writing attainment is below national averages and the disadvantage gap remains substantial

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 Meadowbank Primary School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.3% 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 Meadowbank 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 Meadowbank Primary School had 21.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.4% 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, 16.3% of pupils at Meadowbank Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 11 pupils.

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 2024–25 Meadowbank Primary School received £6,422 and spent £6,281 for each of its 429 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £622,000 (£1,452 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Education Learning Trust, income was £7,449 and spending £7,559 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Cheadle · Stockport local authority: places and applications

Meadowbank Primary School is part of Education Learning Trust, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• The Kingsway School Cheadle
• Gatley Primary School Stockport
• Bredbury Green Primary School Stockport
• Werneth School Stockport

What is Meadowbank Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Meadowbank Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Meadowbank Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Meadowbank Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Meadowbank Primary School have?

Meadowbank Primary School has 424 pupils on roll.

What age range does Meadowbank Primary School cover?

Meadowbank Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Meadowbank Primary School?

Meadowbank Primary School is at Councillor Lane, Cheadle, Cheshire, SK8 2LE.