Minerva Primary Academy

Overview

Minerva Primary Academy is described as being “at the heart of the community,” where pupils are “happy and flourish in the nurturing environment.” The inspection found that the school provides a “calm and orderly” setting with high expectations, where children from diverse backgrounds work together in harmony.

Strengths

• The school manages high pupil mobility well, helping new arrivals “settle quickly.”
• In English and mathematics, “important knowledge... is clearly set out,” and teachers “adapt learning effectively” for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Reading is a clear priority; staff ensure pupils who have fallen behind “catch up quickly” and become “confident and fluent readers.”
• Pupils benefit from “well-planned enrichment opportunities,” including residential trips and clubs, and develop leadership skills through roles such as school councillors.
• Staff receive relevant training from the trust, enabling them to “become more skilled as teachers and leaders.”

Areas to improve

• In wider curriculum subjects such as geography and history, the “key knowledge that pupils need to learn is less clear,” leading to gaps in what pupils remember.
• Assessment in these subjects is “not yet used well enough to check on what pupils know and to inform future learning.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”