Morpeth First School

Overview

Pupils enjoy attending Morpeth First School, where they feel ‘treasured, courageous and empowered’. Leaders have high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and pupils achieve well. The school fosters strong relationships and a supportive team ethos, with character education being a particular strength.

Strengths

• Character education is a strength, with leaders ensuring positive traits such as ‘resilience, confidence and determination’ underpin the school experience.
• The curriculum in computing is well-designed, enabling pupils to build knowledge stage by stage and use subject-specific vocabulary with confidence.
• Reading is prioritised across the school, with staff trained in phonics ensuring pupils learn to read fluently and catch up effectively.
• Pupils with SEND learn well due to clear support plans and effective collaboration with outside agencies.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective, with staff receiving regular training and being vigilant about local risks.

Areas to improve

• Curriculum plans in geography and physical education are not consistently broken down into small steps, meaning some pupils do not develop detailed knowledge.
• In mathematics, some teachers do not use assessment well enough to check understanding, particularly for older pupils, leading to gaps in learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff knowing local risks, using systems effectively, and making timely referrals to external agencies.