Riverside Meadows Academy

Overview

The report describes a school with a "tale of two sites," where pupil experiences vary significantly between the Wisbech and St Neots locations. While new leadership has driven improvements in Wisbech, the St Neots site suffers from "low expectation" and inconsistent provision. Consequently, the school is judged to require significant improvement due to variable teaching quality and inconsistent implementation of its vision.

Strengths

• Safeguarding arrangements are "effective" and have been overhauled to ensure pupil safety.
• Pupils at the Wisbech site benefit from a "sense of togetherness and trust," with improved work quality and behaviour.
• Individualised support for early reading is successful, helping many pupils become "confident, fluent readers."
• A "new ambitious curriculum" has been designed with clear expectations for behaviour and learning outcomes.
• Staff at Wisbech show "renewed aspiration," leading to pupils working hard and sharing successes.

Areas to improve

• The curriculum must clearly set out how "prior learning links to new knowledge" to help pupils secure information.
• Staff require better "subject and pedagogical knowledge" to provide clear explanations and effective adaptations for all pupils.
• Strategies to support attendance must address "individual pupils’ needs and barriers" rather than using generic approaches.
• Leaders must ensure staff share a clear understanding of the school’s vision to reduce marked differences between sites.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective."