Merryhills Primary School

I have taught here for the previous two years and have been very impressed with the school. Personally, I feel that the expansion has helped improved the quality of learning that takes place within the school as pupils have access to high quality resources. I also feel that the pupils are offered a great range of extracurricular clubs that are not offered at other schools...

This school is a great school. At moment I am in year six and will soon be going to highlands school. Personally, I thought that the school was awesome after the extension, but now we have iMac's and iPad's. I will miss this school when I go to secondary school but the resources at highlands are unbelievable. I know that this school will have loads of new resources in the future and that's exactly why I will miss this school. The extra curricular activities here are best you can get, also in most schools you wouldn't usually get activities like the ones here. The learning here is great and even better with the teachers at this school because they make it so much fun. All I can say is that the learning is great here.

Overall all I can say is this school is great and everyone should come here.

Wonderful school. My two children couldn't be more happy to go in the mornings, always a good sign! Nurturing and caring environment. My children are thriving.

As a single working mother to a particularly sensitive only child I was delighted with the experience my son had at Merryhills Primary School. In the early years I even received calls if he was upset; the staff went over and above expectation in terms of feedback and support. Additionally I had no choice other than to put him into the breakfast and after school clubs (run by staff and teachers). This was very much an extension of school rather than a separate company, which was invaluable for my son's feeling of security in the early years.

My child flourished at Merryhills both personally and academically. There are some wonderful teachers and the values of the school encourage inclusivity and achievement in all areas, be it sport, art or academia. I know several parents who placed their first child at another nearby school, however then sent their second child to Merryhills due to the improvements and changes implemented by the Headteacher.

The school itself has good facilities and lovely grounds. I would recommend it highly as would all the parents I am still in touch with since my son has moved on to secondary school.

Merryhills is a fantastic school run by an excellent team who truly care about the individual child. I have two very different children with very different abilities and needs and both have absolutely thrived at Merryhills.

The school itself was expanded a few years ago and now has 3 form entry. The expansion was undertaken sympathetically and has enhanced the school's ethos of helping children learn in the best way for them. This includes a big emphasis on outside-in learning where outside space is fully utilised for both learning and play. There is a dedicated reception area with great classroom resources and all three classes opening on to a large outside classroom and play area.

This sense of learning for the individual is continued throughout the teaching and management structure. You won't have kids coming home with generic worksheets every day. Within the national curriculum structure, the teaching staff are creative in finding ways to engage children and to stimulate different types of learners. They are happy to expand on topics that have captured that cohort's imagination. For example, at the top end of the school there is 'word' home work where the kids are literally just given a single word to create homework about. Travel, respect, adventure, family, extinct, fear, invention... they can then do whatever they want with that word. Some might write a story or draw a poster, others might bake or cook, board games and lego models have been made. It really is up to the child. A fantastic way to learn and to show the true value of a variety of skills, not just traditional book learning.

Academic rigour and excellence is still expected and there is a keen sense of competition but that competition is as much about bettering yourself as it is about national targets. This helps the kids achieve their own potential and beyond and to learn different techniques to support that potential. No point getting every child to learn by rote - it might get them through SATS but it won't help with critical thinking and independent learning as they get older.

Differentiated teaching happens constantly within the classroom and allows each child to learn and to socialise within their peer group whilst having appropriate work set and monitored. There are also many many small groups run across the school by dedicated staff to target different and evolving needs. This includes anything from traditional spelling and grammar focus through to strengthening fine and gross motor skills, supporting EFL students, understanding inference in texts, learning to touch type to help support dyslexic pupils (or those showing similar needs, regardless of a formal diagnosis), art therapy etc. As so many different groups are run right across the ability spectrum, no child feels singled out as needing support in a negative way. Pretty much every child will enjoy tailored groups at some point - it's normal!

This sense of inclusivity is very obvious from the way the children themselves behave. The school is now a values-based school and the kids have absolutely embraced that - they know what each value means, they know how to apply that value to their own behaviour and to the behaviour of others. This also helps them address any challenges with friendships, learning, sport and signs of bullying which is taken very seriously.

Sport, art, music and drama form a large part of the school's dynamic. Again, making sure every child has a chance to try new things and to shine.

One of my children was spotted as having additional learning needs. We were supported through diagnosis, the formal report and its recommendations were acted on immediately, we have regular teacher and support work meetings to update the plan, several strategies are now in place and that child is so much more confident and achieving beyond all expectations as a result of that support. Had we waited until secondary school, they would have been lost.

Of course no school is perfect and not all school's are right for all children. However, Merryhills is well worth a visit if you can.

Merryhills ticks all of the correct boxes that mark a good school (academic and sporting acheievment. Lovely grounds and facilities. Friendly staff) however if your child is not completely mainstream they will be socially excluded ostracised and outright bullied. And the staff will allow this to happen. They are all very "nice" for the most part however do not make the mistake of anticipating that they'll support your child when they struggle socially as they will not. Indeed it seems that the only way in which a struggling child can hope for support in this school is if they have the official seal of approval, a diagnosis or SEN. Which is a disgraceful attitude to have considering, as anybody closely linked to children knows, that an abscense of SEN does not mean an absence of issues.

They are a values based school, yet the values of Repsect and Kindness do not seem to have left the intended mark on the children who are very selective about who Respect and Kindness actually apply to.....

My son was regularly made to feel excluded and was purposely harrassed until he became visibly distressed on a daily basis

There is a clique culture amongst the children and a " bully or be bullied" mentality is very common, as admitted to us by teachers themselves. We saw no provisions in place to affectivley deal with this issue

One teacher Justified the bullying by stating "it's a very sporty class" and "he doesn't really help himself".....essentially victim blamed our son. The same teacher passed the buck onto the head when another child made an anti-Semitic comment directed at our son. He did not approach us to discuss this very serious incident at all and when I attempted to discuss it with him he was clearly very very uncomfortable and not at all equipped to deal with such issues.

A statement made by our last teacher to the inclusion manager indicated that he was highly aware of our sons struggles, describing in detail his behaviours that are not neurotypical and the aspects of school life he struggled with. However, throughout the year whenever we approached him (or any teacher throughout our time there) things we're glossed over tremendously.

Despite our approaching the school with our concerns on numerous occasions we were not offered help. My son went unsupported and we were repeatedly told that he was "fine", despite evidence to the contrary.

Overall I am greatly saddened and angry that this school has let my son down so very very badly. I have seen him withdraw into himself and alter. He lost his love of school, his love of playing active games (the children AND the junior year PE teacher shouting at him during lessons. He has motor skill issues and is not a natural athlete. Apparently that is an obligatory trait in order to get by here). He has been psychologically tormented by the children of this school for four years and the headmistress and junior years staff in particular have allowed it to take place

Through conversing with other parents I now know that we were not alone in our experience. There are a number of other children who have been let down by Merryhills in a similar manner

The school failed to inform us at any stage throughout our time there that we were in fact eligible for EHC Needs assessment, despite being fully aware of our sons struggles. Despite regular inquiries as to his well being. We have only just discovered that we're eligible through our CAMHS assessor

CAMHS expressed their surprise and disappointment upon hearing about the lack of support my son received at Merryhills. The assessor was highly critical and was outraged with the schools inaction as was the Educational Psychologist we are now dealing with separately from CAMHS

Having attended merryhills for 7 years I have made loads of friends and learnt so much. They gave a good well rounded education and prepared me for secondary school.All of the teachers are nice and very good at teaching. I was given lots of different opportunities in sport e.g. Football (I went to Tottenham training ground a number of times) Athletics and district sports.The school were very fair and I loved my time at merryhills.

Having come from an xcellent inner city school i found merryhills lacking its very cliquey the staff r standoffish and not enough was done to help my child settle in they fail to cope with children who have minor problems and there is a sinister core of sneaky bullying wich is not adressed admin staff too r snooty and unhelpful we have now removed my child from the school after 4 unhappyvyears merry hills turned my child from school loving to schoolhating siblings will not b goong there