Crown Meadow First School & Nursery, Birmingham

Ofsted's report card from its 24 February 2026 inspection grades Crown Meadow First School & Nursery on 7 areas: 2 expected standard and 5 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Over time, pupils attend well, at rates above national averages."

Personal development and wellbeing - Expected standard. "Pupils work and play together in a mutually respectful manner."

Achievement - Needs attention. "A significant minority of pupils do not gain the important spelling and handwriting knowledge they need."

Curriculum and teaching - Needs attention. "The teaching of the curriculum is not consistently and precisely matched to pupils' needs."

Early years - Needs attention. "Staff do not engage children in consistently purposeful conversation."

Inclusion - Needs attention. "Previously, leaders had not identified pupils' needs early enough, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities."

Leadership and governance - Needs attention. "Recently, there have been significant changes to leadership and governance at the school."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that staff engage children in frequent, high-quality interactions, so that children have the opportunity to develop their communication and language skills"; "Leaders should ensure that pupils develop key foundational knowledge in handwriting and spelling at the earliest possibility so that they are ready for the next stage"; "Leaders should continue to ensure that pupils' barriers to learning and/or wellbeing are identified quickly and accurately so that effective support can be implemented at the earliest stage"; "Leaders should ensure that staff adapt the curriculum and teaching effectively, so that pupils with barriers to their learning can access the curriculum and build their knowledge well"; "Leaders should further develop the coherence of the personal development programme so that opportunities, experiences and the curriculum are tailored to the needs of their pupils".

From the headteacher's welcome: "We believe that it is the children of Crown Meadow that are the most important thing about us. We value them greatly and recognise that they are all individuals with their own role to play in our school community."

For September 2026 entry, 50 families put Crown Meadow First School & Nursery as their first choice and 103 named it as one of their preferences, for 58 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state primary schools to Crown Meadow First School & Nursery are St Andrew's CofE First School (1.3 miles, Outstanding); Blackwell First School (2.3 miles); Cofton Primary School (2.4 miles, Good, 72% reading, 78% maths); and Lickey Hills Primary School and Nursery (2.6 miles, Good, 74% reading, 72% maths).

98 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Crown Meadow First School & Nursery (as of April 2026): 90% would recommend the school, 92% say their child is happy there and 40% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that their child feels safe (96%); the weakest, that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (40%).

7.4% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well below the average state school (25%), and 1.2% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

The largest ethnic groups are White British (88%) and Mixed (7%).

In 2026, 40 pupils (11.9%) received SEN support and 6 (1.8%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.

The nearest railway station is Alvechurch Rail Station, about 930 metres away (roughly a 12-minute walk).

6 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Old Rectory Lane (opposite), 210 metres away.

In August 2026, police recorded 34 crimes within a mile of the school, most often violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour and other theft. That is well below the typical figure around schools in Worcestershire (78).

In 2024/25, Crown Meadow First School & Nursery issued 20 suspensions, 5.9 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.