Heathmere Primary School - 101029 PDF Final
Heathmere Primary School - 101029 PDF Final
Heathmere Primary School - 101029 PDF Final
Caring and passionate leadership has Early reading is taught well from the earliest
established a nurturing, safe and orderly age.
school.
Mathematics is taught consistently well across
Leaders have taken effective action to reduce the school.
exclusions and improve attendance.
The behaviour, personal development and
After-school activities, clubs and visits extend welfare of pupils are key strengths. Pupils are
the curriculum well. taught positive attitudes. As a result, they have
positive attitudes to their learning.
Governors provide a good balance of challenge
and support. They know the school well. Early years classrooms are bright and
stimulating. The broad and engaging
Provision for pupils with special educational
curriculum ensures that children make a good
needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is
start to their schooling.
effective.
Sometimes, writing tasks are not matched to
Pupils often start school with gaps in their
pupils’ levels of ability or provide insufficient
skills and knowledge, but effective
challenge.
teaching means that they make good
progress.
Full report
Improve teaching, learning and assessment in key stage 2 further by ensuring that
writing tasks are matched to pupils’ levels of ability and provide sufficient challenge.
Improve leadership and management by ensuring that pupils’ attendance continues to
improve so that it is in line with national averages.
Leaders are passionate and caring in the way that they run the school. They evaluate
the school’s effectiveness accurately and have thorough plans to tackle the
weaknesses. As a result, Heathmere is a nurturing and safe school where all can
flourish.
The broad and balanced curriculum ensures that there is a consistent approach to
learning across the school. The curriculum includes many additional topics and extra-
curricular activities. For example, during the inspection, some Year 6 pupils were away
at a residential outdoor education centre. Other additional activities include, for
example, trips to museums and cinemas. All Year 4 pupils learn to play the trumpet as
part of timetabled lessons. Such activities help to broaden pupils’ horizons and deepen
their awareness of technology, arts and culture.
Leaders have developed a curriculum where spiritual, moral, social and cultural
development is supported well. Through this curriculum and effective teaching, pupils
gain a strong understanding about life in modern Britain. As a result, pupils have a
good understanding of the importance of issues such as community and friendship.
Since the previous inspection, leaders have improved pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to
learning significantly. As a result, there are now very few instances of poor behaviour,
and attitudes to learning are strong.
Leaders ensure that parents and carers play a full role in the life of the school. Staff
work closely with parents and provide opportunities for them to learn about how the
school teaches their children. The school helps parents to get family support where
appropriate. Parents are very positive and typically make comments such as, ‘My
children are very happy and feel safe.’ Parents of pupils at the early stages of learning
to speak English are appreciative of the support the school gives to enable them to
catch up quickly.
Leaders use training well to develop teachers’ expertise. Teachers work in partnership
with leaders to identify their strengths and any areas of practice they need to improve.
They have access to high-quality training, coaching and mentoring support. This is
having a positive impact on the consistency of teaching, learning and assessment
across all year groups, for example in the teaching of mathematics. Teachers say that
they feel that their work is valued and that their well-being is considered.
The group of pupils with SEND represents a significant proportion of the school
population. Leaders provide specialist teaching support and one-to-one and group
sessions for pupils. High-quality teaching ensures that pupils make strong progress
towards their targets.
The funding the school receives for its large group of disadvantaged pupils is used well.
For example, it provides additional teaching support and extra resources. As a result,
disadvantaged pupils make progress that is similar to that of their peers. Sports
funding is equally well used, enabling pupils to have access to high-quality sporting and
fitness activities.
Governors take their roles and responsibilities very seriously. There is a good balance
of support and challenge. They understand and take account of the diverse nature of
the community which the school serves.
Governors have a good understanding of the effectiveness of the school. This is
because they receive detailed information from the leadership team about pupils’
progress. This enables them to ask probing questions about how well pupils are doing.
Governors ensure value for money in using additional government funding to support
the progress of disadvantaged pupils. Governors play a full part in securing sufficiently
skilled staff to meet the pupils’ wide-ranging needs.
The governing body undertakes regular training, for example in safeguarding and
checking school performance, and ensures that statutory requirements are met. As a
result, they make an effective contribution to pupils’ safety and welfare.
Safeguarding
Teachers use assessments effectively to plan for the next steps in pupils’ learning.
They set up lively and engaging activities which capture the pupils’ interests. Teachers
use effective questioning in lessons to challenge and deepen pupils’ knowledge and
understanding. Pupils respond well and show high levels of engagement. In key stage
1 and the majority of key stage 2 classes, teachers identify pupils’ misconceptions and
address these quickly. Overall, teachers show good subject knowledge and effective
questioning skills which ensure good progress.
Teachers reinforce pupils’ positive attitudes to learning well. This is a key strength of
the school. As a result, pupils are resilient to failure and eager to know how to improve.
Teaching and support staff ensure that their classrooms are attractive and welcoming.
Displays are colourful, well maintained and assist pupils in their learning. For example,
displays are used well to explain mathematical concepts and skills.
Leaders have established an agreed system for assessing pupils on a regular basis in all
classes. This ensures that any individual or group needing support is identified swiftly.
School leaders and teachers work effectively to identify and address the needs of the
community. Although many pupils begin partway through their primary schooling, often
with limited social, emotional and academic skills, staff help them make strong
progress with their learning. This is the result of effective teaching.
The impact of the school’s work ensures that no matter what the starting point, almost
all pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, pupils with SEND and pupils who speak
English as an additional language, make nationally expected rates of progress.
Because teachers encourage pupils to discuss their learning and use accurate
vocabulary, pupils can explain what they are doing and how they have approached
their work. This was seen, for example, in one group in Year 5, where pupils could
explain why a character in a story reacted the way they did.
Pupils make good progress in extending their writing skills. However, a few do not,
particularly in key stage 2. Many are supported well by broadening their vocabulary
through class discussions and sharing ideas. However, in a few key stage 2 classes,
Almost all children begin their schooling with social, mathematical and language skills
which are typically below those seen for their age. On arrival, teachers, working with
parents, quickly and accurately assess the children’s needs. Staff create a supportive
and nurturing environment. As a result, children settle in quickly and make good
progress, especially in their personal and social development. Children, including those
with SEND and those who speak English as an additional language, make good
progress from typically low starting points, especially in writing and mathematics.
Leaders have addressed the recommendation made at the previous inspection to
improve the outside learning area and plan effectively to use it. As a result, the
outdoor and indoor learning spaces are bright and stimulating. Children use these
spaces creatively, showing imagination and curiosity. They cooperate well and show
good levels of concentration. This is because teaching staff take every opportunity to
engage children in activities that support their learning.
Leaders have developed a broad and engaging curriculum which meets children’s
needs and interests and extends their experiences. In particular, staff plan activities
which develop the children’s imagination. For example, inspectors saw one younger
learner concentrating hard on creating a mobile phone using felt, card, sticky tape and
a pair of scissors. Children thoughtfully chose areas and equipment to use, and they
worked well with each other.
Staff teach phonics skilfully. As a result, children quickly develop confidence in reading.
Teachers encourage children to use their phonics knowledge to develop their early
writing skills. This was seen in displays of children’s writing and in their workbooks.
Relationships between staff and children are positive and nurturing. Because children
are taught good social skills, they quickly learn to share and work together. For
example, pupils were enjoying sharing, cutting and gluing, dressing up and engaging in
imaginative and creative play. The effective use of questioning by staff ensures that all
children are fully included in such activities. Children have opportunities to explore and
This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.
Website www.heathmereprimary.org/
Inspection team
In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding:
pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care
through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and-
alternative-provision-settings.
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