Heald Place Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 26 November 2024

Pupils enjoy coming to this large, inclusive school where they are made to feel valued. Staff build warm, caring relationships with pupils. Pupils receive high-quality pastoral support. Typically, they respond well to the school's behaviour systems. The school has a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Any disruption to learning is kept to a minimum as many pupils behave well in lessons. They also behave well on the playground or when moving around the school building. The school aspires for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to achieve well. However, in areas of the school's work, this ambition is not realised. Sometimes, gaps in pupils' learning are not addressed swiftly enough. They do not build up a rich body of knowledge. In the early years, some children do not get a secure enough understanding of early reading and mathematics skills. Throughout the school, some pupils do not learn the curriculum well. Pupils get many opportunities to develop their leadership skills in school. They can become active members of the school council, anti-bullying ambassadors or rights- respecting ambassadors. They appreciate the opportunity to support the school to become a better place for their peers.

What the school should improve

• A minority of staff have not had the necessary safeguarding training that they need to carry out their role. This means that they cannot support the DSL as effectively as they could. The school should ensure that these final few staff develop the expertise that they require.
• Some staff are not clear about how to support pupils with SEND to access the curriculum. The support that pupils receive in different lessons across the school is inconsistent. As a result, pupils with SEND can struggle to complete tasks that are set out for them. They do not develop the independence and knowledge they need. The school should ensure that targeted professional development supports staff to make suitable adaptations for pupils with SEND.
• Checks on pupils' knowledge and understanding, including in the early years, are not as effective as they could be. Occasionally, gaps in pupils' understanding are not identified and resolved. This means that pupils find it more difficult to build up a rich body of knowledge. The school should ensure that staff check what pupils already know before new learning is delivered.
• Some staff are not sure about how to deliver some aspects of the curriculum, including phonics. At times, this means that they do not choose the most appropriate activities to support pupils to learn the intended curriculum. The school should ensure that staff develop subject-specific expertise to deliver the intended curriculum effectively.
• The school, including governors, does not have a sufficiently detailed oversight of some aspects of pupils' behaviour, such as pupils' use of appropriate language. This means that it is not as targeted in its response as it could be. Occasionally, this allows negative behaviour to persist more than it should. The school, including governors, should ensure that it maintains a clear oversight of this aspect of pupils' behaviour and takes action to address any patterns.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)