Heelands School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 June 2024

Pupils are happy at this school. They have a strong understanding of the school's values of 'friendship, respect, self-belief, cooperation, challenge and responsibility'. Pupils demonstrate this in all they do. They feel safe in school and always know who to talk to if they have any worries. Parents know that their children are well cared for at Heelands. The school has high expectations of what pupils can achieve and the vast majority of them are learning well. Pupils behave well and the majority attend regularly. Routines are taught effectively and even the youngest children in early years know what is expected of them. The environment in the school is calm, including at break and lunchtimes. Pupils are polite and confident speakers and they will happily talk about their learning and their school. There are a range of trips that all pupils are involved in. These often link to their learning in lessons and the school has carefully considered what experiences they want pupils to have before they leave. Pupils know about healthy eating and how to show respect to those from different backgrounds. They also understand how to stay safe online.

What the school should improve

• While staff have a strong understanding of what needs to be taught, the activities they use are not always closely aligned to these learning outcomes or adapted to match pupils' starting points. As a result, pupils do not always make as much progress through the curriculum as they could. The school needs to ensure that staff continue to receive training on making precise adaptations in their teaching to meet pupils' needs fully effectively.
• There is not yet a consistent approach to the teaching of transcription. This means that some pupils are not yet accurate and fluent in their writing. The school needs to continue to develop strong practice in improving transcription that is applied consistently.

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