Henry Maynard Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 September 2023

Pupils at Henry Maynard enjoy school and value their learning. They are attentive and focused in lessons. Pupils, parents and carers, staff and governors are all proud members of their school, which is at the heart of the community. The school's core values of 'community, creativity and ambition' thread through all aspects of school life. One parent summarised the thoughts of many by saying: 'What I love about the school is how learning is equally matched with kindness, collaboration and understanding the world around us.' All staff are ambitious for what pupils can achieve, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils rise to staff's high expectations in their learning and behaviour. They achieve and behave well. Pupils are polite, caring and respectful to each other and adults. This helps pupils to feel safe. Pupils trust adults to deal with any issues, such as bullying, when they arise. Pupils enjoy the wider opportunities that they are given. They can participate in a range of extra-curricular clubs. Pupils also have opportunities to develop a sense of responsibility, for example, through roles such as school council members, play leaders or as part of the eco-team. Through the school's work on sustainability, pupils enjoy the various outdoor learning experiences. This includes the creation of a school kitchen, where they will grow their own food to use for school meals.

What the school should improve

• Recent changes to the design, delivery and leadership of the curriculum mean that, in a few areas, high expectations for pupils' learning are not well established in practice. Where this is the case, it reduces the quality of the school's work to make sure that pupils, including those with SEND, learn and remember knowledge securely and in the long term. The school should take steps to make sure that, in all curriculum areas, what pupils learn in Year 1 and beyond links purposefully with the foundations provided in the early years. The school should also ensure that the curriculum is taught in a way that enables pupils to develop knowledge progressively and overcome any misconceptions or barriers to learning the curriculum successfully. This includes finetuning the additional support and adaptations planned for pupils with SEND.
• On occasion, approaches to supporting weaker readers, including through additional reading practice, are not consistent with the school's ambitious expectations. This can lead to weaker readers becoming overloaded or confused by what they need to practise or do. The school should ensure that the phonics programme is taught in line with agreed intentions, focusing especially on the weaker readers to ensure they get maximum opportunities to practise using their phonics skills to become confident and fluent readers.

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