Highcliffe St Mark Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 11 June 2024

Pupils are happy and safe. They live up to the school's high expectations of their behaviour. Pupils know that any unkind words or actions will not be tolerated. They follow routines willingly and need only the occasional reminder to behave in class. As a result, the school has a calm atmosphere, and there is minimal disruption to learning. The school has raised its expectations of the breadth and depth of pupils' learning. It has started to make improvements to the quality of education. However, many positive changes are recent and need time to embed. Pupils make a meaningful contribution to school life. For instance, some pupils are 'house captains' or 'children's champions'. They are proud to hold these roles and the responsibilities they entail. Older pupils write for the school's newspaper, 'The Highcliffe Hub', and help organise lunchtime activities for younger pupils. Pupils develop their confidence and leadership skills through these opportunities. Pupils develop an understanding of good citizenship. They raise money for charity and promote important causes, such as sustainability. Pupils, of all ages, value time in the school's outdoor area, where they learn to care for nature and how to work in teams. The school provides opportunities for pupils to debate and discuss ideas, which they do respectfully and thoughtfully.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, some teachers do not always have the subject knowledge they need to teach the curriculum well. As a result, teaching in those subjects areas does not provide pupils with opportunities to secure and deepen their subject knowledge. The school should ensure that teachers have sufficient subject expertise to implement the curriculum effectively.
• In some subjects, some teaching does not identify pupils' misconceptions, or gaps in their knowledge. Consequently, the curriculum is not consistently adapted to remedy these. The school needs to ensure that assessment is used to check pupils' knowledge and understanding carefully to inform what comes next.
• The school's oversight of how effectively the curriculum is taught is at an early stage. As a result, it is not always clear how well pupils learn what is intended. The school must evaluate how successfully the curriculum develops pupils' understanding, so it can make improvements where needed.

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