Hill Mead Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 June 2024

Hill Mead Primary School is a small and welcoming school. Parents and carers appreciate the nurture and care that pupils receive. Positive working relationships between staff and pupils are at the heart of the school. Pupils know that adults care for them. Pupils are happy and they feel safe in school. There are inconsistencies in how well the curriculum is designed and taught. As a result, pupils do not remember their learning well. Pupils do not benefit from a consistently good quality of education. They are not able to develop their knowledge across all subject areas securely. Pupils' outcomes in 2023 were significantly below national averages. Children make a strong start to their education in early years. They become increasingly confident and play and work well together. Pupils benefit from a range of wider opportunities. Trips and visits allow pupils to experience a range of activities that stretch their independence and resilience. For example, pupils visit local museums, and all year groups go to the theatre. They value these opportunities. Pupils develop their leadership skills as members of the school council. They are taught to be respectful. Pupils demonstrate positive behaviour in classrooms and during social time. They understand the importance of treating people from all backgrounds fairly.

What the school should improve

• The school's curriculum thinking does not clearly define the key knowledge and skills that pupils need to know and develop. This means that teachers do not have the required detail of which subject content to teach and when. This limits pupils' knowledge and understanding. The school should make sure that important subject content is identified in all subjects so that pupils build on their subject learning progressively.
• The school's use of assessment is not routinely effective. This means teachers do not have a clear picture of what pupils know and can do. Consequently, learning does not build on what pupils already know. The school needs to develop and embed an approach to assessment that routinely informs teaching across the curriculum, so that pupils' learning develops securely over time.
• Leaders' oversight of the quality of education and SEND provision is not sufficiently robust. Those responsible for governance do not have the information they need to fully hold leaders to account for the quality of education pupils receive. The school should ensure that leadership has the information and expertise it needs to fully carry out its roles and responsibilities effectively.

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