Hayeswood First School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Hayeswood First School is a place where pupils feel safe and happy.

The school community have developed the school values of 'Respect, reflect, resilient.' These are well understood by pupils and provide clear expectations of how pupils should behave. Consequently, pupils are committed to their learning.

This begins in the early years where children make friends and settle quickly.

Positive relationships between staff and pupils mean pupils feel comfortable sharing any worries. Staff have worked hard to forge these strong relationships.

For example, this is demonstrated by the school's attentive work to support young carers. Leaders seek pupils' opin...ions and listen to them. Pupils value having a say.

They know their opinions matter. For example, these are considered when creating characters that demonstrate the British values, such as 'Travis, the turtle of tolerance'.

Extra-curricular clubs to develop pupils' talents and interests vary from sports to music, yoga and cookery.

Pupils appreciate trips to the Museum of East Dorset and a residential trip in Year 4. Eco-club members took part in a litter pick on the beach. Because of this, pupils develop a sense of responsibility for the environment.

The school prepares pupils well for life beyond Hayeswood.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school is run by dedicated leaders at all levels. The school and trust have worked together to carefully sequence the core knowledge they want pupils to learn.

This stems from the early years. Leaders have made staff training a priority. Because of this, staff teach confidently with the required subject knowledge.

The school ensures pupils revisit previous learning. This helps them to remember their learning. Consequently, pupils are ready for their next stage of learning.

In many subjects, assessment is well-considered. However, in a minority of wider curriculum subjects, gaps in pupils' learning are not always clear because assessment is not precise enough for each concept. This means that in these subjects, the school does not have accurate oversight of pupils' knowledge.

Children learn to read as soon as they start school. All staff have had training on how to teach early reading. Books are matched to the sounds pupils have learned.

Regular assessment means staff know precisely where pupils' gaps are. This results in bespoke support for pupils to catch up. As a result, pupils learn to read well.

Staff promote a love of reading. They have selected thought-provoking texts to share with pupils. Story time is a treasured part of the school day.

In the early years, curricular thinking is thoughtfully planned. Staff expose children to carefully designed activities that match the intended learning. For example, children created a cave and investigated which materials made the cave darker.

Nursery rhyme performances help children to develop confidence. Children make a strong start at this school.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported to access the full curriculum.

Identification processes are in place to ensure that these pupils get the help they need. Staff are well-trained to support pupils with SEND. As a result, these pupils learn well alongside their peers.

In most subjects, staff have high expectations of the work pupils produce. For example, pupils are encouraged to explain their observations in science. However, in some cases, inaccurate number formation within mathematics learning sometimes goes unaddressed.

Some presentation in mathematics does not reflect the high standards seen in other subjects.

The school's mission statement of 'Everyone matters, every day counts' exemplifies leaders' work on attendance. Alongside the trust, they do all they can to ensure pupils attend school.

Consequently, pupils attend well. From early years, children get to know the routines well. Older pupils know what is expected of them.

The school provides a rich set of experiences beyond the curriculum. For example, as part of the programme on financial education, Year 2 learned about planning a family budget. There are many opportunities for reflection, such as 'Mindfulness meditation'.

Pupils learn how to be safe both online and in the wider world.

The school and trust provide staff with a training programme to help them teach the curriculum well. Consequently, staff feel valued.

Leaders put high priority on supporting staff with their health and wellbeing. For example, they provide a menopause support café. Staff find the partnership of schools within the trust has supported their workload, for instance, in developing the curriculum.

The trust and local governors know the school very well. They hold leaders to account while always remaining supportive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Assessment is still being developed in some wider curriculum subjects. As a result, the precise gaps pupils have in their learning are not always clear. The trust needs to ensure that assessment in these subjects is strengthened so that staff can identify and support gaps in learning with precision.

Expectations of presentation in mathematics are not high enough in a minority of cases. This means work is not as well-presented as leaders intend and some inaccuracies, for example in number formation, are not swiftly addressed. The trust should ensure that there are high expectations for presentation and that any misconceptions about number formation are quickly addressed.

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