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Healdswood is a school where everyone is welcome. Staff know pupils very well. Pupils feel well cared for and that 'everyone looks after you'.
They feel safe at school. Parents agree.
Pupils understand the school's 'rainbow rules'.
They know that they need to listen to the teacher and help each other. They like collecting dojos and moving up the 'behaviour tower' when they have made good choices and worked hard.
Teachers make sure that pupils know what bullying is and who to tell if someone is unkind to them.
Leaders check how often this happens and make sure that it is sorted out. They support families who need help and have high expectatio...ns of pupils' attendance. However, some pupils do not come to school every day that they could.
In the nursery, children settle well and learn to play together. The atmosphere is calm and purposeful. Children in the early years enjoy practising what they are learning outside.
Leaders want every pupil to be ready for junior school. Staff plan what pupils need to know, step by step. In a few subjects, this is not as clear as it needs to be.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
Leaders want pupils to be able to speak clearly and explain their thought and ideas. Teachers have identified the words that pupils need to know. In the early years, they make sure that children practise talking to each other during social times.
Staff spot when children need extra help to speak clearly. They make sure that they get this straight away.
Children in the Nursery Year learn songs together.
They listen to patterns and rhythms. Staff encourage them to join in. Children learn the sounds that letters make from the start of their Reception Year.
They use their 'phonics fingers' to blend the sounds together to read words and phrases. Teachers write sentences for children to read. They select the words so that they precisely match the sounds that children know.
Teachers spot when children have not remembered a sound. They organise a 'daily dollop' of extra phonics teaching so that children can practise the sounds that they are learning.
Teachers make sure that the books that pupils have to read are just right.
Pupils are excited when they discover that they have a new book to read. They enjoy trips to the local library because they get to choose books for themselves.
In most subjects, teachers have identified what pupils need to learn and in what order.
Teachers know precisely what pupils need to learn. For example, in mathematics pupils know and can use numbers fluently when calculating. They have made sure that pupils get the chance to practise what they forgot during lockdown.
Pupils can explain how what they have learned before helps them with what they are learning now. Teachers have high expectations of what pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) will be able to do. They make sure pupils get the right support so that they can build on what they know.
In a few subjects, leaders have not yet refined the curriculum. Leaders have not yet identified the important knowledge in these subjects.
Pupils enjoy a challenge.
They say that if something is tricky, 'when you can do it you feel really proud.' The school's 'learning powers' help them to become resilient learners who persevere. Pupils vote to make important decisions, such as the design of the new friendship bench.
The school councillors listen to the ideas that their classmates have and share them at regular meetings. Pupils relish the opportunities that they get to learn outside in forest school. They say that they will always remember making dens and building habitats for animals.
Teachers want pupils to be ready for life in modern Britain. They make sure that pupils encounter a range of different faiths. Pupils are keen to learn and interested in these activities.
However, they do not revisit significant stories often enough so that they remember the important concepts that they are learning from them.
Staff work closely with families to provide information about how they can help their children. They have organised meetings to explain how children learn to read.
Most parents praise the hard work of the staff, particularly during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. They recognise when staff have gone the extra mile to provide equipment so that pupils could continue to learn. Staff feel well-supported by leaders.
Governors check that leaders provide the right opportunities for staff to access training that helps them.
Safeguarding
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
Staff have had up-to-date training about how to keep children safe.
Leaders have checked that staff have understood this and know the risks to children in the local area. They make sure that staff record any concerns that they have. Governors check that leaders act on these concerns.
Leaders work with external agencies to make sure parents get the help they need.
Pupils know how to keep themselves safe if there is a fire drill, or when crossing the road. Most pupils can explain how to keep themselves safe online.
What does the school need to do to improve?
(Information for the school and appropriate authority)
The school's curriculum is not yet sufficiently well planned in some subjects. However, it is clear that leaders have already taken action to plan next year's curriculum and to train staff how to deliver it. For this reason, the transitional statements have been applied.
• In a few subjects, leaders have not yet identified the important concepts that they want pupils to learn. In these subjects, pupils do not get the chance to recall and revisit this information regularly enough. Pupils do not remember this knowledge.
Leaders should ensure that they identify the specific knowledge that pupils will learn. They should make sure that teachers know what pupils already understand and what they will learn next. Leaders should check that pupils can remember what they have learned in the curriculum.
• Prior to the pandemic, attendance was improving. However, there is still a significant number of pupils who do not attend school as regularly as they should. Leaders need to continue to rigorously address this so that all pupils come to school as often as they are able.
