Heene CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The quality of education at Heene is not as strong as it should be for too many pupils at the school.

Staff expectations of what pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) should achieve are inaccurate. These pupils do not receive a suitable education that prepares them for future success.

Most pupils enjoy coming to school.

They feel that other pupils are typically kind and friendly. Pupils are keen to share their ideas and opinions in lessons. However, for too many pupils, low-level disruption by some other pupils causes learning to be lost or interrupted.

Pupils love to sing and many accompany this with British Sign Language ...in the signing choir. They participate in different sports tournaments with other local schools. However, other aspects of pupils' personal development, such as developing resilience and independence, are not consistently improved through the curriculum.

Pupils feel that incidents of bullying have decreased since the current leaders joined the school. They are confident in raising any concerns with staff, although sometimes they do not get the help they need. Pupils do feel safe and are taught how to manage risks in the wider world and online.

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

The current senior leadership team, working with the local authority, has taken appropriate steps to begin improving the quality of education the pupils receive since their appointment in September 2021; however, serious weaknesses remain. Leaders have set the right priorities to drive improvement. However, much of this work is at early stages.

The curriculum is going through a process of revision. English and mathematics teaching is beginning to strengthen as plans are revised to help teachers know what to teach and when. In other subjects, teachers are sometimes not clear what knowledge needs to be taught or what pupils know already.

Leaders have not yet provided training for teachers about how to use assessment to support pupils' learning. Pupils do not know and remember more about what they have learned. Consequently, pupils do not have sufficient knowledge throughout the curriculum to achieve well.

Recent changes have improved the identification of and support for pupils with SEND. These changes mean that children with SEND entering Reception are quicky identified and helped. However, elsewhere across the school these plans have had little impact on the support pupils with SEND get for their learning.

Not all staff routinely use this information to adapt learning. This means that some pupils with SEND struggle to take part in lessons. Sometimes they give up and their behaviour deteriorates.

Pupils with SEND do not achieve well. Many parents of pupils with SEND shared their concerns with inspectors.

Leaders have brought in a new programme to teach phonics.

However, not all teaching staff have yet had the training and support that they need to deliver it well. The new programme helps children to get off to a secure start in reading. Children take home the right reading books to help them to practise their skills.

Further up the school pupils who fall behind do not get the support that they need to catch up. This has an impact on how well they access other areas of the curriculum.

Not all pupils behave as well as they could.

However, pupils are kind to each other. Pupils learn about different faiths and beliefs and are taught to respect differences. However, the curriculum does not help pupils to develop resilience, perseverance and independence.

Some pupils are overly dependent on adult attention and are not able to get on with work by themselves. Pupils often lose interest in their learning because the work is not well matched to their needs. Staff and pupils have noticed an improvement in behaviour following the introduction of new expectations in recent weeks.

Pupils are motivated by the rewards that have been introduced.

Governors have guided the school through a period of considerable turbulence. They have undertaken training to help develop their skills.

Governors have ensured that a new headteacher is in place for September and that key aspects of the school's work around safeguarding have improved. However, there are still some aspects of governance, such as holding leaders to account for the effective use of additional funding, which are weak.

Staff are positive about working at the school.

They recognise that changes are needed and that these are underway. They appreciate that governors and leaders consider their workload alongside the drive for school improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have rightly made safeguarding a priority. They have strengthened systems and ensured that staff have the training they need to identify and report concerns. Governors are alert to issues.

They ask the right questions of leaders to assure themselves that pupils are safe.

Leaders ensure that pupils and their families get the help and support they need in a timely fashion. They work appropriately with other agencies to provide and review this help.

The school is a safe environment. The curriculum supports pupils in learning how to stay safe, both in school and in the wider world.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Teachers do not adapt the delivery of the curriculum sufficiently well for pupils with SEND.

Pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should. Leaders should make sure that teaching staff have the expertise needed to identify, plan and deliver a curriculum that helps pupils with SEND to achieve well. ? Leaders have not developed a well-sequenced curriculum in subjects other than English and mathematics.

This means that teachers are not clear enough about the knowledge that they should teach and in what order. As a result, pupils do not build the important knowledge that they need to achieve well in all curriculum areas. Leaders need to develop a well-sequenced curriculum in all subjects.

• Assessment processes are underdeveloped, including in early years. As a result, teachers do not know what pupils have remembered or understood. Leaders should ensure that teachers across the school have the expertise to assess pupils accurately so that they can address misconceptions and help pupils to remember key knowledge.

• Not all staff are yet fully trained to deliver the phonics programme, and as a result are unsure how best to support pupils who fall behind. This means that some pupils are unable to read as well as they need to. Leaders should ensure that all staff are equipped to deliver the phonics programme and to support weaker readers to catch up.

• A few pupils show a lack of respect for their peers and the adults who work in the school. Others lack resilience. Leaders should ensure that pupils behave well and develop independence and self-regulation as they move through the school.

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