Heston Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a welcoming place to be. Pupils are supported to settle quickly when they join the school.

Pupils behave responsibly. They are considerate of others. Older pupils often guide and help to supervise younger pupils in various breaktimes activities.

These include den building, ball games and quiet time in the nature area. Pupils often enjoy dancing to their chosen music played through loudspeakers in the playground. Pupils are happy here.

The school encourages pupils to share their ideas. This includes through the pupil play leader group and as eco-warriors. The 'savvy-soap sellers' take pride in their role of recycling containers and selling soap p...roducts to parents and staff.

The school places high importance on safeguarding pupils' well-being. The school promotes trusting professional relationships. As a result, pupils report to the school any concerns that may arise.

This includes concerns about bullying. The school deals with these quickly and effectively.

The school has high expectations for pupil achievement.

Frequently, assessment information is used to adjust teaching and resources. As a result, typically, pupils achieve highly.

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

Pupils love reading.

They have opportunities to read every day in school. At breaktimes, many pupils enjoy relaxing with a book in the 'reading dome' area, which was installed at the request of the school-council group. Pupils at the early stages of learning to read receive an effective introduction to phonics.

This starts in the Reception Year or when pupils join the school. Teaching staff adapt teaching and resources for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) appropriately. The school provides reading books that are carefully matched to the phonics that pupils know.

Leaders share information to help parents support their children with reading at home. Pupils quickly learn to read with confidence and fluency.

The school's curriculum is ambitious.

Pupils study a broad range of subjects, in line with the national curriculum. The school decides the important subject content they want pupils to know. Leaders sequence this knowledge effectively so that it builds cumulatively from the early years onwards.

Subject leaders work closely with teaching staff to ensure the curriculum is implemented securely. The school collaborates with external professionals, therapists and parents. This ensures that pupils with SEND receive effective help to learn the same curriculum as their peers.

The school provides teaching staff with effective training and takes their workload into account.

Pupils regularly recall content, concepts and ideas that they have learned previously. As a result, typically, pupils connect knowledge together, which helps them to know more and remember more.

For example, pupils in Year 4 learn how plants make food. This helps pupils in Year 5 to understand the role of a producer in food chains. On occasion, some important knowledge is not made explicit enough to help pupils to recall it as securely when they move on to new learning.

As a result, pupils have some gaps in their knowledge from the early years onwards. Leaders have identified and started work to address these issues.

Pupils are focused and attentive in lessons.

In the early years, children concentrate on tasks for extended periods of time. Any low-level disruption is addressed quickly by staff so that it does not interrupt learning. Attendance rates are given high priority.

The school works with a range of experts and partners to support regular attendance. As a result, the school uses a range of methods to help pupils and their families to understand the importance of regular school attendance. Consequently, attendance has started to improve for some pupils.

Pupils are taught age-appropriate information about healthy relationships. For example, the school organised visiting speakers who presented the dangers of coercion and control to pupils in Year 5. Pupils are taught about safety, including road safety and how to stay safe online.

Pupils are taught the meaning of respect and why it is important to treat everyone equally. Pupils have opportunities to work together. For example, play and learning leaders organise and supervise a range of outdoor team-building activities.

The school organises extra-curricular clubs for pupils. These include cookery and sports.

The knowledgeable governing body receives appropriate training to support and challenge the school effectively.

The governing body fulfils its statutory responsibilities. This includes its duties regarding safeguarding the welfare of pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Sometimes, important subject knowledge is not made explicit to pupils. As a result, pupils have some gaps in their knowledge. Leaders must make sure that important content is made explicitly clear so that pupils recall what they have learned and any gaps in knowledge are closed.

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