Highfields Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. From their starting points pupils make good progress and reach standards in reading, writing and mathematics that, over time, are just above average. Early years provision is good and pupils' progress from when they first start school to the end of Key Stage 1 is excellent.

Arrangements for supporting pupils with special educational needs and pupils who need extra help to learn key skills are well organised and effective. Pupils' conduct at school and their attitudes to learning in lessons are almost always good and sometimes exemplary. Pupils have a good understanding of right and wrong.

They get on with one another, say that they enjoy... school and respond well to the values that the school promotes. The school's work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. The headteacher and school leaders have taken successful action to improve the quality of teaching.

Consequently, teaching and achievement in Key Stage 1 have strengthened further. Teaching in Key Stage 2 has improved, and continues to improve, after a period of variability. Teaching and pupils' participation in physical education (PE) and sport are considerable strengths.

Leaders have used the primary sport funding to good effect to make sure all pupils get good quality tuition and many opportunities to experience enjoyment and success in a range of sports. Governors are very well informed. They take their roles seriously, are proud to be governors and do all they can to drive forward school improvement.

Parents express high levels of satisfaction with the school's work. It is not yet an outstanding school because : The high academic standards that were seen at the end of Year 6 at the time of the previous inspection have dropped. In Key Stage 2, pupils make faster progress in some classes than in others.

Over time, the quality of teaching in Key Stage 2 has been variable in its effectiveness. It has not capitalised fully on the excellent start pupils get in the early part of the school. A few pupils do not adhere to the school's rule about school uniform or present their work with sufficient care.

Occasionally, pupils chat when they should be listening to their teacher.

Information about this school

Highfields Community Primary is smaller than the average-sized primary school. Most of the pupils are White British.

The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is lower than the national average. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils at the school is below the national average. The term disadvantaged pupils is used to describe those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are looked after by the local authority.

These pupils receive additional support from pupil premium funding. In 2014, the school met the government's current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils' progress and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. The school offers full-time early years provision in the Reception class.

A before- and after-school childcare provider, Funzone, operates on the school premises. This is not managed by the school and is subject to a separate inspection at a different time. Since the previous inspection, there have been several changes of teaching staff, including the appointment of a new deputy headteacher.

The school is part of a local partnership of schools called the Nantwich Schools' Partnership. This includes 14 primary schools and two secondary schools. The headteacher at Highfields has provided recent support to two primary schools in the partnership.