Hayes Meadow Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Hayes Meadow Primary School Spode Avenue, Handsacre, Rugeley, Staffordshire WS15 4EU

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Inspection dates: 10 and 11 October 2023

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Outcome

Hayes Meadow Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe at Hayes Meadow Primary School. They enjoy coming to school. Pupils try hard to live up to the school motto by being honest, curious, friendly and aspirational. Most pupils attend regularly and on time. Parents and carers highly recommend the school. They value the quality of education their children receive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school sets high expectations for all its pupils. Pupils work hard and persevere in their learning. They achieve well and meet the high expectations set. At social times, pupils are polite and kind to each other. They are well behaved and courteous when moving around the school. Pupils know the school rules of ‘ready, safe, respectful’. They understand right and wrong. Teachers help pupils to sort out any disagreements swiftly and amicably.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school offers pupils a wide range of opportunities to broaden their horizons. The curriculum is brought to life by trips and visits such as a Viking experience day and a castle trip. Clubs help pupils to develop new talents and interests. These clubs include coding, keyboard skills, gardening, choir and cross-country running. Residential trips allow pupils time to reflect, develop teamwork skills and enjoy outdoor pursuits.

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

The curriculum is highly ambitious for all pupils. It is carefully designed and organised with clear end points. Teachers know what to teach and how to teach it. New information is presented in a way that engages pupils and helps them to learn well. Pupils take great pride in their written work. They recall and practise important knowledge and skills regularly. Teachers make regular checks on how well pupils keep up and learn the curriculum. However, they do not always address errors and misconceptions effectively enough. On occasion, pupils are unclear of what they need to improve or how to do this.

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

The developmental needs of two, three and four-year-olds are carefully considered and planned for. Adults engage children in conversations about their learning and introduce new words. Children enjoy listening to and joining in as adults read books. Adults 10 and 11 October 2023

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encourage sharing and turn taking. Children learn to hold a pencil effectively to write letters and words. They enjoy counting objects and singing songs and number rhymes. Any child needing additional help such as speech and language support gets the help they need to catch up. As a result, children in the early years get off to a great start. They are very well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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Leaders promote reading well. Children read in school daily. Everyone ‘drops everything and reads’ at the end of the day. Visiting poets and authors help pupils to understand how different types of texts are written. World Book Day quizzes, story time votes, book competitions and the School Book Project all promote a love of reading. ‘Bedtime story sacks’, story puppet workshops and reading leaflets support parents when reading at home. Phonics is taught daily right from the start. Staff are trained to teach reading, including phonics. Despite this, the school has not ensured that all staff are confident and expert in the teaching of phonics. This means that pupils do not always move on as quickly in their early reading as they need to.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are swiftly identified. Staff work closely with pupils, parents and external agencies. They make sure that pupils with SEND get the specialist help they need to be successful in school. This includes additional resources or extra support in the classroom. Pupils with SEND achieve very well in school.

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Pupils learn about how to keep safe in the local area and when online. This includes road safety, water and farm safety. They learn the importance of healthy and safe relationships. Activities such as meal planning and keeping food diaries help pupils to think about healthy eating. Visits to places of worship help pupils to learn about other faiths such as Islam, Sikhism and Christianity. This helps them to recognise and respect difference. Opportunities such as sports captains, reading buddies, eco councillors, school councillors and well-being ambassadors allow pupils to take on responsibilities in school. Voting for these roles helps pupils to develop an understanding of democracy. All of this means that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

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Staff value professional development opportunities. This helps them to develop their knowledge and skills. They appreciate the support from leaders to manage their workload and well-being. Well-being days, staffroom baskets and notes of appreciation boost staff morale.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 On occasion, staff do not always address pupils’ errors and misconceptions effectively enough. Teachers do not consistently help pupils to understand where they have gone wrong. This means that pupils sometimes repeat the same mistakes. The school should 10 and 11 October 2023

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ensure that teachers are clear when helping children to understand where they have gone wrong and why.  The school has not ensured that all staff know how to teach early reading well. This means that there are some minor inconsistencies in the delivery of the school’s phonics programme. This slows pupils’ learning. Leaders should ensure that all staff are trained in the school’s approach to teaching phonics so that phonics is consistently taught well.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2014.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘ disadvantaged pupils ’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 10 and 11 October 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 26 April 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school provides a pre-school and a nursery for two- and three-year-olds.  The school provides a before- and after-school club for all pupils.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, history and mathematics. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of sessions, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupil’s work. 10 and 11 October 2023

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 The inspector observed children reading to a familiar adult and reviewed reading resources.  The inspector reviewed a range of documentation on the school’s website.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector observed children’s behaviour in lessons and at other times during the day.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, the assistant headteachers, the special educational needs coordinators, the designated safeguarding leader, curriculum leaders and had a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority.  The inspector took account of responses to Ofsted Parent View and staff surveys.

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Inspection team

Lorraine Lord, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 October 2023

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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