Haygrove School

Inspection of Haygrove School Durleigh Road, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 7HW

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Outstanding Previous inspection grade Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Aaron Reid. This school is part of Quantock Education Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Chrysta Garnett, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Rob Brown. 16 and 17 April 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

At Haygrove School everyone wants the very best for pupils. The school’s unwavering focus on providing pupils with a high-quality education sits behind the decisions that leaders make for everyone to succeed. Even when facing the significant challenge of the main school building being deemed unsafe, this has remained the school’s priority. Pupils feel safe in school. They know how to report any concerns they may have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

‘The Haygrove Way’ exemplifies the high standards the school expects. Pupils respond well to these expectations. They behave well in lessons and during social times. There is a strong pastoral system that supports pupils’ well-being. The school does not tolerate bullying.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for all pupils to learn effectively. In recent years, the school has considerably strengthened the curriculum across a broad range of subjects. As a result, an increasing number of pupils achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has a wide offer of different activities and opportunities for pupils to develop their interests. This includes a range of clubs such as chess club, dance club and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about the recent Battle of the Bands competition.

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better?

Since the previous inspection, the school has overhauled the curriculum to ensure that it is suitably broad and ambitious. Recent changes have ensured that more pupils study subjects that make up the English Baccalaureate. Effective training means that staff know pupils’ needs very well. The curriculum and teaching are adapted accordingly so that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn well.

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better?

Subject curriculums build on what pupils have learned in primary school. They place this knowledge into a logical order so that pupils learn well over time. As a result, pupils gain the knowledge they need. The school has a consistent focus on building pupils’ vocabulary. This strengthens pupils’ spoken and written language, which helps them to learn effectively across all areas of the curriculum.

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better?

Learning activities and teachers’ questions routinely recap what pupils know. Mostly this allows teaching to identify gaps in pupils’ understanding. However, at times teaching does not do this effectively. This hinders staff from identifying where some pupils have gaps in their knowledge. This means teachers are not always able to swiftly address pupils’ misconceptions.

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better?

Reading is a high priority. Pupils read in school every morning. The school regularly checks their reading ability. Those pupils who require help with their reading are 16 and 17 April 2024

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provided with additional support. Consequently, they become increasingly fluent and confident readers who can successfully access the curriculum.

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The atmosphere in lessons and around the school is calm and purposeful. Pupils know that poor behaviour will be dealt with fairly. They say that bullying and discriminatory language are taken seriously by staff. The school makes appropriate use of suspensions and exclusions. However, a minority of pupils do not meet the school’s expectations consistently.

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Most pupils understand the importance of attending school each day. Staff identify and support pupils whose attendance is lower than it should be. Despite this, a minority of pupils do not attend school regularly enough. As a result, there are gaps in their learning.

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The school has a carefully designed programme to support pupils' personal development. This enables pupils to build their knowledge in an age-appropriate way. For example, they learn how to develop healthy relationships and how to look after their mental health. Pupils receive comprehensive information about opportunities for further education and different careers. Pupils value this learning and feel well prepared for their lives beyond school.

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The trust, the school and those responsible for governance work tirelessly together to ensure that pupils become the best versions of themselves. This has led to significant improvements in the quality of education provided. Maintaining these improvements has been challenging this year due to the issues with the school site. Leaders at all levels have supported pupils and staff effectively through this period of disruption. The school ensures that staff receive high-quality training and development opportunities. Staff are very happy to work here.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, teaching does not check pupils’ understanding well enough. This means that teachers do not always know where gaps in knowledge exist or when pupils are stuck. The school should ensure that teaching systematically checks learning so that gaps in learning are addressed for all pupils.  A minority of pupils do not attend school regularly enough, especially some disadvantaged pupils. These pupils do not benefit from the improved curriculum, which hinders their achievement. The school should continue developing its work to support those pupils to attend school more regularly and develop a shared approach for supporting pupils to catch up with lost learning. 16 and 17 April 2024

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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). 16 and 17 April 2024

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School details

Number of pupils on the school roll 1083

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 28 and 29 June 2022, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Haygrove School is part of the Quantock Education Trust.

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Information about this school

 The school uses two registered and one unregistered alternative provider.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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Information about this school

 The main school building is closed as it was deemed unsafe at the start of this academic year. Consequently, the school uses several temporary classrooms. In the first term of this academic year, pupils were provided with a mixture of face- to-face learning on-site, off-site and online due to safety concerns with the building. 16 and 17 April 2024

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school's education provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors held discussions with school leaders at all levels. Inspectors also met with staff, trust leaders, trustees and members of the Local Governance Committee.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors viewed a range of school documentation, including minutes of the trust board and the school’s self-evaluation documents.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: history, English, maths and modern foreign languages. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.

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Information about this inspection

 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector/inspectors: 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.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors considered the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments. Inspectors also viewed the responses to the pupil survey and the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Frances Bywater, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Stuart Wilson Ofsted Inspector 16 and 17 April 2024

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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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