Healey Foundation Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Healey Foundation Primary School Earnshaw Avenue, Rochdale, Lancashire OL12 0ST

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 January 2025

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Outcome

Healey Foundation Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils describe Healey Foundation Primary as a ‘happy school.’ They are proud to be part of the ‘Healey family.’ Pupils benefit greatly from the support and care on offer. They enjoy the opportunities that they experience as part of this inclusive school community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

‘Playground pals’ support pupils to play happily together at breaktimes. Pupils strive to live up to the school’s high expectations of their behaviour. They speak with pride about the awards that they receive in recognition of this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school expects its pupils to succeed. Effective support is provided for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to achieve alongside their peers. Pupils achieve well across a range of subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a range of opportunities to develop themselves beyond the academic curriculum. They take part in residential visits and trips to the town hall, nature reserves and museums. This allows them to gain an understanding of their local community and the wider world. Pupils also enjoy taking part in a range of activities that develop their talents and interests. For example, pupils enjoy developing their musical skills as members of the school choir. They showcase their sporting abilities at swimming, cross country, and netball competitions.

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

Since the school was last inspected, it has acted resolutely to maintain the standards identified at that time. The school knows pupils and their families extremely well. It has responded effectively to changes in its context. As a result, the school has continued to 21 and 22 January 2025

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adapt its approaches to identifying and meeting pupils’ needs appropriately. Where required, the school has well-matched individual learning plans in place.

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Governors are deeply committed to the school and the community it serves. They have ensured that the school has continued to improve the quality of education pupils receive. In recent years, the school has introduced new curriculums for phonics and mathematics. It has ensured that staff are not overwhelmed by these changes. Every decision or change that the school makes is made with pupils’ best interests at heart. The impact of improvements made to these curriculums is evident in pupils’ achievement.

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The school has placed reading and developing pupils’ vocabulary at the heart of its curriculum. Pupils appreciate how reading helps them to expand their knowledge and understanding of language and the wider world.

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Staff have the expertise to deliver the new phonics programme well. In the Reception Year, staff help children to use their phonics knowledge accurately so that they sound and read simple words confidently. Teachers ensure that the books pupils read are matched to the sounds that they know. Staff provide prompt help for any pupils with gaps in their reading knowledge. As a result, most pupils become confident and fluent readers.

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The school has also strengthened its wider curriculum thinking. It has carefully organised the curriculum from the early years to the end of key stage 2. Effective training for staff informs the well-chosen adaptations to curriculum delivery for pupils with SEND.

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In most subjects, teachers reliably check what pupils know and remember. However, in some subjects, these checks are not clearly focused on the key knowledge that pupils need to support their future learning. This leads to gaps in some pupils’ learning and prevents them from achieving as much as they could. In addition, errors in some pupils’ spelling, punctuation and handwriting go unchecked. Consequently, some pupils continue to repeat these errors.

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Children in the early years follow established routines and learn cooperatively alongside one another. Older pupils are proud to be ‘special friends’ and act as role models for younger children. Pupils who sometimes struggle to regulate their own behaviour benefit from sensitive support from staff. The school is tenacious in its approach to securing pupils’ regular attendance. As a result, most pupils attend regularly.

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Through the curriculum, pupils learn about difference and diversity in British society. They are proud to be members of the school council and social action group. They value making a difference within and beyond their school community through litter picks and by supporting charities. ‘Sunshine days’ help pupils’ to look after their well-being. Pupils are encouraged to aim high for their future lives by learning about different careers and opportunities available to them.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 21 and 22 January 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 At times, the school does not identify the spelling, punctuation, and handwriting errors that pupils make when they write independently. This means that some pupils continue to make the same errors over time. The school should ensure that it identifies and addresses these errors so that pupils are supported to develop their writing accuracy and expertise across the curriculum.  In some subjects beyond English and mathematics, the checks that are made on pupils’ understanding are not clearly focused on the key knowledge that pupils need to know to support their future learning. This leads to gaps in some pupils’ understanding and prevents them from learning all that they could. The school should ensure that checks on pupils’ understanding in these subjects are focused on the most important information that they will need to secure future learning.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 for overall effectiveness in May 2015.

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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. 21 and 22 January 2025

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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). 21 and 22 January 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Simon Carrington

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 November 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The current headteacher was appointed in January 2020.  The school provides a breakfast and after-school club for pupils.  The school makes use of two unregistered alternative provisions.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 her evaluation of the school.  The inspector spoke with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and other leaders in the school.  The inspector met with members of the governing board, including the chair of governors. 21 and 22 January 2025

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 The inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority. She also spoke with the school’s school improvement partner and representatives of the two unregistered alternative provision providers currently used by the school.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. She also listened to pupils from Years 2 and 3 reading to a familiar adult.  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 spoke with parents and carers at the start of the school day. She also considered responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses.  The inspector considered responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and pupils.

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Inspection team

Rebecca Jewitt, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 21 and 22 January 2025

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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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