Schools & FE · Report card

Highfield Primary School

Inspected 14 Jul 2026 · URN 132203

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Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

Guy Forbat (lead), Janice Howkins, Rutinderjit Mahil-Pooni, Sabrina Edwards, Sam Johnson

What we read, and from where

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Achievement verified
Strong standard
Attendance and behaviour verified
Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching verified
Expected standard
Early years verified
Expected standard
Inclusion verified
Strong standard
Leadership and governance verified
Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing verified
Strong standard
Framework verified
Report card
Inspection datesingle source
14 Jul 2026
Inspectors verified
Guy Forbat, Janice Howkins, Rutinderjit Mahil-Pooni, Sabrina Edwards, Sam Johnson
Postcode verified
N21 3HE
Name on report verified
Highfield Primary School
Safeguarding verified
Met
URN verified
132203

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Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.

AchievementStrong
Attendance and behaviourStrong
Curriculum and teachingExpected
Early yearsExpected
InclusionStrong
Leadership and governanceExpected
Personal development and wellbeingStrong

Tone of the report

How positive or critical the inspectors' language is, from the words they chose. No AI involved.

+82Very positivemore positive than 70% of reports of this type

In line with other reports of this type.

Praiseeffectivelyexcellenthigh qualitypositivehigh-qualityhighly effectivefeel safehappy

Criticismpersistent absenceconcernsdeclinegapsnot consistentlynot effectivelyabsencebelow

How the report reads, start to finish

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FindingsSafeguardingAbout the inspectionLeadershipWhat needs to improve positive critical

Findings1578w+83
Leadership222w+74
Safeguarding51w−11
What needs to improve65w+73

Strengths

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Concerns

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Persistent absence rates have continued to decline swiftly this academic year and are below average. p.2

Next steps

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What the report dwells on

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Anatomy of the report

How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.

Pages: 16
Words of findings: 1,916; about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level: Hard; Flesch 40, typical 43
Average sentence: 16 words
Next steps: 3; typical 3
Hedged sentences: 2%; “some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 54%Leadership 8%Safeguarding 2%What needs to improve 2%About the inspection 35%

Full report text

Highfield Primary School

Address: Highfield Road, Highfield Primary School, London, N21 3HE Unique reference number (URN): 132203

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Strong standard

Pupils master the key knowledge that they need for future learning. This includes skills in language and communication, writing and numeracy. This is because teaching regularly revisits important knowledge that pupils have learned previously so that it is securely embedded in pupils' long-term memories.

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Achievement Strong standard

Overall, pupils achieve above average outcomes in national assessments at the end of Year 6, especially in mathematics. Across reading, writing and mathematics, a higher proportion of pupils experiencing disadvantage achieve greater depth than disadvantaged pupils nationally. Pupils' writing is high quality across the curriculum, including that of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged. Pupils are routinely encouraged to think about, draft and edit their work over time.

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Achievement Strong standard

In reading, leaders have taken action and this has resulted in a swift improvement in pupils' outcomes by the end of Year 6. Pupils are academically well prepared for their next phase in learning.

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Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Leaders keep careful track of pupils' attendance and have a clear understanding of the reasons for any absence. The school works systematically and carefully with pupils and families to improve attendance when necessary. Published attendance rates show that pupils' attendance has been broadly close to average over recent years. Typically, pupils attend school regularly. A very small proportion of pupils are severely absent from school. This disproportionally affects the school's overall attendance rates. Leaders do everything that they can, including extensive and ongoing work with external agencies, in order to support pupils to attend school. Persistent absence rates have continued to decline swiftly this academic year and are below average. The school's positive work is not reflected in published data for persistent absence rates.

p.2

Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Leaders have an equally secure oversight of pupils' behaviour. Leaders and staff explicitly model the school's values of kindness and respect, when speaking with pupils. In turn, pupils' behaviour is excellent in class and around the school. During breaktimes, pupils play calmly together and follow the school's routines. In class, pupils focus on learning and do not disrupt others. On the rare occasions that behaviour incidents or bullying occur, staff deal with them quickly and effectively.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders identify early and accurately emerging needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders set precise and measurable targets for pupils. Teachers in mainstream classes effectively reduce pupils' barriers to learning and promote the independence of pupils with SEND. The school monitors carefully the impact of actions that teachers take and enhances the provision for these pupils if necessary. For example, leaders provide catch-up sessions in areas, such as phonics, for pupils with SEND that help them to keep up with their peers.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Pupils who attend the school's additionally resourced provision are happy and well cared for. The needs of pupils who attend the school-run specialist provision for younger pupils, Dali class, are met particularly effectively. Wherever possible, pupils in specialist provisions attend also mainstream classes with their peers.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have a very accurate oversight of the use and impact of additional funding. They use this effectively to support pupils experiencing disadvantage. Leaders use a range of research-informed strategies and make sure that disadvantaged pupils are included in all parts of school life and achieve well. Leaders also work closely and effectively with the local authority to support pupils' needs.

p.3

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The personal development curriculum supports pupils to become well-rounded individuals. It includes teaching in an age-appropriate way about how to stay safe online and offline. For example, younger pupils learn about important topics, such as water safety. The curriculum is carefully designed so that pupils are helped to recall what they have learned. Pupils' personal development is developed through a range of assemblies and whole-school initiatives. These include 'show racism the red card' and 'children's mental health' focused weeks. Throughout the school, leaders provide specific support for pupils to manage their own wellbeing, such as 'calm corners' in classrooms and access to counselling services onsite.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Opportunities for pupils to learn about different world faiths are well planned as part of the curriculum. Leaders ensure that pupils develop a detailed understanding of the similarities and differences between faiths. They organise visits to places of worship across all major faiths.

p.3

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders plan educational outings across year groups that deepen pupils' knowledge of the curriculum. For example, children in the early years visit a farm to learn more about animals that they have read about in familiar books and stories. Pupils in the resourced provision visit the local supermarket to buy ingredients for recipes that they cook. Pupils in Year 5 visit an aquarium, when studying oceans in science. All pupils in Year 6 attend a residential or activity week, where they learn to work together as a group and have a go at unfamiliar tasks and show confidence in trying new things. Leaders also organise extra-curricular activities during lunchtimes so that all pupils have an equal opportunity to participate.

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Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils regularly fundraise for charity and carry out acts of kindness for the local community. For example, pupils in Year 6 recently wrote letters to the local elderly residents and collected items for donation to a local foodbank.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have an accurate understanding of strengths and areas for improvement within the school's curriculum. They use this information to set and meet targets for improvement. For example, leaders' recent focus on improving the teaching of reading across the school has secured better reading results in assessments, especially for older pupils. The curriculum is broad. For example, pupils in Year 6 carry out a local history study where they consider concepts, such as migration and decolonisation. Support for pupils' writing is particularly effective in older year groups.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Teachers have the subject knowledge required to teach across all national curriculum subjects. They frequently check that pupils understand key learning and explicitly teach new vocabulary that pupils need for their learning. Leaders have successfully focused on improving these aspects of teaching over recent time. Occasionally, these teaching features are less consistently implemented across year groups, including in the specially resourced provision and the early years phase. Where this is the case, sometimes tasks are not as well selected to support pupils' learning as effectively, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Typically, pupils at the early stages of learning to read and write are taught effectively. Pupils who need support to catch up with their peers receive it.

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Early years Expected standard

Leaders assess children's needs so that whatever their starting point, children receive the support that they should as soon as they start at the school. This includes any emerging special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders also work closely with children's families and make home visits before they join the school. Leaders continually refine the early years curriculum to ensure that children are prepared for the next stage in their education. This includes helping children to develop positive relationships and manage their emotions effectively. Typically, staff support children well to develop their early language skills and extend their vocabulary. At times, children who have gaps in their knowledge and vocabulary are not supported as effectively to catch up through high-quality interactions during independent learning.

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Early years Expected standard

Child are happy and safe. They follow the clear routines set out by staff and learn to form letters and count well. They are taught to read from the beginning of the Reception Year. The teaching of phonics is typically secure. Generally, it supports children to learn new letters and sounds quickly. On occasion, children are not moved on to new letters and sounds as quickly as they could be. As a result, the proportion of children who reach a good level of development by the end of Reception is broadly in line with the national average.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders have demonstrated that they have a track record of continuous improvement across the school. Over time, they have systematically identified areas for improvement and implemented effective change that has had a positive impact on pupils' classroom learning. As part of this, they engage with educational professionals from outside the school to provide external expertise and professional challenge. Leaders make decisions that are in the best interests of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The professional learning programme for staff is closely aligned to leaders' prioritises for improvement and staff needs. It builds staff knowledge steadily over time so that teachers develop expertise. This includes specific work with subject, middle and senior leaders as well as support staff. Staff speak positively about the work that leaders carry out to reduce staff workload, where possible, and actions that the school takes to maintain staff wellbeing.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Those responsible for governance frequently scrutinise leaders' work. Alongside this, they regularly gather and evaluate the views of staff, pupils and parents and carers. They have the necessary skills to ensure that the school is run effectively and ensure that the school's resources are appropriately allocated. They know their statutory duties and typically carry these out promptly and effectively. Parents speak very highly of the school. They keenly choose to send their children here.

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