Happy pupils help Leighton Buzzard school keep its ‘good’ Ofsted report

A Leighton Buzzard school continues to provide a good standard of education its latest Ofsted inspection has found.

Ofsted inspector John Constable, found that Heathwood Lower School is a calm and purposeful place to learn, with happy pupils who are polite, friendly and confident talking to adults.

He said: “Pupils learn an interesting and stimulating curriculum. They are focused and engaged in lessons. They learn to read fluently and accurately. Pupils who need it get additional support to help them learn successfully.

“Kindness is important and is routinely demonstrated by pupils and staff. Pupils’ relationships with each other are very positive. They understand the difference between bullying and falling out with their friends. Pupils say that bullying rarely happens and are confident that staff deal with it effectively. Leaders and staff provide high-quality pastoral support. Pupils feel safe in school.”

He praised leaders for an ambitious, broad and balanced curriculum. “They select and adapt resources carefully to suit pupils’ needs. Leaders ensure that the key knowledge that pupils need to learn is set out clearly in all subjects from early years to Year 4,” he said. “The new curriculum for foundation subjects has raised expectations of what pupils should know and understand. However, leaders recognise that continued adaptation is needed until this new curriculum is fully developed.”

Mr Constable said teaching is particularly effective in mathematics, where teachers quickly identify and correct misconceptions so that pupils do not fall behind. Leaders also promote a strong culture of reading.

“Teachers assess pupils’ phonics knowledge regularly. They quickly identify pupils who fall behind and ensure they get the help they need to catch up. All pupils read books matched to their reading ability,” he said.

Headteacher Jackie Wright said “ I am immensely proud of our staff, children and families and am delighted that their hard work has been recognised so comprehensively.”

The school has also been recognised with a Communication Friendly award, a quality mark awarded to schools that show excellent and consistent practice in supporting communication and language . This reflects the recognised strength identified by Ofsted “Support for pupils with SEND is a strength of the school…skilled adults provide effective individual and group support”, Ms Wright said.

The pupils enjoy a values based curriculum where pupil voice is very important. The school has several school councils who are democratically elected by secret ballot. The eco council has been awarded the Green Flag with Distinction. The awarding body commented: “young people in your school are aware of environmental issues and committed to being active and creating positive change”

The positive attitude was also reflected in the school’s fundraising achievement this week where the entire school community were involved in a relay to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support . They smashed their £500 target raising over £1,000.

Ms Wright added what was most heart-warming was the involvement of the whole school community with parents joining staff after school to keep the relay going. This very much reflects the quote from one parent to Ofsted “ there is a lovely family feel at Heathwood where everyone is welcomed and included.”