Haynes Lower School

Overview

Haynes Lower School is described as a "warm, friendly and happy school" where pupils enjoy learning in a safe environment. The report highlights strong relationships between staff and pupils, with a curriculum that generally supports good progress and a clear priority on reading.

Strengths

• Pupils benefit from "strong relationships" with staff who consider individual feelings, resulting in an environment where "bullying rarely happens."
• Leaders have constructed a curriculum where they "identified precisely the important knowledge" in most subjects, allowing pupils to build towards "understanding more complex ideas."
• Reading is a high priority; phonics teaching begins in Nursery, and staff match books to pupils' known sounds, helping children "learn to decode words well."
• The school supports pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well, with staff identifying needs quickly and adapting the curriculum so all pupils can "access it equally well."
• Leaders prioritise well-being through structures like "talk time with a well-trained adult" and trained "well-being ambassadors," creating a "supportive and nurturing environment."

Areas to improve

• In "a few subjects," leaders’ curriculum thinking is "less clear," meaning they have not identified specific skills and knowledge, so pupils "do not make as much progress as they should."
• Leaders must ensure they make clear to teachers "specifically what pupils should learn in all subjects" to ensure all pupils are taught key information.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are "effective," with clear recruitment processes, regular staff training, and robust systems for governors to check policy effectiveness.