Highfield Middle School

Overview

Highfield Middle School continues to be a good school, providing a calm and respectful atmosphere where pupils feel safe and well supported. Leaders maintain high expectations for personal and academic achievement, fostering a community where bullying is rare and inclusion is actively encouraged.

Strengths

• The curriculum is well-designed to meet the needs of both key stage 2 and key stage 3 pupils, ensuring they are "well prepared for high school."
• Staff in core subjects like English and mathematics explain ideas clearly and use regular checks to ensure prior learning is retained.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included, with the curriculum adapted to meet their specific needs.
• The school’s reading programme is having a "strong impact on how widely and how often pupils read."
• The wider offer is "excellent," with personal, social and health education helping pupils understand how to live "healthy and happy lives."

Areas to improve

• In some foundation subjects, processes for checking pupils’ understanding are "under-developed or used inconsistently," meaning staff cannot accurately identify gaps in knowledge.
• The school needs to do more to improve the attendance of some vulnerable groups of pupils, although support provision has begun.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.