Highcliffe Primary School

Highcliffe Primary School is an inclusive, community-minded primary that inspectors judged good in all key areas during its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pupils are happy, feel safe and behave well, relationships are strong, and parents value the school’s rounded offer. The ambitious curriculum and strong early years provision provide a solid foundation, supported by a strong reading culture, improving attendance and a wide range of clubs and responsibilities. Strengths include skilled early years interactions, effective phonics training and support for pupils at risk of falling behind, and good personal development through visits, celebration days and community links. Safeguarding is effective, and staff feel well supported by leaders and governors. However, the school’s checking of pupils’ understanding is inconsistent in some curriculum areas, so misconceptions can persist and tasks are sometimes poorly matched to pupils’ current understanding. Leaders also lack a clear enough picture of how well recent curriculum changes are being implemented, which limits their ability to address weaker areas. The report identifies these as the main priorities for improvement.

Strengths

• Inclusive school highly valued by the community with strong relationships built on respect, resilience and responsibility.
• Ambitious new curriculum deepens pupils’ knowledge and pupils talk enthusiastically about their learning.
• High expectations for behaviour are met; pupils behave well, are happy and feel safe.
• Wide range of after-school clubs and special roles broaden pupils’ interests and responsibilities.
• Early years provides a strong foundation with a vibrant environment and skilled adult interactions.
• Strong reading culture with a well-resourced library, author visits and effective phonics training.
• Attendance has improved significantly through swift identification and practical support for families.
• Pupils are well prepared for life beyond school through religious education visits, celebration days and safety education.
• Strong community links and active support for local and national charities.
• Staff appreciate workload and wellbeing strategies and feel supported by governors.

Areas for Improvement

• In some curriculum areas, staff do not consistently check pupils’ understanding well enough, so misconceptions persist and knowledge gaps are missed.
• Tasks are not consistently well matched to pupils’ current understanding, sometimes making activities difficult to access.
• The school lacks a clear enough picture of the impact of recent curriculum changes, limiting its response where implementation is less secure.
• Some pupils do not attain as well as they could despite the ambitious curriculum.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Highcliffe Primary School attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.1% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.4% of pupils at Highcliffe Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Highcliffe Primary School had 20.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 18.5% of pupils at Highcliffe Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Highcliffe Primary School received £7,539 and spent £7,616 for each of its 245 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £146,000 (£596 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Guisborough · Redcar and Cleveland local authority: places and applications

Highcliffe Primary School is part of The East Cleveland Co-Operative Learning Trust, which runs 2 schools. The nearest others:

• Lockwood Primary School Saltburn-By-The-Sea

What is Highcliffe Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Highcliffe Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Highcliffe Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Highcliffe Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Highcliffe Primary School have?

Highcliffe Primary School has 260 pupils on roll.

What age range does Highcliffe Primary School cover?

Highcliffe Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Highcliffe Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 66% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Highcliffe Primary School?

Highcliffe Primary School is at Hutton Lane, Guisborough, North Yorkshire, TS14 8AA.