Haveley Hey Community School

About Haveley Hey Community School

Haveley Hey Community School is a state primary in Manchester that currently has 436 pupils on roll, just above its official capacity of 432. The school serves a community with very high levels of disadvantage: 71.8% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, far above the national average and a clear signal of the challenges the school faces. Demand for places is strong — for the 2025/26 intake, the school received 89 applications for 41 places, with 41 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.17. This suggests that local families actively choose the school despite its circumstances. The school has a nursery provision and is mixed-gender with no religious character, taking children from age 3 to 11. Headteacher Susan Spiteri leads a school that, in its most recent Ofsted inspection in October 2024, was rated Requires Improvement overall, though several individual areas were judged Good.

Academically, the school's Key Stage 2 results for 2023/24 show a mixed picture. Just 53% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, compared to the Manchester local authority average of 57%. This places the school 77th out of 122 primary schools in the borough, in the bottom 50% nationally. However, average scores in reading (101) and maths (100) are close to the national benchmark of 100, and 11% of pupils achieved the higher standard in maths, with similar figures for reading. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it's hard to say how much value the school adds. In its previous graded inspection in 2015, the school was rated Good overall, with leadership and management also Good. The current Requires Improvement rating reflects concerns about the quality of education and leadership, though behaviour, personal development and early years provision were all rated Good in the 2024 inspection.

The school offers a decent range of facilities including an outdoor playground, gymnasium, art studios, music rooms and a chapel. Sports provision covers cricket, tennis, athletics, cross country and rounders, and there are clubs such as film, science and book club. For SEND, the school lists support for nine categories including dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social and emotional mental health, speech and language needs, hearing and visual impairment, physical disability and autistic spectrum disorder — though the Parent View data shows no responses from parents of SEND children, so it's hard to gauge how well this works in practice. The nearest Outstanding-rated primary is Crossacres Primary Academy, 1.1 km away. Parent View responses from 10 families show 70% would recommend the school, though concerns were raised about behaviour management and how concerns are handled. This is a school that suits families who want a local, oversubscribed option in a high-needs area, but who are aware that academic outcomes are below the LA average and that leadership is still working through improvements.

Key Details

Frequently Asked Questions About Haveley Hey Community School

Helpful Guides for Parents