Hartland High School

Every student, the school's vision says, is capable of climbing their own personal mountain to one of the best universities in the country or the career of their choosing. That image runs through everything at Hartland High School, from the wellbeing service called Mountain Rescue to three houses named after mythical creatures of the mountains and skies.

This is a mixed, non-selective 11 to 18 academy in Whitley, south Reading, with 739 students on roll against a capacity of 950. It opened as a Fresh Start academy on 1 January 2025 within the Greenshaw Learning Trust, and took the Hartland High School name in September 2025. Ms Emily Davey is the headteacher.

The honest summary is a school in the early stages of a turnaround. The latest published GCSE and A-level results are weak, and the school has not yet been inspected in its current form. What it does offer is a tight, consistent behaviour system, a daily reading programme, well-organised pastoral support and one genuinely distinctive strength: a performance basketball programme run with Reading Rockets since 2013.

"Work hard, be kind" is the mantra the school uses to describe itself, and it is applied literally. Working hard is defined in everyday terms: attending every day, arriving on time, following instructions first time, completing homework and limiting screen time at home. Being kind means being polite and inclusive, tolerating difference and never taking away another student's right to learn by disrupting a lesson.

Consistency is the defining feature. Behaviour is treated as a curriculum, taught through re-induction sessions each unit, clear classroom expectations and a simple lesson-by-lesson choice: work in class or spend time in RFL (Ready for Learning) so that others are not disrupted. Students removed from a lesson follow the same curriculum while they are out. Classroom routines are spelled out in detail: students enter quietly, complete a retrieval quiz in silence while the register is taken, and raise a hand rather than call out. Mobile phones must be stored out of sight, and toilet visits during lessons are not permitted except on medical grounds.

That structure will reassure families who want calm classrooms. It will feel strict to others, and it is worth weighing honestly against your child's temperament.

Community matters here too. The school describes itself as proud to be part of Whitley and works with local primary schools and the Whitley Community Development Association. Its stated ambition is to be the school of choice, and the sixth form of choice, for all children in Whitley. British values are taught through subjects such as history, citizenship and religious education, and Black History Month is celebrated each October.

Uniform is formal and enforced: a compulsory black blazer with an embroidered HHS logo, a school tie with clip, and a house badge. Branded items come from Kitworld, grey jumpers need not be branded to reduce costs, every item may be worn by any student regardless of gender, and families who need help with uniform costs are invited to contact the school.

The house system gives the day a competitive edge. Students chose the three houses, Bjorn, Roc and Fenrir, and earn points through attendance, behaviour in lessons and inter-house competitions. The running totals appear on the school's own home page.

Results are the clearest reason for caution, and parents deserve a plain account of them.

At GCSE, 156 students completed Key Stage 4 in the latest published year. The average Attainment 8 score was 31.8 points. Progress 8, which measures how far students move from their starting points compared with similar students across England (0 is the England average), stood at -0.92. That is well below average progress: students here have, on this measure, achieved close to a grade less per subject than students with similar starting points elsewhere. On the English Baccalaureate, 9.6% of students achieved grade 5 or above across the full suite, with an average EBacc point score of 2.92.

Post-16 results were similarly low. Hartland High School is 2,505th of 2,562 in England for A-level results (top 97.8%), ranked against all schools in England with published A-level results, state and independent. This is a proprietary FindMySchool ranking built from official data. A* grades made up 2% of results and A grades 1%, while 11% were graded A* to B. Across England, 47% of A-level entries reach A* to B, and 24% reach A* or A, so the gap is substantial.

Families should judge the school on the next set of results as well as on its plans. Ask directly how the school's own assessment data compares with last year's outcomes, particularly in English and maths.

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The teaching model is explicit instruction, applied the same way in every room. Lessons typically follow an I, We, You structure: the teacher models success, the class practises together, and students then work independently. Much of this runs through subject booklets, with teachers modelling under a visualiser.

Several named routines reduce the variation between lessons. Students sit in STAR (Sit Up, Track the Speaker, All Equipment Down, Ready to Respond). The 123 Show Me routine breaks each explanation into chunks with frequent mini-whiteboard checks. Ready to Read asks students to track a shared text with their own 30cm ruler while the teacher reads aloud. The school's rationale is that consistent Core Routines free students, especially those with SEND, to think about the content rather than the procedure.

Reading has a protected slot every morning through the Tutor Time Reading Programme, which runs from 8.45am to 9.20am for every year group except Year 11, with tutors reading aloud while students follow their own copy. Year 7 texts include Boy 87, The House of Silk, Journey to the River Sea, Northern Lights and The Goldfish Boy. More than half an hour of shared reading daily is a significant investment, and a sensible priority given the results.

The curriculum is broad for a school of this size. Subjects include art and design technology, business, computing, dance and drama, design and technology, food tech, geography, health and social care, history, modern foreign languages, music, religious education, RSHE and travel and tourism alongside English, maths and science. At GCSE, every student takes English literature, English language, maths and science (worth two GCSEs), with non-examined PE and PSHE. Options are chosen in about February of Year 9, supported by an Options Evening for families.

The sixth form sets two mantras for itself: students lead by example, and they are university ready. Sixth formers take on leadership roles across the school, and the school runs visits and activities with universities to support applications. Enrichment runs on Wednesday afternoons and during social times.

Courses are grouped into an A-level pathway and a BTEC pathway. The published A-level list covers biology, chemistry, physics, English literature, mathematics, geography, history, business studies, physical education, psychology and sociology, with the BTEC Level 3 Sport (Extended Certificate) as the vocational option. The school labels its course list for 2026 as proposed, so confirm what will run in the year your child starts.

Entry requirements are clear. A-level study needs 5 GCSE grades at level 5 or above, including English and maths. The vocational route needs 4 grades at level 4 or above, again including English and maths. The Performance Sport Programme sits within both pathways for students with exceptional aptitude in football or basketball, and basketball players can join the academy in Year 12.

For students from lower-income households, the school participates in the 16 to 19 tuition fund, which can support economically disadvantaged students who meet the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund eligibility criteria.

On Oxbridge, two students applied to Cambridge, one received an offer and that student took up the place. For a sixth form of this size, a Cambridge acceptance is a meaningful achievement and a useful signal that the most able can reach the top universities from here.

Careers guidance is well structured. The school works with Adviza to provide impartial careers information to all Key Stage 5 students, and Year 13 students receive one-to-one Adviza interviews with personalised action plans. Year 12 includes a debate skills workshop, a careers and higher education fair, CV writing workshops with Study Higher, UCAS support and alumni mentoring. Assemblies and career links include Deloitte, Cisco, Vodafone and the NHS, and drop-in careers support runs from 3.15pm to 4.15pm every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Year 13 students can also get advice on studying abroad.

Basketball opens a further route. The school says many of its student athletes receive university offers from institutions in the UK and the USA.

The school measures its careers work against the eight Gatsby benchmarks using the Compass tracker, and gathers evaluations from staff, parents and students.

The Greenshaw Learning Trust is the admissions authority, but Year 7 applications are coordinated by Reading Borough Council through Brighter Futures for Children. Families apply to their own home local authority on the Common Application Form, naming Hartland High School as a preference, no later than 31 October in the year before entry. National Offer Day is 1 March.

For September 2027 entry, the published admission number is 180. In the 2025 round, the school received 117 applications and made 89 offers, a ratio of about 1.31 applications per offer, and every family who named it as first preference was offered a place. The school is technically oversubscribed, yet with offers well below the published number, securing a place is realistic for most local families.

Students with an Education, Health and Care Plan naming the school are admitted first. If there are more applications than places, the published criteria then run in this order:

1. Looked after and previously looked after children.
2. Exceptional medical or social need, evidenced through the trust's Social and Medical Form by 31 October.
3. Children of permanent staff meeting the stated conditions.
4. Siblings at the school at the time of admission.
5. Children living in the school's designated area.
6. Children outside the designated area, by straight-line distance from home.

Maps of the designated area are available on the Reading Council website, so check where your address falls before applying.

Open Evening runs on Thursday 1 October 2026 from 5pm to 7pm, with the headteacher speaking to families at 6.15pm. The school also offers School in Action tours on ordinary days, with the chance to meet the senior leadership team.

For the sixth form, applications are made through the school's online application form, subject to the entry requirements above.

Pastoral support is one of the school's better-documented strengths. Mountain Rescue, its in-house wellbeing service, runs timetabled interventions for students facing social and emotional barriers to learning. Referrals come through heads of year or the pastoral team and are discussed at Mountain Rescue Review Meetings that bring together pastoral, safeguarding, attendance and SEND staff. Modules cover emotional-based school avoidance, anxiety, anger management, building resilience and positive engagement, normally delivered weekly over about six weeks, with each student setting a target on a learning plan.

The wider offer includes one-to-one or group mentoring, confidential counselling, a school nurse, a weekly sexual health nurse drop-in, youth workers, Primary Mental Health Workers and family support. The school also works with local services such as No.5 Counselling, Daisy's Dream for bereavement and Berkshire Women's Aid. For a community with varied needs, that network matters.

Special educational needs are led by Emily Collins, Assistant Headteacher and SENCO. Planning starts before Year 7: the SENCO liaises with feeder primary schools, parents and any external agencies to gather information on each child's needs, and families joining mid-year attend an induction meeting with a member of the Inclusion Team. Every student with an EHCP or on SEN Support has a Pupil Passport recording strengths, needs and classroom strategies, reviewed termly with families. All students sit baseline reading assessments on entry, and those scoring below a standardised score of 90 may receive further diagnostic testing. Targeted support includes Read Write Inc., Direct Instruction and Champions Hour, and staff training covers autism, ADHD, speech and language strategies and emotional literacy (ELSA).

Bullying is addressed through tutor time and PSHE lessons, with clear guidance on what counts as bullying and how to report it.

Rewards balance the sanctions. Student of the Week, attendance stamps exchanged at the Monday Swap Shop, a Friday attendance prize draw for £5 vouchers, Fun Friday activities and an end-of-term Rewards Week all give students regular reasons to aim high.

Basketball. This is the school's signature. The performance basketball programme, run in partnership with Reading Rockets since 2013, is open to students from Year 7 to Year 13. The Elite Boys, led by Head Coach Samit Nuruzade, compete in the EABL (Elite Academies Basketball League), while the girls' team plays in the WEABL competition. The school describes itself as the only school in Berkshire with a performance basketball programme across all year groups, and lists U19 National Champions among its sporting successes.

Academic expectations are built in. Players' all-round performance is reviewed every six weeks by club coaches, school coaches and teachers, and Years 7 to 11 have weekly sports report checks. Personal mentoring comes from Charlie Haynes, Head of Youth Academy, and Matt Johnson, Director of Basketball. Talented players from other schools can be considered from as early as Year 6.

Wider sport. Football is the other performance sport, and the Year 7 and Year 9 football teams have won Greenshaw Learning Trust football competitions. Inter-house competitions run every term, ending in a whole-school sports day, and fixtures are played against schools locally and regionally.

Enrichment. The programme launches each year at an Enrichment Fayre, with sign-ups through the MyChildAtSchool (MCAS) app so parents can see attendance. Last year's activities included trampolining, creative writing groups, a Lego STEM club and guitar clubs, and free 30-minute fortnightly guitar lessons with a specialist peripatetic teacher continue. Music tuition that costs nothing is a genuine help to families. Lesson 6, from 3.05pm to 3.55pm, is also used for clubs and sports fixtures.

Character and leadership. The Duke of Edinburgh's Award is offered at Bronze in Year 9 and Silver in Year 12. The Character Education Offer covers residential trips, theatre visits and live sporting events across all seven years. Alongside baseline duties such as supporting positive behaviour and representing the school at open evenings, Year 10 and Year 12 student leaders take specialist roles as Head Students, Student Voice Leaders, Academic Leaders (who run a quiet lunchtime homework hub in room B15), Sports Leaders and Community Outreach Leaders.

Students must arrive by 8.30am. Line-up begins at 8.40am, the Tutor Time Reading Programme runs from 8.45am, and six lessons run through the day. Years 7 to 10 are dismissed at 3pm and Year 11 at 4pm.

Every student can have a free breakfast of cereal or a bagel each morning. Lunches include vegetarian options, and families can apply for free school meals through the school.

The school does not publish bus routes on its own pages, so families travelling from beyond Whitley should check local bus services before applying.

Results are low. A Progress 8 score of -0.92 and A-level results near the foot of the England table are the starting point this Fresh Start inherited. Families should look for evidence of improvement in the next published results, not just in plans and promises.

There is no inspection of the current school. The school has not yet been inspected by Ofsted since it opened on 1 January 2025. Before this school opened, the predecessor school (URN 130247) was judged Inadequate by Ofsted in October 2023. Parents therefore have no independent judgement of the new school yet, and should use visits and questions to form their own view.

The behaviour system is strict. Removal to Ready for Learning, no toilet visits during lessons and detailed uniform rules suit many students, but a child who struggles with rigid routines may need extra support. Ask how Pupil Passports and Mountain Rescue work alongside the sanctions.

The sixth form menu is modest. Eleven A-level subjects and one BTEC are listed, and the list is described as proposed. Students with a specialist subject in mind should confirm it will run.

Hartland High School is a school in the middle of a deliberate reset. The new trust, the new name and a highly consistent approach to behaviour, teaching and reading all point in one direction: calmer classrooms and higher standards. The results do not yet show that change, and the absence of an inspection of the current school means families are, for now, judging on direction rather than outcome.

What it does well is visible and specific. Mountain Rescue and the Pupil Passport system give vulnerable students real structure, the daily reading programme targets the right problem, and the Reading Rockets basketball partnership is unusual for any state school in Berkshire.

It is best suited to Whitley families who value firm routines and a local school with strong pastoral scaffolding, and to talented basketball players who want elite coaching alongside their studies. Families seeking a proven academic record should wait for the next results before committing.