William Hildyard Church of England Primary and Nursery School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching in key stages 1 and 2, and thereby the outcomes of these pupils, to consistently good by ensuring that the assessments teachers make of what pupils can do are used to plan the next steps in their learning, and ensure that pupils receive sufficient opportunities to:
  • refine and improve their writing, checking that their spelling, handwriting and composition are as good as possible
  • extend their writing, including across the curriculum
  • enhance their skills in responding to a wide range of texts
  • reason and solve problems in mathematics
  • undertake practical science work, with a particular emphasis on allowing pupils to think for themselves and work collaboratively.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Since the previous inspection, the headteacher has led the federation of William Hildyard and St George’s Church of England Primary Schools. She has skilfully managed to secure improvements across the federation. However, the extent to which this has resulted in good outcomes for pupils at William Hildyard has been uneven. She has managed to halt the recent decline in the quality of teaching in key stage 1 and 2, while ensuring that the quality of provision in the early years, and pupils’ behaviour and personal development, have remained good.
• William Hildyard Church of England Primary and Nursery has experienced considerable turbulence in staffing over recent years. A number of established staff who taught at the school at the time of the previous inspection have left the school. Senior leaders have worked hard to appoint new members of staff and to induct them into becoming familiar with the school’s many policies and systems. Nevertheless, the lack of consistency in the quality of teaching across the school has resulted in a decline in pupils’ outcomes at the end of key stage 2 over the past two years, and at the end of key stage 1 this year.
• Senior leaders have ensured that the new and existing members of staff have received training that has increased their skills. The tide is beginning to turn and leaders are quickly addressing the remaining weaknesses in teaching by providing teachers with bespoke advice on how to improve their practice further. Leaders are also ensuring that the most effective practitioners are themselves helping those who are less confident to improve what they do.
• Although leaders have not yet fully secured good teaching and outcomes in key stage 1, and in writing at key stage 2, there are convincing signs of improvement occurring. There are also strong indicators of improvement at key stage 2 in mathematics and reading. In addition, pupils in the current Year 6 cohort are currently on track for good outcomes by the end of the summer term.
• Leaders have written an effective school development plan to ensure that the rate of improvement accelerates, and that no time is wasted. The plan has a clear sense of urgency, and focuses correctly on the aspects that require most attention.
• One of the key areas identified for improvement at the last inspection was to ensure that leaders strengthened plans to develop the school by including clear benchmarks to check that actions are occurring. This has been addressed effectively. The school improvement plan includes these benchmarks, with rigorous and continual procedures for checking that actions happen quickly.
• The executive headteacher works well with the head of school. He ensures that, in her absence, the school is led and managed well. Both senior leaders share a common vision and have a very clear understanding of what the school does well, and where and how teaching needs to be adjusted quickly so that it is consistently good once again.
• The new subject leader for mathematics, who has been in post since September, is helping staff to improve the teaching of this subject, and is becoming a model of good practice. She and the subject leader for English are monitoring the quality of teaching well, and examining pupils’ workbooks closely. This means they can give governors reliable information on the impact of better teaching in improving pupils’ outcomes in year groups where they are not high enough.
• Staff are highly committed to the school and to doing the best for pupils. During the inspection, 21 members of staff responded to Ofsted’s questionnaire. The responses of the staff were overwhelmingly positive about all aspects. Staff say they feel valued and are fully supportive of the work and approach of senior leaders.
• Arrangements for the appraisal of staff are effective. Inspectors saw convincing evidence that staff are set challenging and measurable targets to improve their performance in the classroom. These targets are linked effectively to good and well-focused opportunities for training.
• The school’s curriculum is broad, balanced and exciting for pupils. Those who inspectors met told them that they enjoyed their lessons, explaining that, because they are fun, it helps them to pay attention and learn. The curriculum is enhanced well with a wide variety of extra-curricular activities, which pupils greatly enjoy. These include cross-country running, netball, football, singing, film and drama, a book club, and a club where pupils learn to sign. As a result of these, pupils are given the opportunity to develop.
• Leaders ensure that pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school. For example, they learn about other religions from around the world, as well as their own. Staff plan lessons and assemblies well so that pupils continually reflect and think about their own responsibilities, and understand the importance of doing the right things. As a result, pupils become extremely thoughtful, kind and considerate.
• Pupils are taught fundamental British values very well. Teachers explain the need to be tolerant of others, the importance of following the school rules and, for example, they visit the Houses of Parliament to see national democracy in action for themselves. As a result, they understand the need for everyone to uphold the law and to respect others. Because staff instil these values effectively, pupils are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Leaders ensure that they spend the primary physical education (PE) and sports funding well to increase pupils’ enjoyment of, and participation in, this area. A large number of pupils participate in sporting tournaments and, for example, around nine in ten pupils in key stage 2 are taking part in after-school sporting clubs. These details are set out well in a series of detailed reports that have been published on the school website.
• Parents hold the leadership of the school in high regard. A very large majority of the 93 responses given through Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and its free text facility, said that the school is well led and managed, as well as giving very favourable views on all other aspects of provision. The parents inspectors spoke with during the inspection confirmed these positive views.

Governance of the school

• The governing body is effective in its strategic role, and its impact is improving quickly after a considerable period of adjustment, following the process of federation with St George’s. A perceptive and experienced chair of the governing body, who was in her role at the time of the last inspection, leads them well. They challenge senior leaders about pupils’ outcomes and, like them, are wasting no time to ensure that the necessary improvements, identified in the school’s development plan, are taking place urgently.
• Governors are ensuring that the pupil premium funding is spent well to improve the attainment of disadvantaged pupils. A named governor, who has a specific responsibility for this area, meets regularly with the head of school to ensure that leaders use the funding appropriately. Because of the good use of this funding, the progress of disadvantaged pupils is improving. This includes the progress of the most able disadvantaged pupils, who staff give particularly challenging opportunities and tasks to, in order to extend their skills and deepen their understanding.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The executive headteacher ensures that all staff have been well trained in safeguarding. This includes training in radicalisation and extremism. Staff who inspectors met had a good knowledge of potential warning signs of abuse, and knew the procedure to report any concerns. Staff were very clear of their responsibilities to do this, however slight their suspicions.
• Leaders work well with parents to ensure that their children remain safe. For example, the school website gives good information for them on internet safety for children. In addition, leaders are clear that, where they become concerned for the welfare of a pupil, their approach is always to work closely with parents, keeping them well informed, unless this would increase the risk of harm to the pupil. Evidence seen by inspectors shows that the leaders make brisk referrals to a wide range of external agencies to help pupils who need support.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching over time has not secured consistently good outcomes for pupils by the time they leave the school.
• Although the quality of teaching is improving, because leaders are taking appropriate action to address its weaknesses, it is not yet consistently good. Too often, while teachers check what different groups of pupils can do and understand, they do not then use this information to plan appropriate and challenging work for them.
• During the inspection, inspectors undertook, alongside the executive headteacher, a detailed and comprehensive scrutiny of pupils’ work in English, mathematics and, through their topic books, of other subjects throughout key stages 1 and 2. This shows that not enough teachers provide regular opportunities for pupils to respond in writing to the texts they read. As a result, many pupils’ comprehension skills are not yet sufficiently high.
• While pupils’ writing is showing some improvements, leaders know that not enough teachers are yet providing them with sufficient opportunities to refine and improve their work. Teachers do not consistently ensure that pupils attend to their errors in spelling and handwriting, and that their composition is as good as possible. In addition, leaders are also aware that too many pupils do not have regular enough opportunities to write in subjects across the curriculum. As a result, their progress in writing is not yet good across the school.
• Mathematics teaching, though also improving, is not yet consistently good. This is because, in several classes, teachers are not providing pupils with tasks that will allow them to apply what they know to solve problems, and to reason mathematically so that they understand clearly why the answer they have reached is correct or incorrect.
• Teachers do not yet consistently give pupils sufficient opportunities to undertake practical science work for themselves. Although pupils in some year groups are given excellent occasions to investigate, to think for themselves and to make choices in planning and carrying out tasks together, too many others are not.
• Teaching assistants are used effectively overall to support pupils’ learning. These staff help pupils who need to catch up, or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, to understand the aims of the lesson, and what they are being asked to do. However, they do not assist pupils excessively. As a result, these pupils gain in confidence and their independence grows over time.
• Good phonics teaching, which begins in the early years, is sustained in key stage 1. As a result, pupils become confident readers. Teachers also ensure that pupils take great pleasure in reading. Members of the school council have recently commissioned an artist to make the school library a warm and attractive place to enjoy books, with murals of Noah’s Ark and Pirates of the Caribbean. Pupils inspectors heard read during the inspection were keen readers, and made very good attempts to pronounce words with which they were unfamiliar. However, teachers are less skilled in enabling pupils to make sense of what they read, and for older pupils to evaluate such things as the impact of figurative language, or be able to draw inferences of characters’ feelings, thoughts and motives through their actions.
• Teaching is effective in history and geography. Pupils’ topic books show that teachers are helping pupils to understand the similarities and differences between their own society and those of others through history. These books also indicate that pupils are taught, in an age-appropriate way, about, for example, the different environments, climates and places of the world. As a result, pupils are making good progress in these subjects.
• There are encouraging signs in pupils’ books that, due to the determination of leaders to urgently improve the quality of teaching, pupils’ progress is beginning to accelerate in English, mathematics and science. Inspectors also noted how, for example, teachers were often ending lessons well, summarising what pupils had learned, as well as giving opportunities for pupils to evaluate their own success.
• Teachers, overall, give the most able pupils challenging work that is well matched to their needs. As a result, the progress of these pupils is good.
• Teachers have ensured that their classrooms are bright and orderly learning environments where pupils are expected to work hard.
• Teaching is of good quality in the early years, where staff question children very effectively to check their understanding. This also makes children think about their answers, as well as encouraging them to enquire about the things they do not yet know.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• The school is a very caring environment where all staff help pupils to become confident young people as they grow up. Pupils with whom inspectors met explained that they felt extremely safe in school. They told them how they could always approach a member of staff if they feel worried about anything. The large number of parents who responded to Parent View unanimously confirmed that the school keeps their child safe.
• Pupils are relaxed about making occasional mistakes in their work. They see it as a natural part of their learning, and one that helps them to see what they need to focus on next. This ensures that pupils are resilient to failure, and that they will keep trying if they find something difficult to do.
• Pupils have a very confident understanding of how to keep themselves healthy, and know how important this is. Those pupils inspectors met could explain accurately the types of food that they should not consume too much of, as well as those that are good for their bodies. They are extremely keen to stay fit, and enjoy both energetically running around the playground, and taking part in the many opportunities for PE and sport that teachers, and the PE and sports funding, provide.
• Pupils have an excellent, age-appropriate understanding of how to keep themselves safe when using technology. Pupils could explain confidently to inspectors how, if they received an image or a message that makes them worried, they should not delete this immediately but should first show it to an adult they trust. They understand that healthy relationships do not involve bullying, or others placing pressure on them to do things that are inappropriate. They could also explain why they should never give their personal details when online.
• Staff ensure that they give particular care to those whose home circumstances may make them vulnerable, and those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff work very well to support and include these pupils and to ensure that they feel secure.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning are very positive. All staff model appropriate behaviour consistently well, and listen to pupils respectfully. As a result, pupils pay close attention to them and work hard, respecting them in turn, as well as each other. Pupils value their education and, as a result, do not disrupt each other’s learning. They only become disengaged from lessons for short periods on the rare occasions where staff do not manage the pace of lessons effectively, and have not noticed quickly enough when pupils are ready for the next task.
• Pupils are proud to be part of the William Hildyard school community. They keep the school very clean and tidy, complete their work neatly and wear their uniform smartly.
• Pupils inspectors met told them that, while bullying and name-calling do exist in school, these incidents are rare, and staff deal with them promptly and effectively when they occur.
• Attendance is broadly in line with the national average. The attendance of disadvantaged pupils, and pupils who the school has judged to require action due to having special educational needs and/or disabilities, is a little lower than that of other pupils. However, the statistics are affected by a small number of pupils in each group, most of whom have genuine reasons for their absence. The executive headteacher works well with the parents of those pupils who do not attend quite as regularly as they could, in order to reduce their absence over time. School leaders do not authorise absence for family holidays.
• Pupils who inspectors met explained to them how it is important to show respect to those who hold different religious beliefs to their own, or those who have no belief. They believe strongly that everyone is equal and they warmly welcome pupils into the school from different countries and cultures.
• Pupils greatly enjoy showing others what they can do. For example, during the inspection, pupils performed Christmas concerts for parents and grandparents. The adults who attended gave very positive written feedback regarding the quality of pupils’ skills, and explained how much they had enjoyed watching them perform.
• The occasional low-level misbehaviour in class and attendance, which is only in line with the national average, limits the judgement of behaviour to good, rather than exemplary.

Outcomes for pupils Require improvement

• Published information on pupils’ outcomes shows that, historically, these have been good. However, recently these outcomes have declined. Although there are positive signs of improvement this year, pupils are currently not making consistently good progress across the school.
• In 2015, the progress of pupils during key stage 2 was significantly lower than it was for other pupils nationally, in both reading and mathematics. As a result, pupils’ attainment in these subjects, as well as in science, and in their grammar, punctuation and spelling, was also significantly below the national average.
• Provisional information indicates that the progress of the 2016 Year 6 cohort improved in mathematics, and was broadly average overall. However, it remained significantly below the national average for girls. In addition, the progress in reading for this cohort was below the national average. Moreover, the progress pupils made in their writing was in the lowest 5% of all schools nationally.
• Until this year, outcomes at the end of key stage 1 were high. Pupils’ attainment was significantly above that found nationally for the previous four years. However, this year, outcomes fell. Significantly lower proportions of pupils have met the new expected standard in all subjects, compared to the national average. Teaching did not build effectively on the good levels of attainment by these pupils when they left the early years at the end of 2014. As a result, for example, only around half of the cohort met the expectations for their age in science and mathematics, and only one in three in writing. Because of this, most of these pupils have not entered key stage 2 well enough prepared. However, they are now making better progress.
• Workbooks from pupils currently in the school show conclusively that pupils in key stages 1 and 2 are making good progress in some year groups, and there are clear signs of improving rates of progress elsewhere. However, progress is currently inconsistent overall across English, mathematics and science. Leaders are fully aware that, in a number of classes, pupils do not yet learn sufficiently quickly and are attending to this with urgency.
• Unconfirmed information shows that the proportion of pupils who have attained the combined expected standard of reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 remains broadly in line with the national average. This means that, overall, pupils are sufficiently well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Data for 2016 indicates that the most able pupils make strong progress in key stage 1. Significantly higher proportions of these pupils attained both the expected standard, and a greater depth of understanding, in reading, writing and science. This data shows that the progress of the most able pupils in the most recent Year 6 cohort was in line with the national average in reading and mathematics and was significantly below the national average in writing.
• Pupils’ progress in learning phonics is good. The proportion of pupils who passed the phonics screening check over the past three years has been consistently above the national average, and has improved year on year. In 2016, nine in 10 pupils passed.
• Due to the effective use of the pupil premium, disadvantaged pupils are making improving progress overall. They are becoming increasingly fluent with their mathematics, more accomplished with their writing, and developing greater confidence as readers. This good rate of progress includes the most able disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are also making improving progress, compared with other pupils of similar starting points. Staff ensure that the support these pupils receive meets their needs well. As a result, they are making good gains in all subjects.
• Pupils’ level of skills, knowledge and understanding in the current Year 6 cohort, together with their accelerating progress, indicates that they are currently on track to achieve considerably better outcomes in English, mathematics and science than the previous year group.

Early years provision Good

• Children in the early years enter the school with levels of skills that are broadly typical for their age. They settle in quickly, and are keen to investigate, explore and participate in the many activities staff plan for them. They also feel very safe there because of the kind and caring nature of adults.
• Very effective, aspirational leadership from the head of the early years means that all staff in both the Nursery and the Reception classes work closely together, and have the same high expectations for all children. These staff understand their role clearly and work using a shared approach so that children learn consistently well. They also ensure that the pupil premium is used well to help any disadvantaged children who need to catch up to do so quickly, or, if they have high levels of skills when they join, they are challenged further and attain more highly.
• Staff work closely with parents, ensuring that they undertake meetings with them before children arrive so that staff have a good knowledge of children’s needs, personalities and abilities.
• Children in the Nursery class make good gains. The share the outdoor learning areas with the Reception class and are keen to see the tasks that staff are asking the older children to complete.
• There is a happy learning environment in both year groups. Teachers use their assessment of children’s progress well to set challenging next steps for them, and activities that meet their needs.
• Staff ensure that they ask children good questions that make them think and prompt them to give clear responses. The skilful modelling of language by staff promotes children’s good progress.
• The behaviour of children is excellent. They cooperate happily, making good friends and respect each other’s differences. Children sustain their attention when engaged in an activity and are not easily distracted.
• As a result of consistently high-quality teaching over time, the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development by the time they leave the early years is typically not only in line with, but a little higher than, that found nationally. Pupils enter Year 1 well prepared for the next stage of their education.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 120695 Lincolnshire 10019131 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary aided 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 237 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Christine Bish Fiona Griffiths 01778 343 119 www.williamhildyard.lincs.sch.uk enquiries@williamhildyard.lincs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 26–27 September 2011

Information about this school

• This is a slightly smaller than average primary school.
• It is part of a federation with St George’s Church of England Primary School and shares an executive headteacher and the governing body.
• The headteacher is a local leader of education, and a Section 48 inspector for the diocese of Lincoln.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is broadly average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well below average.
• In 2015, the school did not meet the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum requirements for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed learning in all key stages of the school and in all classes. Some of the observations took place accompanied by the executive headteacher. In total, 15 lessons, or parts of lessons, were observed. The inspectors also scrutinised many examples of pupils’ work.
• The inspection team held meetings with the senior leaders, subject leaders, representatives of the governing body and pupils. They analysed 93 responses on the Ofsted online questionnaire, Parent View, looked at the free text comments submitted by those parents, and spoke with parents at the beginning of the day. The inspectors also received written correspondence from one parent.
• The inspectors looked at a wide range of documentation, including the school’s development plan and self-evaluation, policies and records related to safeguarding, records of pupils’ behaviour, the school’s information about pupils’ outcomes and attendance, and records of meetings of the governing body.

Inspection team

Roary Pownall, lead inspector Karen Lewis Lynda Morgan Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector