Queen's Hill Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Continue to develop the teaching of mathematics by:
  • extending the good practice established in the early years and Year 1 throughout the school
  • ensuring that all resources, including additional adults, are used effectively, especially to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Continue to promote parents as partners in their children’s education by:
  • extending the opportunities available for parents to discuss their concerns and share their views.
• Develop the teaching of writing by:
  • challenging the most able disadvantaged pupils to achieve higher levels
  • ensuring that standards of handwriting and presentation are consistently high across the school.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher’s passion and aspiration for every pupil to succeed have ensured that her vision of creating a school where pupils and adults love to learn has become a reality.
• The effective model of school improvement, which is very focused on improving outcomes, has enabled leaders, including governors, to share the headteacher’s ambition and be partners in leading the significant improvements that have taken place since the last inspection.
• Subject and phase leaders are a strength of the school. They are fully accountable for the standards and quality of work in their areas of responsibility. Supported by the senior leaders, other leaders monitor and evaluate the impact of their actions effectively.
• Leaders’ accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school has led to all staff members participating in a focused programme of professional development. Staff work as a unified team and have a shared approach to improving outcomes for pupils.
• The meticulous attention to developing good learning is reflected in the school’s curriculum. Every opportunity is sought to develop pupils’ social, emotional, spiritual and cultural education through the wide range of additional ‘life’ experiences offered to all pupils from camping overnight to caring for the school’s dogs.
• The curriculum is vibrant and stimulating. During the inspection, pupils were taking a walk through a rainforest, complete with authentic sights and sounds, which had been designed during an outdoor learning curriculum day. Year 5 pupils were exploring a vintage car to see if they could use their design and technology knowledge to understand how it worked. Year 6 pupils were making films using a range of media. Leaders’ detailed tracking systems show that pupils across the school are achieving well across all curriculum areas.
• The love of learning that sits at the heart of the school is also found in the school libraries. Here pupils read for pleasure before, during and after school. Parents and pupils can access a wide range of books, share a story in the reading café or conduct research on the computer. Older pupils support younger pupils and develop whole-school responsibilities by helping the librarian select and distribute books.
• The aspirations that leaders have for the pupils are explicitly displayed. Pupils walk along ‘aspirational alley’ on their way to the hall every day for lunch. Framed pieces of pupils’ artwork are displayed. The ‘creative careers’ display gives pupils an insight into different careers. Visitors to the school from a range of countries and backgrounds broaden pupils’ knowledge of different cultures and customs.
• The deputy headteacher has been instrumental in securing improved outcomes for disadvantaged pupils. The additional pupil premium funding is used effectively to support a range of diverse strategies to meet pupils’ needs, including their working with senior staff as mentors.
• The special educational needs coordinator effectively leads and supports a committed team. Accurate identification of the needs of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, good links with outside agencies including the external resource base, and a rigorous monitoring and review system mean that funding is used increasingly effectively to improve outcomes for pupils. As a result, most pupils make good progress from their starting points.
• The primary physical education and sport funding is used well and its use has led to an improvement in the number of pupils being physically active both during and outside school hours. All pupils are encouraged to develop their physical fitness as well as taking part in a range of sports and competitions. Pupils and parents speak highly of the opportunities available to develop dance skills and to perform in public.
• The school has actively sought opportunities to work with, and learn from, outside partners. The support and challenge provided by the Norfolk ‘Better to Best’ partner has been an integral and successful part of the school improvement journey, as has the work with challenge partners in London. In turn, the school has offered support to other local schools and shared the work it has done to bring about improvement with a wider audience.
• The majority of parents who spoke to inspectors, and those who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, or sent text messages, were supportive of the school and spoke highly of the quality of education their children receive. The parents who expressed concerns said that, although they recognise that their children are happy and safe at school, they feel that the school does not always satisfactorily resolve their issues or concerns, or involve them in decision-making about changes that are happening in school.

Governance

• Governance is outstanding because governors provide rigorous challenge to school leaders. They have an excellent understanding of how well the school is doing. They check the school’s performance through regular and focused visits, which are well documented and acted on. Governors also lead on specific subjects or areas of responsibility, and they meet regularly with the school leaders to check progress against these.
• Governors have a good range of skills and expertise that add strength to the leadership team. They have strategically filled any gaps, identified in their audit of skills, through either recruitment or training.
• Governors monitor the school finances very effectively and ensure that identified school improvement priorities are well supported. They have a clear understanding of how extra funding for disadvantaged pupils and for sport and physical education is being spent, and how it is having a positive impact on pupils’ achievement.
• Governors are fully involved in overseeing performance management arrangements, including that of the headteacher, and ensuring that good and better performance for all staff is rewarded appropriately.
• Governors ensure that safeguarding checks are rigorous.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders are relentless in their drive to ensure that pupils are safe and well cared for. All staff responsible for different aspects of safeguarding, including site security, demonstrate the same thoroughness in their approach to maintaining accurate records.
• Staff know and use the systems in place to monitor and report on the welfare of pupils. Leaders follow up on concerns quickly and are determined in their actions to ensure that pupils and their families receive the right support. More than one parent who spoke to inspectors stated that the staff do all they can to keep the children safe.
• Leaders responsible for child protection ensure that all staff are up to date and well informed. All potential risks are taken seriously and addressed. For example, the attendance of vulnerable groups is closely tracked, so concerns can be identified and acted on swiftly.
• Pupils confidently speak about the range of adults whom they can turn to for support. Adults across the school reinforce the safe use of the internet and, as a result, pupils understand how to keep themselves safe online.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• A very rigorous cycle of monitoring, support and challenge has strengthened teaching since the previous inspection. The quality of teaching over time is now good and continuing to improve further.
• Highly effective professional development, enshrined in the ‘Queen’s Hill Development Programme’, has enabled teachers to enhance their professional expertise and undertake research to improve their teaching skills. As a result, pupils are eager to learn and keen to acquire more knowledge, so outcomes for all pupils have improved.
• Leaders continuously share very detailed information on how well all pupils are doing. Teachers use this information to plan focused and targeted learning and support for pupils. Consequently, all pupils are making good or better progress from their starting points.
• The school has a growing number of pupils leaving and joining at different times of the year. New pupils’ needs are quickly assessed. As a result, they are inducted quickly into life at Queen’s Hill and teaching is well matched to their needs.
• Teachers and support staff establish excellent relationships with pupils. As a result, pupils become more confident learners and take risks in their learning. They learn through a range of exciting and carefully planned tasks and activities.
• The teaching of phonics is a strength of the school in the early years and key stage 1. This good teaching continues into lower key stage 2. This enables pupils to read widely and fluently, using their reading skills to access information across all subjects.
• The approach to the teaching of mathematics has been developed in the early years and Year 1 to give a greater focus on acquiring fluency in number work and a deeper understanding of key concepts. This has led to a marked improvement in outcomes for the youngest pupils. However, in other year groups, staff are not as effective at helping pupils to develop their understanding of mathematical concepts.
• The teaching of writing is much improved. This was shown in the excellent progress made by all Year 6 pupils in 2016. Pupils write at length regularly and develop their skills by using them to write appropriately in different subjects. While the teaching of spelling has also improved, pupils’ handwriting and presentation are not always of a high standard.
• The most able pupils are challenged to extend and deepen their thinking, and an increasing number are working at the higher levels. However, the most-able disadvantaged, despite a number of initiatives such as the ‘writers’ guild’ for promoting more writing opportunities, are not yet reaching the higher levels in writing.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported and access the curriculum alongside their peers. Occasionally in mathematics, an over-reliance on support from adults, or not having the appropriate resources to support their learning, slows their progress.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils are encouraged to look towards the future and the world beyond their locality. Leaders provide pupils with a wealth of opportunities, which raise pupils’ aspirations for example, holding a careers day where pupils learned about a range of careers from music to accountancy and acting to architecture. Pupils demonstrate the impact of these activities through the animated way they speak of ‘what they can achieve in the future’, and the motivation they show to learn and achieve well.
• The school is a bright, engaging, nurturing environment where adults strive to develop the ‘whole child’. Pupils receive support throughout the day in ways that best meet their individual needs academically, socially, emotionally and physically. Consequently, pupils are confident and self-assured learners who know how to stay safe and be healthy.
• Pupils learn about different religions and cultures through engaging activities, assemblies and trips. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is taught throughout the curriculum and leads to pupils having a strong sense of right and wrong, fairness and respect.
• Leaders carefully track the social and emotional progress of pupils who attend the external specialist resource base and the internal nurture unit. Pupils who attend the resource base have a named adult who ensures that staff across provisions use the approaches that support a pupil best. Pupils develop increasing self-control and engagement in learning, and make positive progress in their academic and social development.
• A few parents raised concerns regarding bullying. Inspectors found that on the rare occasions when incidents occur, they are followed up carefully. Detailed records show a reduction in the number of incidents reported. Pupils say they feel safe, adults listen to them and they know whom to speak to if they have concerns.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils’ conduct and self-discipline is evident in all areas of the school, including at lunchtime and playtimes. Teachers set high expectations and model exemplary approaches to learning and behaviour. As a result, pupils have excellent attitudes and understand how behaving well improves their learning and life chances. Incidents of low-level disruption are rare.
• Family values are at the heart of the school. Pupils of all ages play together, eat together and talk with enthusiasm about the curriculum days where older pupils support younger pupils. From holding the doors open for each other to helping each other in class, pupils of all ages demonstrate these values throughout the school day.
• The school’s behaviour policy is implemented consistently by all staff. Pupils know what is expected of them and have a good understanding of the rewards and consequences system. Behaviour records are concise and indicate that leaders are managing the very few incidents effectively.
• The few pupils who exhibit challenging behaviour are well managed. Pupils’ individual needs are met well so their behaviour does not interfere with their learning or with the learning of others.
• Parents of late joiners to the school report that their children’s needs are well met and they enjoy their time at school, quickly developing positive behaviour and attitudes to learning.
• Attendance overall has been consistently above the national average. Leaders have implemented rigorous systems to improve the persistent absence of a few pupils, which has led to rapid improvement. Attendance of pupils at the external resource base is carefully monitored. School leaders continue to work closely with the local authority to improve how regularly pupils attend school even further.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Outcomes at the end of key stage 1 have improved in all subjects. These were in line with the national outcomes in 2016. By the end of key stage 2, progress in reading, writing and mathematics was above average with writing being the strongest subject. Attainment in these subjects was in line with national averages.
• Pupils’ work and teachers’ assessments suggest that outcomes in the early years remain above average in 2017. Phonics outcomes in Year 1, already recorded, have improved on the 2016 levels. Outcomes in Year 2 are similar to those of last year. Pupils’ work and teachers’ assessments in Year 6 indicate an improvement on the standards achieved in 2016.
• As a result of effective phonics teaching in the early years, pupils start Year 1 with an already strong knowledge of letter sounds and blends. All groups of pupils make very good progress in developing their early reading and spelling skills. Almost all the pupils in the current Year 1 have reached the expected standard in phonics.
• A number of pupils have joined the school during key stage 1 and are receiving additional support to close any gaps in their learning. Work in pupils’ books indicates that progress in all subjects across the year has been good.
• In key stage 2, rapid progress has been made in reducing the difference in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally. All groups of pupils are making good progress. However, not enough of the most able disadvantaged pupils reach the higher levels of attainment at the end of Year 6, particularly in writing.
• By the end of Year 6, pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have made progress in line with other pupils nationally from their starting points. Assessment information shared by the school shows that the intervention programmes in place are helping to improve outcomes in all year groups.
• Pupils in Year 6 are well prepared for the next stage of their education. They have developed very positive attitudes to learning and have a good understanding of the future careers they might be interested in.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Leadership of the early years is very strong. The early years leader provides staff with highly focused training and has built a strong team. All staff members are confident and knowledgeable about effective learning for the youngest children.
• Most children enter the school with skills lower than those that are typical for children of the same age. Children make an excellent start in the Nursery. Teaching is engaging and routines are well established. This is built on in Reception. Children are keen to learn and their behaviour is exemplary. They form excellent relationships with each other and with adults.
• Children make exceptional progress in all areas of learning and achieve outcomes across the areas of learning that are above those reached nationally by the end of the Reception Year. This is because the quality of teaching over time is outstanding. Teachers plan a wide range of stimulating activities that capture children’s imagination and fully engage their interest.
• Leaders and staff have established strong relationships with parents, which help the children to feel safe and secure in school. There are many opportunities provided for parents to be fully involved with their child’s development. These range from workshops, where staff and children work together with parents, and a range of top tips shared in the regular newsletter to extend learning at home, to reading cafés where parents and children share books together.
• Children are motivated by the many rewards, activities and opportunities on offer to them, which support their learning and progress. They are taught to recognise risks in their learning environment and to be resilient in their learning.
• Children’s needs are identified quickly, all groups are tracked and effective interventions are put in place. External support and advice is sought and used when necessary to promote children’s wellbeing and learning.
• The outdoor learning environment has been very carefully designed to promote children’s independence and language development as well as access to activities different from those in the indoor classroom. For example, children were engrossed in a game of basketball, tallying scores and working out different distances to throw the ball from. Real bricks in the construction area allow them to copy the work of the nearby builders. Huge tyres full of musical instruments allow them to make music and learn about pitch. Clothing from many countries in the dressing-up area and books in the outdoor library allow them to learn about different cultures. There is also a range of opportunities, which draw on all these experiences, for pupils to practise writing independently and to use their mathematical skills.
• The teaching of early reading, writing and numeracy skills is highly effective. By the end of the Reception Year, children have developed very good skills and learning behaviours. They are very well prepared for Year 1.
• The early years provision is safe and secure. All staff have received appropriate training in first aid and child protection.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 135148 Norfolk 10031374 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 4 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 415 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Stacy Hartsthorn Penny Sheppard 01603 746 857 www.queenshill.norfolk.sch.uk head@queenshill.norfolk.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 16 17 June 2015

Information about this school

• The school is larger than the average primary school. It is continuing to grow to include three forms of entry in each year group.
• The majority of pupils are of White British heritage. As the school grows, an increased proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The pupils attend the three Reception classes full time. There are also two part-time Nursery classes.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is similar to the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is similar to the national average.
• Two pupils attend an alternative form of education at an external resource base.
• In 2016, the school met the government’s current floor targets, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out a range of observations in all classes, often alongside senior leaders.
• Inspectors held discussions with senior and middle leaders, newly qualified staff, members of the governing body and a representative from the Norfolk ‘Better to Best’ group.
• Inspectors looked at a wide range of pupils’ written work including that on display. They heard pupils read both in class and by listening to a small group outside lessons.
• Inspectors spoke to different groups of pupils about their work. They also spoke about their experiences of being a pupil at Queen’s Hill.
• Inspectors observed behaviour at different times of the day. This included before and after school, and at lunchtimes.
• Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of written evidence. These included safeguarding records, records of attendance and the associated improvement work. Records of the work of leaders and the governing body in monitoring the quality of teaching, the school’s records of pupils’ progress, governing body records, plans for improvement and a range of other documentation, which reflected the many different activities going on at the school, were also examined.
• Inspectors met informally with a number of parents at the beginning of the school day and during their visits to the reading café. They also met a small group formally. The team took account of 68 responses to Parent View, alongside a range of text comments submitted by parents.
• Inspectors took account of the nine responses to the pupil questionnaire and 18 responses to the staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Liz Chaplin, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Kerry Grubb-Moore Her Majesty’s Inspector Lyn Beale Lesley Stevens Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector