Harris Primary Academy Haling Park Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Take more effective action to improve pupils’ spelling skills.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• Leaders and governors are highly ambitious for the school. Leaders have a clear understanding of what excellence in education looks like and know how to secure it. Leaders draw on the strength of the federation to plan for the school’s future as it grows year by year. The principal works in highly effective partnership with the executive principal to secure top-quality teaching and outstanding outcomes for the pupils. The vigilant governors play an important part in ensuring that these high standards do not slip.
• Leaders ensure that high-quality teaching is at the heart of their planning. As a result, all pupils make strong progress from their individual starting points. Pupils from all backgrounds and with varying capabilities are given equal opportunities and make similar strong progress, with no group falling behind.
• Leaders, including subject leaders, are vigilant in securing top-quality teaching. They visit classes and check pupils’ work to see for themselves how well pupils are learning. Leaders offer valuable opportunities for staff to build their skills.
• Staff are loyal to leaders and to the school. A typical comment from one member of staff was, ‘Staff support each other professionally and emotionally. Over time we have become a family.’
• Leaders engage successfully with parents. This was clear from the responses of almost all parents who spoke to inspectors or who completed the Ofsted online survey and the school’s own survey. A typical comment from one parent was, ‘I am impressed with the passion for learning from both staff and children. My child is thriving in this environment.’ One or two parents raised individual concerns with inspectors. These were explored fully with the school. From the evidence provided by the school, inspectors were satisfied that leaders had made every effort to engage fully with parents to address their concerns.
• Leaders and governors make excellent use of additional government funding. Their wise choices enable disadvantaged pupils to learn and attain very well, with no difference between their achievement and that of other pupils. Additional funding also enables pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities to receive the right support, so that they make similar progress as others in the school.
• Leaders and governors make highly effective use of the additional government funding for primary physical education and sport. They ensure that the spending is targeted at attracting new participants, keen to try out such activities as street dance and ballet. Pupil ‘playground leaders’ are actively involved in planning for new equipment to promote fitness.
• Leaders plan the curriculum extremely well, so that it provides an excellent balance between academic, creative, sporting and technological topics. Much of the curriculum is planned around themes. For example, a ‘dragon’ topic in Year 2 was used to stimulate pupils to write creatively and also to introduce a science topic on hygiene (‘How would you wash your hands after touching a dragon’s paw?’).
• The classroom curriculum is balanced by a rich programme of outside clubs, activities and trips, including to London Zoo, museums and theatrical events. These events are designed to raise pupils’ aspirations and broaden their outlook. Pupils spoke warmly of how experiences such as trips to local places of worship and Rainforest Day helped them to understand the world around them.
• Leaders ensure that pupils understand British values, such as tolerance and the rule of law. Inspectors visited the school during a general election and were impressed by the school’s sensitivity in helping pupils no older than six or seven to begin to understand what democracy means. The principal told pupils a story involving animals taking a vote, and explored with them what is meant by voting, ballot boxes and polling stations. Pupils explored how to manage their feelings, whether they were on the winning or the losing side of a vote. Such ideas, successfully linked to the school’s values involving resilience and perseverance, promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development exceptionally well.

Governance of the school

• Governors carry out their statutory duties with exemplary thoroughness. The chair of the governing body sits on the federation’s board of trustees, and this helps to cement the strong partnership between school and federation. Governors share leaders’ vision of excellence and their drive for continual improvement.
• Governors know the school well, visiting it often and seeing its work for themselves. They provide detailed reports on their findings, which they share with other governors. A scrutiny of governors’ minutes confirms that governors are ready to ask searching questions and hold the school to account.
• Governors make wise choices in using additional government funding successfully to ensure that those eligible for support learn as successfully as other pupils.
• Governors are keen to improve their own skills, and benefit from the in-house training provided by the federation. They are well trained in ways of keeping children and adults safe at the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. There is a strong culture of safety in the school that all members of the community understand and share. Leaders are highly knowledgeable about all aspects of safeguarding and ensure that staff training is up to date.
• Checks on those who work with children are rigorous. There are effective links with external agencies to ensure that children are safe and attend school regularly.
• Before pupils are taken out on trips and visits, all risks are comprehensively assessed.
• Staff and governors are very well trained in keeping children safe. They are trained to identify signs of possible extremism and to check for potential risks of female genital mutilation.
• Pupils and parents agree that the school is a safe place.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• The quality of teaching is consistently high, enabling pupils to learn extremely well.
• Adults have high expectations of what pupils can accomplish. Pupils enjoy learning and are keen to do well. One pupil commented, ‘When I struggle, I persevere and bounce back.’ Adults promote this resilience by turning pupils’ errors and misconceptions into part of their learning journey. As a result, pupils approach learning confidently and with a sense of adventure.
• The well-planned curriculum provides pupils with exciting opportunities to learn. For example, in one session, a video film of a dragon purportedly breaking into the music room, and leaving behind mess and debris, captivated pupils. The activity resulted in much sophisticated writing. One pupil described the dragon’s mess as ‘muddy as melted chocolate’.
• Adults’ questioning, both orally and in pupils’ workbooks, stimulates pupils to learn extremely well and make rapid progress. Adults ask searching questions, ensuring that pupils have mastered the topics. For example, inspectors observed mathematics sessions where adults ensured that pupils had a thorough understanding of what fractions are, to prepare them for calculating in fractions.
• Adults set pupils tasks that challenge them, enabling pupils from a wide range of backgrounds and with varying needs to make equal progress in their learning. Additional adults make a valuable contribution to pupils’ learning, helping those at risk of falling behind, those who speak English as an additional language, and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make progress in line with that of others.
• Teaching promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development exceptionally well. Many topics have a strong appeal to pupils’ imagination. For example, in a writing session, pupils were given baskets of fruit and asked to use their senses to smell, taste and feel the fruit. This activity stimulated some high-quality writing. One pupil wrote about ‘the spiky top’ of a pineapple, and another wrote that, ‘in the wonderful basket the orange was dry’.
• The school’s emphasis on teaching phonics is particularly effective in raising the reading skills of children in the early years provision and of pupils in key stage 1. When it comes to writing, however, pupils’ spelling is sometimes inexact. Pupils tend to spell phonetically, even where this leads to inaccuracies. The school’s strategies for improving pupils’ spelling are not always effective enough.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare

Personal development and welfare Outstanding

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. Pupils are confident, polite and helpful. Inspectors observed pupils in lessons, in the playground, eating lunch and attending assembly, and noticed how considerately these young children behave towards one another. The school enables pupils to feel secure. A parent summed this up in the comment, ‘My child feels part of a little community as she knows all the teachers and staff and is able to mix with the other year groups.’
• Pupils get on extremely well together in the school’s family ethos. Pupils respect others from all backgrounds and heritages. School records confirm that there is no racism. Pupils told inspectors that there is no bullying at the school and that pupils are kind to one another. School records confirm this. Pupils get on well with adults and trust them. One told an inspector, ‘The grown-ups are very nice. They take care of us every day.’
• Pupils are exceptionally caring towards others and ready to take responsibility. One said that if another child was sad, the pupil would encourage him or her to ‘look on the bright side’. Those who serve on the school council or as playground leaders told inspectors how proud they are of their roles, and how seriously they take their duties. In such ways, the school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development extremely well.
• Pupils feel safe and protected. The school teaches pupils how to keep themselves safe, both when in school and when out and about. Pupils are warned about the potential dangers of talking to adults. Pupils are informed in age-appropriate language how to keep themselves safe when using the internet.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils demonstrate high levels of self-discipline. They are ready to discuss ideas with one another, and come quickly to order when the teacher asks them to. School records of pupils’ behaviour confirm that behaviour incidents are few and far between.
• Pupils are eager to learn. Typical comments from the pupils were, ‘I like learning here’, and, ‘I enjoy challenging myself’. Through determined action by leaders, attendance is rising and is now above average. Incidents of persistent absence have fallen sharply. Improved attendance gives evidence of pupils’ eagerness not to miss school.
• Pupils are highly attentive in lessons. Pupils who spoke to inspectors reported that they are able to concentrate on their tasks without being distracted by others. Inspection evidence confirms this picture of excellent and purposeful behaviour.
• Pupils take considerable pride in their work. Their books are neat. Pupils keep their classrooms tidy and the corridors litter free.

Outcomes for pupils

Outstanding

• Pupils’ outcomes throughout the school are consistently extremely strong. Pupils

in each year group make rapid progress. Progress is equally strong across

reading, writing, mathematics and all other subjects.

• Children enter the Reception classes from a wide variety of pre-school settings.

Some arrive from abroad with very little English. By the time they leave Reception, all have made strong progress in acquiring very good language,

number and social skills. This is because the school checks on the progress of

each child carefully, successfully providing additional support where needed.

• As the school is growing year by year, there is only one year’s published

information on the achievement of Year 1 pupils in the phonics screening check.

This showed that Haling Park pupils were far ahead of national figures. All groups were equally matched, with no group falling behind. This reflects the

school’s commitment to equality of opportunity for all. School information on

current Year 1 pupils indicates that they are doing even better this year.

pupils’ self-confidence and self-awareness and their understanding about how to be a successful learner

from their own observation of pupils’ learning in lessons and over time, as seen

pupils’ physical and emotional well-being

in their workbooks. The evidence shows a pattern of extremely strong progress,

pupils’ knowledge and ability to stay safe, including from all forms of bullying.

both within the course of a year, and, in the case of pupils in Years 1 and 2, since they started at Haling Park.

In behaviour, inspectors are likely to report on:

• Inspectors gathered evidence on pupils’ progress from school information and
• Progress is consistently strong across all subjects. The school checks on how well

pupils’ conduct and self-discipline

pupils are learning, not only in English and mathematics, but in all the subjects

the school environment, including levels of disruption in classrooms and learning environments

they learn, including history, geography, art and science. Such vigilance enables

levels of attendance, including reference to persistent absence and progress towards eliminating

teachers and leaders alike to keep a close watch on how well pupils are learning,

this.

and to step in at the first sign that a pupil might be struggling in one subject or another.

• The school’s consistency of approach ensures that all groups learn equally well. Disadvantaged pupils, including the most able among them, make more progress and attain more highly than other pupils nationally. This is because leaders and governors use the additional government funding very wisely to provide highly effective support for these pupils.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the right support. Adults understand their needs and work in successful partnership with external agencies to provide for these needs.
• The school is tireless in supporting pupils who arrive with little or no English. As a result, they quickly catch up and achieve extremely well.
• The school’s individual approach to meeting the needs of every pupil ensures that no one is overlooked. As a result, the most able receive the additional challenge they need to make rapid progress. Pupils who might otherwise struggle to catch up also receive highly effective support to enable them to fulfil their potential.
• The school’s first cohort of Year 2 pupils are thoroughly prepared for moving to key stage 2 after the summer break. With the sole exception of spelling skills, they have acquired excellent skills in reading, writing and mathematics. They have a solid grounding in a range of other subjects. They have also developed resilience and a love of learning that will stand them in good stead in key stage 2 and beyond.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Children in the Reception classes learn extremely well in a stimulating, play-based learning environment. Adults provide a well-planned programme of free-flow and focused activities, and keep a watchful eye on how well children are learning.
• The principal leads the early years provision extremely well. All adults in the early years share in planning and checking on the quality of provision. Activities are planned around the children’s varying capabilities and have the right level of challenge to enable all children to make strong progress.
• The curriculum is extremely wide ranging and makes an excellent contribution to promoting the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. For example, at the time of the inspection, most activities were planned around a children’s book, Alexis Deacon’s story of a stranded alien called Beegu. The plight of the alien captured the children’s imagination and taught them to be empathetic and caring. In a group discussion, children’s speaking skills were strongly developed in talking about the ways children could find Beegu. ‘We could make a poster,’ said one child, and another added, ‘We need to put it over the whole school so everyone can look for Beegu.’ The many activities stimulated by the story included writing a letter to Beegu and constructing a space rocket to help her reach her home.
• Teaching is of the highest quality. All the adults provide stimulating activities for the children and no opportunity is lost to develop children’s language and number skills. Adults give children stimulating resources, both indoors and outdoors, to help them develop their literacy and numeracy skills. For example, the adults used large-sized numbers and mathematical signs outdoors to show children how to set out sums correctly.
• Children are looked after extremely well. The early years provision is a safe, protected environment. Behaviour is extremely good. Children are busy learning through play and do not have the time or the inclination to squabble. Children enjoy taking responsibility, such as announcing to others that it is ‘tidy-up time’.
• Children’s outcomes are outstanding for all groups. Children start writing early. Their writing journals and their learning journey books show remarkable progress over the course of the year. The additional funding provided by the early years premium is used extremely well, providing effective support for those eligible, so that those who are disadvantaged make similar progress to others.
• Engagement with parents is extremely strong. Parents told inspectors that they can talk freely to adults. Parents welcome ‘stay and play’ sessions and appreciate the advice the school gives them on how to support their children’s learning.
• Children in the Reception classes have the best possible start to school at Haling Park. Their learning is checked as carefully and in the same way as that of pupils in Years 1 and 2. As is the case higher up the school, there is a strong focus on teaching language and number skills through capturing the children’s interest and imagination. The quality of teaching and leadership is as high as it is in the school as a whole. As a result, children are exceptionally well prepared for the move into Year 1.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140208 Croydon 10031657 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 Academy sponsor-led 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 175 Appropriate authority Harris Federation Chair of local governing body Nigel Rata Principal Tracey Jarrett (Principal) Kate Magliocco (Executive Principal) Telephone number 020 3772 4560 Website Email address www.harrisprimaryhalingpark.org.uk info@harrisprimaryhalingpark.org.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school opened in September 2014 in new, purpose-built premises. It has been building up year by year since it opened and at present is smaller than the average-sized primary school. There are currently three year groups, from Reception to Year 2, each with two classes.
• The school is a sponsor-led academy, and part of the Harris Federation.
• The school’s governing body is managed by the federation’s board of trustees.
• There is no provision for two- or three-year-olds. Children in the Reception classes attend full time.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding is lower than average.
• Most pupils are from a wide range of minority ethnic heritages.
• An independent company runs the breakfast club and after-school care provision, and these are inspected separately.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited all classes throughout the school and observed pupils’ learning in a range of subjects. The principal and executive principal joined inspectors on most of their classroom visits.
• Inspectors spoke to a number of pupils, listened to them read and looked at samples of their work. An inspector met a group of Year 2 pupils to hear how they felt about the school. There were 22 responses to the Ofsted online survey of pupils’ views.
• Meetings were held with leaders, including those who hold responsibility for specific subjects.
• The lead inspector held a meeting with the chair of the governing body.
• The lead inspector held an interview with the chief executive officer and the primary director of the Harris Federation.
• Inspectors spoke to a number of parents during the inspection. They considered the school’s own recent survey of parents’ views. There were 29 responses to the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, including 12 comments. Inspectors took all these responses and comments into consideration.
• Inspectors took account of six responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire for members of staff and also 14 responses to a paper version of the same questionnaire.
• Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents. These included minutes of meetings of the governing body and documents relating to the school’s evaluation of its performance.
• Inspectors considered a range of evidence on pupils’ attainment and progress. They also examined safeguarding information, and records relating to attendance, behaviour and welfare.

Inspection team

Natalia Power, lead inspector Angela Corbett

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector