Haseltine Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and thereby improve outcomes by ensuring that:
  • assessments systems consistently and precisely support teachers in meeting the needs of all learners, particularly the most able pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities
  • the quality of the learning environment across the early years provision is consistent across all classes.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Senior leaders have worked extremely well together to ensure that the school provides a good quality of education for its pupils. This has been a significant challenge as the school roll has grown substantially since the time of the previous inspection and staffing has also changed considerably.
• Senior leaders have high expectations of what staff and pupils can achieve. They are rigorous and insightful in their self-evaluation of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. The headteacher ensures that teachers’ performance management focuses on the right things to improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes.
• Subject leaders have a strong impact on the quality of teaching and learning. Over the past two years they have been particularly effective in improving the quality of the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, standards at the end of key stage 2 are rising, following a dip in 2016.
• Leaders have brought a new rigour to the teaching of reading. As a result, pupils’ progress in reading is improving across the school. Leaders have also been successful in supporting teachers to implement the school’s mathematics programme. This is having a strong impact on the quality of teaching and outcomes in mathematics. Leaders have also secured a ‘writer in residence’ to develop teachers’ skills in the teaching of writing. This has led to significant improvement in pupils’ writing in Years 5 and 6.
• Leaders ensure that pupils benefit from an interesting and broad curriculum and a range of extra-curricular activities. Displays around the school celebrate pupils’ work in subjects including history and geography, which is often beautifully presented. The quality of pupils’ art work is a strong feature across the school. The curriculum prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain as it enables pupils to explore issues such as diversity and equality. Provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is strong.
• Pupil premium funding has been well used, as shown by the achievement of disadvantaged pupils by the end of Year 6 in 2017. Leaders and governors have targeted the substantial funding in a variety of ways this year. Given that assessment information for this term had not yet been collated at the time of the inspection, it is not yet possible to demonstrate the impact of these initiatives on current pupils’ outcomes. However, there are plans in place for the ongoing evaluation of its impact on pupils’ progress and attainment.
• The school’s use of the sport premium has enhanced pupils’ physical education. Leaders have targeted the funding effectively to provide training, specialist teaching and play leaders. It has also been used to enhance the sports curriculum within and beyond the school day. As a result, nearly half of the pupils benefit from after-school sports activities and competitions.
• A unique and positive feature of the school is ‘The Hub’. This is a place where parents and pupils’ siblings can go to meet up, chat, and gain access to the internet. Volunteers and school staff provide excellent support, including guidance on a range of services and opportunities of which they may not be aware. Most parents speak highly of the work of the school.
• Leaders have been successful in implementing a new assessment system across the school. This was created in partnership with the other school in the federation. Leaders recognise that the system requires ongoing review to ensure that they are getting an accurate and up-to-date picture of the progress pupils across the school are making; the first such review in the form of analysis of termly assessment data was due at the time of the inspection. They also agree that there needs to be continuous moderation of teachers’ judgements to ensure that information gathered is consistent and accurate.
• Provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities has been affected by recent staff changes. Additionally, over time, leaders have not ensured that the interventions in place to improve individual pupils’ progress and attainment are effective. Some staff who are working on a one-to-one basis or in small groups with pupils do not demonstrate the teaching skills needed to help pupils make sustained progress. As a result the progress that pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make is variable and often not as strong as their peers.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the school well and understand the challenges leaders face in securing and retaining a strong school workforce. They are fully involved in the life of the school. They undertake focused visits to observe leaders’ monitoring of the quality of teaching.
• Governors know in general terms how the pupil premium funding is used to support the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. However, their oversight of this area has not been sufficiently rigorous to enable them understand how the funding has benefited particular groups of pupils, such as disadvantaged pupils who also have specific learning needs.
• Governance is shared across the two schools in the federation. This helps to broaden the experience and skills of governors.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff and governors fully understand their duties with regard to safeguarding. They know and use the referral system effectively. Careful records are kept of actions taken to safeguard children and outcomes are also meticulously recorded.
• Staff understand the risks that can be encountered in their local community. They are vigilant with regard to children who may be at risk from gangs, female genital mutilation or radicalisation, for example. Most parents and pupils believe that children are kept safe from harm at school.
• Leaders monitor information about attendance and exclusions carefully to ensure that there are no potential links to safeguarding concerns.
• Staff and governors receive regular and appropriate safeguarding training.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Teachers across the school are reflective and committed to improving their skills. Teachers have responded well to the excellent support they have received to improve their teaching of reading, writing and mathematics.
• Mathematics teaching is a strength of the school. Teachers have implemented the mathematics programme consistently well and show confidence in their subject knowledge. For example, during a Year 3 mathematics lesson, pupils were challenged to think deeply about their learning. Visual resources were used well and the teacher constantly challenged misconceptions. As a result, pupils of all abilities made excellent progress in their calculation skills.
• The writer in residence has supported teachers in Year 5 and 6 to enhance their skills in the teaching of writing. Teachers use high-quality literature as a stimulus and follow a teaching sequence that supports pupils’ sustained writing. However, the most able pupils do not consistently make the progress of which they are capable because they unnecessarily repeat processes that are already familiar to them. As yet, the teaching of writing is not consistently good in the rest of the school and pupils’ outcomes are more variable.
• Teachers have worked hard to address the recent dip in reading standards. The excellent professional development they have received from leaders has helped them to prioritise reading development. As a result pupils who are currently in the school are making good progress. Pupils benefit from listening to high-quality literature read to them by teachers, and are then given texts at the appropriate level.
• Occasionally, the teaching does not hold pupils’ interest and learning time is wasted while regaining their attention.
• The provision for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is not consistently effective in supporting their needs or in helping them to make good progress. Activities and tasks set are often too difficult or repeat knowledge or skills that they have successfully secured. While the pastoral support for these pupils is consistently strong, not all adults deployed to work with this group have been given sufficient training to meet the pupils’ learning needs.
• Teachers have implemented the federation’s assessment system well. They work with leaders to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge so that they can target their teaching systematically to support pupils’ needs. As yet, teachers are not always confident in using this assessment information to identify the right tasks, activities or starting points for the most able pupils or for those who have SEN and/or disabilities.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils know and exemplify the school’s values which are captured in their ‘learning powers’. They have strong self-belief, work hard and are resourceful and resilient. This was evident in all classes across the school. Even when tasks set do not meet individual pupils’ needs, they usually try their best. Occasionally, attitudes to learning are less positive when teaching fails to interest or motivate learners.
• Pupils are friendly, welcoming and polite to visitors. Members of the pupil parliament contribute to decisions about school life. All the pupils that inspectors spoke to stated that they enjoy learning at Haseltine and believe that they are learning well.
• Pupils show good awareness of how to keep themselves safe online. They can describe events at school which have helped them to keep themselves safe generally, such as road safety training.
• Pupils say that bullying sometimes occurs, for example in the breakfast club or after school club, but that it is dealt with swiftly and effectively. Some pupils said that they do not always feel safe from bullying and this was reflected in some parents’ views. Logs indicate that each and every incident is followed up appropriately by leaders and that the behaviour policy is consistently adhered to. Pupils are kept safe at Haseltine and they are well cared for.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. There is a pleasant atmosphere during playtimes and pupils play together well. Areas are zoned and fenced so that pupils who want to can enjoy playing a variety of games without disturbing others. Pupils are active and happy during playtimes.
• Pupils’ conduct around the school is good. They behave well in lessons most of the time.
• Pupils attend well and enjoy coming to school. The school’s attendance support workers are effective in securing improvements if any instances of persistent absence occur.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Outcomes for pupils are improving. In 2017 pupils made progress which was broadly in line with other pupils nationally. Pupils in the current year 6 classes are making very strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics and are set to achieve well by the end of the year. Hence, current pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• Year 1 pupils achieved well in the phonics screening check in 2017 and the proportion of pupils in Year 1 who are on track to achieve the expected standard in the phonics screening check is above last year’s national average. Early readers apply their phonics skills well to read words that are new to them. Fluent readers are able to grapple confidently with themes and issues raised by challenging texts.
• Most pupils in Years 5 and 6 make good progress in writing. They write fluently and accurately as a result of the good teaching they receive. A few more-able writers are not stretched because they have the same success criteria as other pupils. In the lower years of the school, pupils’ progress in writing is more variable.
• Pupils are currently making strong, sustained progress in mathematics as a result of good teaching.
• Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils are improving. In 2016 the proportion achieving the national expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics was well below average. This improved in 2017, when standards were in line with the national average. Disadvantaged pupils who are currently in the school are making similar good progress to their classmates.
• While, overall, pupils are making good progress across the school, there is some variability. The most able pupils in some classes are not making the progress of which they are capable. This is also the case for some pupils with specific learning needs, those who need additional ‘catch up’ or those who have SEN and/or disabilities. Progress is weaker for these pupils.

Early years provision Good

• Children are happy and kept safe in the early years provision. They benefit from warm, caring relationships. Parents speak highly of their children’s first experiences of school.
• The proportion of pupils who achieve a good overall level of development by the end of the early years is above the national average and on track to improve further. As such, children are ready to benefit from the Year 1 curriculum when they leave the Reception classes.
• Children make a particularly good start to developing writing in the early years. Children apply the sounds they learn in phonics sessions to their writing and they are confident in making plausible attempts to spell new words; their good progress is celebrated by staff.
• The learning environment supports all of the early years areas of learning. However, there is some variability between classes in the quality of the learning environment; leaders recognise this and are taking appropriate action.
• Following recent changes to the leadership of the early years, progress information was not available for all the children at the time of the inspection. However, children’s ‘learning journeys’ and their work show that they have made good progress since arriving at the school.

School details

Unique reference number 100686 Local authority Lewisham Inspection number 10031729 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 Community Age range of pupils 3 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 525 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Victoria Widdows Headteacher Executive headteacher Sara Anderman Jeanette Brumby Telephone number 020 8778 6536 Website www.haseltineprimary.co.uk Email address headteacher@haseltine.lewisham.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 21–22 January 2013

Information about this school

• Haseltine is a larger than the average-sized primary school. It is part of a hard federation with Fairlawn Primary School. The two schools share a governing body. The headteacher works in partnership with the executive headteacher, who is regularly on site.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are eligible for pupil premium funding is well above average.
• The majority of pupils come from a minority ethnic background and a large proportion of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The school has an average proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities.
• Children in the early years are taught in two full-time Reception classes and two part-time Nursery classes. The school has 13 places available for 30-hour provision in the Nursery class. Ten of these were taken at the time of the inspection.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in all classrooms. Observations were undertaken with the executive headteacher, the headteacher, the deputy headteacher and the SEN coordinator.
• Inspectors looked at pupils’ work alongside the English and mathematics subject leaders to evaluate the progress that pupils were making.
• Inspectors met with members of the governing body and spoke to a representative of the local authority.
• Meetings were held with pupils to discuss their views of the school and their learning. Inspectors heard pupils read and talked with pupils in the lunch hall, in lessons and as they moved around the school.
• Inspectors examined a range of school documentation, including information on pupils’ progress, improvement plans, curriculum plans and checks made on the quality of teaching. They also examined records related to safety and behaviour.
• Inspectors took account of the 24 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and from information gathered from discussions with parents during the inspection.

Inspection team

Ruth Dollner, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Karen Jaeggi Ofsted Inspector Peter Wibroe Ofsted Inspector Gill Bal Ofsted Inspector