Hargate Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Sustain improvements to pupils’ achievement in reading and writing by:
  • continuing the current focus on extending their vocabulary and reading experiences to help them fully understand and comprehend more challenging texts, books and genres
  • giving pupils even more opportunities to write extensively and independently across a broader range of subjects of the national curriculum.
• Build on the varied and stimulating activities and experiences provided for pupils in subjects of the national curriculum other than English and mathematics. Make sure that pupils improve skills and acquire knowledge specific to each subject in greater depth to achieve even higher standards.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher is an excellent leader and is passionate and sincere when he tells pupils in assemblies, ‘I really care about you all and am very proud of you.’ The vast majority of parents and carers that spoke to inspectors or completed the online survey, Parent View, believe that the school provides an excellent education and takes very good care of their children. They are right. Leaders and staff have fostered strong relationships with families and the local community. The many and varied parent workshops and special events that are well attended by parents confirm the highly effective and trusting relationships that exist between the school and local community.
• The deputy headteacher is also a strong and highly effective senior leader. He manages and coordinates special educational needs provision exceptionally well. There is a strong staff team that educates and cares for pupils who have hearing impairments, in addition to supporting the needs of pupils with moderate, severe or profound learning difficulties, including social, mental, emotional or physical disabilities.
• The local authority works closely with the school and places great trust and confidence in the skills of its leaders and staff. The school’s additional provision for pupils who have hearing impairments and the school’s overall special educational needs provision are very well coordinated. As a result, specialist teachers of pupils who are deaf, staff who work with pupils who have autistic spectrum disorder and support staff who support pupils who have speech and language difficulties are highly effective. Funding for special educational needs is, therefore, very well spent and the school provides highly effective teaching and support across the broad range of provision offered. This is outstanding provision for the local community.
• The school is highly inclusive and welcomes families who move into the immediate locality of the school from a broad range of countries around the world. The management and oversight of provision for pupils learning to speak and communicate in English are highly effective.
• The three assistant headteachers manage each phase of the school very well, including early years provision. They have a clear understanding of the quality of teaching and learning in each key stage. Senior leaders have an accurate view of pupils’ progress and teachers’ performance. Assessment systems are used very well by leaders to track pupils’ progress and performance. Leaders and teachers have a very good understanding of how to identify pupils at risk of falling behind and are swift to intervene and plan appropriate learning programmes to make sure that pupils achieve as well as they should.
• Priorities for sustained improvement are set out in the school’s action plans and are informed by leaders’ accurate assessments of pupils’ progress and teachers’ performance. There are clear and coherent measures of success in these plans, as well as targets and systematic and timely reviews carried out by leaders and staff. These reviews include regular checks of pupils’ work in books, thorough analyses of assessments and standardised reading, writing and mathematics tests, and regular visits to lessons to ensure that teachers and support staff help pupils to achieve their full potential.
• The procedures used by senior leaders and governors to manage staff performance are very effective. Individual teachers and learning support practitioners receive the right support and guidance to ensure that staff continually improve their practice. Staff morale is very high and they all work as a cohesive team that is dedicated to the education, welfare and safety of all pupils. In this school, pupils definitely come first and this was confirmed by a group of pupils who told an inspector, ‘Our teachers really care for us and we love coming to school.’
• The professional development and training offered to staff are of high quality. It is for this reason that the school also accommodates many students and new entrants to the teaching or care professions from local colleges and universities, including trainee early years practitioners. Staff with additional management responsibilities model good practice and provide effective support that influences and improves the work of others in their respective phases or year groups. At all levels of leadership responsibility, the school demonstrates outstanding capacity for sustained improvement to teaching and learning.
• Leaders and staff provide a curriculum that stimulates pupils’ interests and improves their learning. The curriculum is broad, interesting and balanced. A variety of projects, visits and special themes excite pupils’ interest and make learning stimulating and enjoyable. The staff provide pupils with opportunities to learn to play musical instruments, speak a modern foreign language or engage in creative and performing arts. Educational visits to London, residential visits to experience the rural countryside or engage in scientific activities exploring local woodlands, enrich pupils’ learning. The school makes very good use of visiting artists and authors, including a local author in residence and more famous writers of children’s literature who inspire pupils to read often and widely.
• Pupils are taught a broad range of subjects that are clearly having a positive effect on their personal, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Effective planning ensures that pupils acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in subjects such as music, art, science, religious education, physical education, history and geography. However, there is now scope to provide more challenging opportunities for pupils to achieve even higher standards in such subjects so that they learn and acquire skills and knowledge in greater depth.
• Combined with whole-school reading activities and special events such as the recent World Book Day, the focus on reading for pleasure has inspired pupils to read widely and often. Teachers and leaders are, rightly, now focusing on engaging pupils in more high-quality reading lessons to extend and improve their vocabulary and reading experiences. This is contributing well to raising standards in reading across the school.
• Leaders and governors use pupil premium funding very well to pinpoint and address any differences between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and that of other pupils who are not disadvantaged. Leaders and teachers analyse assessment information regularly to deploy staff and plan effective interventions, small-group work and booster programmes for disadvantaged pupils who may be at risk of falling behind. Past and current assessments show that the school is successful in diminishing these differences and has a strong track record showing that disadvantaged pupils achieve very well over time.
• The primary school physical education (PE) and sport premium funding is used well. A specialist sports coach helps pupils of all ages to be healthy and active. The many and varied games and PE sessions provided for pupils help them improve their balance, agility, physical coordination and control skills. Pupils participate in a wide range of sport and physical activities and learn to swim at a local pool. Pupils also benefit from more unusual and interesting activities, such as tai chi, as well as being given opportunities to choose from many different after-school clubs.
• The local authority provides effective support and advice. The school has very productive relationships with the local authority’s specialist teachers, therapists and care agencies as part of the school’s special educational needs provision. There are effective partnerships with other schools, with good opportunities for staff to see and share best practice across the local learning hub.

Governance of the school

• Governance is very effective. Governors are regular visitors to the school and are well known to pupils, parents and staff. The chair of the governing body is particularly active in supporting and challenging school leaders and staff.
• The governing body has been effective in securing significant improvements since the previous inspection. School numbers are expanding and governors manage resources and funds very well to accommodate this.
• Governors receive regular updates about pupils’ progress and have a good understanding of pupil performance data, enabling the governing body to challenge underperformance. This includes the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and the use and impact of pupil premium funding.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The arrangements for safeguarding are robust and fit for purpose. Leaders, staff and governors foster a vigilant culture of safeguarding to make sure that pupils are happy and safe in school.
• Pupils also play a part. The school has trained and appointed ‘pupil guardians’ to help other pupils stay and keep safe. This includes lessons about e-safety and the safe use of social media and mobile devices.
• The parents who spoke to inspectors paid tribute to leaders and the staff team, especially the way they are committed to pupils’ well-being and safety. Staff vetting and safeguarding procedures are robust and fully meet statutory requirements.
• All staff have been trained to keep children safe and they promptly report any concerns they may have about pupils. Staff have undertaken first-aid training, including paediatric first aid for early years children. Leaders, staff and governors are vigilant in protecting children from radicalisation, extremism and child exploitation.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teachers provide high-quality experiences, activities and resources that excite pupils’ interest and encourage them to learn. Pupils become exceptionally keen and inquisitive learners capable of sustaining concentration on the tasks at hand.
• Teachers make excellent use of assessment information to plan lessons that are securely matched to pupils’ learning needs. Very careful thought is given to balancing the need of some pupils to be taught in small, targeted groups as well as whole-class teaching.
• Specialised intervention programmes have been carefully tailored to meet the needs of specific groups. For example, those in the early stages of learning English receive well-focused support, including bilingual intervention and opportunities to improve their knowledge of letter sounds and words when reading aloud to an adult.
• Leaders have skilfully adapted assessment information from the previous national curriculum levels to the revised curriculum that measures pupils’ progress in relation to age-related standards. Teachers use assessment exceptionally well to plan learning targets for pupils to aim towards. Pupils are very clear about their learning and can explain what they have learned before.
• Teachers’ questioning encourages pupils to explain their answers fully in complete sentences so that their confidence in speaking improves. First-class opportunities are provided for pupils to extend and deepen their understanding in English and mathematics. However, there is scope now to extend learning in subjects other than English and mathematics. Pupils thoroughly enjoy learning about ancient civilisations or topics linked to science and geography, but do not always study these in sufficient depth to achieve even higher standards.
• Teachers help pupils to make good and outstanding progress over time because they use the information they have about pupils’ achievement to plan activities that provide suitable challenge for pupils of different abilities. Learning support practitioners are well qualified and skilled to ensure that any additional support for pupils is pertinent and effectively builds on pupils’ previous learning. Resources and staff are deployed very well to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities such as hearing impairments.
• Reading sessions are carefully planned so that pupils learn to read a variety of texts with confidence. Pupils use their knowledge of phonics very well to read unfamiliar words and to spell with accuracy. For example, pupils in Years 1 and 2 were observed being taught to apply their knowledge of phonics to read and spell words accurately containing ‘ay’ and ‘ai’. Pupils regularly read at home and school and staff work very closely with parents by running workshops to help parents support their children’s reading at home.
• A group of pupils told an inspector that they like to read a wide range of books at home and they really enjoy the times when their teachers or parents take them to the local library. The school’s own library is an excellent resource and is used very well to raise the profile of literature.
• The current focus on extending pupils’ vocabulary and broadening their reading experiences is working well. The teaching of phonics in early years and key stage 1 is very effective and enables pupils to acquire early reading skills quickly. As pupils progress to key stage 2, they become fluent and confident readers, but do not always understand fully what they read because of their limited vocabulary. To address this, leaders and teachers have adapted the way they teach reading to make sure that pupils experience more complex words and phrases using word banks and thesauruses.
• Teachers plan writing activities that are interesting and thought provoking. They inspire pupils to express their ideas and make good and sometimes outstanding progress. In all classes, there are regular opportunities for pupils to learn how to use punctuation and grammar correctly and to write stories, letters, diaries and poems. However, there is scope now to extend these opportunities so that pupils write more extensively and independently and deepen their understanding of writing.
• Pupils make outstanding progress in mathematics. Teachers successfully help pupils to become proficient in using their knowledge of number to complete calculations with accuracy. Teachers also make sure that pupils are able to use appropriate strategies to check the accuracy of their own work. Teachers provide very good opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical knowledge to reason and solve problems.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• ‘This is a great school’, and, ‘It is really good fun and we learn so much’, were just two of the comments made by pupils to inspectors. Pupils have excellent opportunities to influence the work of the school. The learning buddies, school councillors, play leaders and librarians all contribute to the running of the school. Pupils told an inspector that they had only arrived at the school recently and were given a ‘buddy’ to help them settle into school, helping them if necessary to speak English as some pupils are newly arrived from abroad.
• Pupils respond very well to learning in lessons and the excellent opportunities they have to study special topics, engage in creative art and craft or take part in special visits to places of interest or to local woodlands as part of their science and geography work.
• British values, such as respect for law and democracy, are clearly reflected in the way pupils are involved in their school community as elected school councillors or safety guardians who support and care for other pupils. These opportunities make a significant contribution to pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• Staff make sure that pupils are taught how to stay safe. The pupils who spoke with inspectors confirmed that they feel safe in school. They also talked knowledgeably about road safety, staying safe from online bullying and the safe storage of medication at home. Older pupils emphasised the importance of making safe choices and about tolerance and respect for other cultures, customs and faiths.
• Pupils are energised by the range of subjects and topics they study and the activities and visits provided by the school. Pupils take really good care of resources and their school community. The school is well maintained, clean and stimulating, which is appreciated and respected by pupils. There is no litter or unkempt area of the school, reflecting how well pupils care for their school community.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils are polite and courteous. They greet each other, adults and visitors with a friendly welcome. Classrooms are calm and pupils settle quickly to work when transferring from one topic or subject to another.
• Pupils listen carefully and respond enthusiastically during class discussions. For example, Year 3 pupils eloquently explained the context of a book they were reading and could relate to the characters in the story very well. Pupils treat each other with respect and really care for each other. For example, a pupil in Year 5 was very proud of the fact that he has been chosen to help younger pupils to read.
• Pupils make and keep friends easily. They embrace the opportunities to support and work with pupils who have particular disabilities, such as physical disability or hearing impairments. Pupils and staff really care for all pupils in an inclusive and respectful learning community.
• Pupils are proud of their school. They dress smartly. Pupils with specific responsibilities wear the school badge with honour. Pupils are keen to show visitors their work displayed around the school and they appreciate the way staff value their efforts. Pupils respond by trying hard to do their very best at all times.
• Almost all of the parents who spoke with inspectors stated that pupils behave well. Pupils who spoke with inspectors confirmed that they behave very well most of the time. They respect school rules and are aware of the system for rewards and sanctions.
• Staff work well with families and external agencies to encourage pupils to attend school regularly. The headteacher works very hard to promote good attendance and this is celebrated each week in school assemblies. This has resulted in consistent improvements in attendance and low persistent absence. Pupils are punctual. Parents fully support the school by bringing or sending their children to school regularly and on time.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils in all year groups make excellent progress over time. Last year’s national assessment and test results for Year 2 and Year 6 pupils continued a trend of improvement compared with that of previous years, building on the excellent start made in early years. In key stage 2, the 2016 national tests showed that the overall attainment of pupils in reading was in line with national figures, which is good progress in relation to pupils’ starting points. The results also show that in writing and mathematics, pupils made outstanding progress, including disadvantaged pupils and the most able pupils.
• At key stage 1, last year’s national assessments indicate that pupils made rapid progress in relation to their low starting points. A significant number of pupils join the school at different times, many of whom speak little or no English. Across the school, pupils learning English as an additional language continue to make excellent progress, developing conversational English as well as their reading and writing skills.
• A closer analysis of the key stage 1 results shows that pupils who started in Year 1 having been through early years at the school made outstanding progress. The large majority of these pupils reached or exceeded age-related standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities in all year groups make outstanding progress. Support work and interventions are very effective and tailored to meet the specific learning needs of these pupils. In addition, specialised support is provided for pupils who have hearing impairments and this complements and enhances the work pupils undertake in mainstream classes. Teachers of pupils who are deaf are utilised very well. Regular speech and language therapy, supported also by highly skilled learning support practitioners, helps pupils make rapid progress towards their individualised learning targets.
• The effective use of pupil premium funding enables disadvantaged pupils to make strong progress, including the most able disadvantaged pupils. This funding gives disadvantaged pupils access to targeted support from adults, a range of after-school activities and educational visits, and specialist external support for those with very specific learning needs.
• Senior leaders know that standards in reading, writing and mathematics are sustaining improvement and the vast majority of pupils make outstanding progress from low starting points. Nonetheless, leaders and staff are not complacent about this. They recognise, and rightly, that pupils could be reading independently with more understanding. For this reason, the current focus on vocabulary and comprehension work in guided reading lessons is addressing and improving achievement in reading. There is already evidence that the most able pupils in all year groups are reading more often and widely, enabling them to comprehend what they read in greater depth.
• Pupils achieve very well in writing, and national assessments show that the rate of progress they make compares exceptionally well with national figures. There is now scope to build on this success by providing opportunities for pupils to write more extensively across the full range of subjects of the national curriculum.
• Pupils experience a very good range of activities, visits and opportunities to learn skills and acquire knowledge in subjects other than English and mathematics. To build on this, there is now scope to focus more on deepening pupils’ knowledge and understanding still further in these subjects.

Early years provision Outstanding

• The children in the Nursery and Reception classes make very good progress in early phonics, reading, writing and mathematics. This prepares them exceptionally well for Year 1. One in 10 children join the early years with little or no spoken English. These children soon engage with adults and other children, learning songs, nursery rhymes and traditional stories. The children soon pick up and use conversational English during the varied and stimulating indoor and outdoor activities they experience with their classmates.
• The two-year-old children in ‘Little Gaters’ early years pre-school and day-care provision settle very quickly and do exceptionally well. The children make friends and play happily together. They form trusting relationships with their key workers and are treated with love and care throughout their time in the setting. ‘Little Gaters’ provides excellent opportunities for the children to socialise and develop their self-confidence and language through stories, rhymes and song. Indoor and outdoor areas are clean, safe and secure. All early years welfare requirements are met exceptionally well. Parents and carers are very pleased with this provision. There are very strong transitional arrangements for those families wishing to transfer their children to the school’s Nursery class.
• Most three- and four-year-old children start school in the Nursery or Reception Years respectively with skills and abilities that are well below those typical for their age, particularly in language and communication. Outstanding teaching and strong pastoral support for both children and families are getting the youngest children off to an excellent start. The integration of children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is very effective, enabling the children to make outstanding progress. This includes young children who have hearing impairments.
• Outcomes are improving well. Two thirds of the children reach a good level of development in early literacy (reading and writing) and mathematics by the time they start Year 1. Although this is below the national average, this represents very good progress in relation to the children’s low starting points and is improving. Good use is made of additional pupil premium funding for children from disadvantaged families. They make outstanding progress, particularly in other communication skills such as listening and speaking with understanding.
• Children play safely and settle into school quickly. In both the Nursery and Reception classes, the children were developing communication and mathematical skills in the many activities on offer. They were enjoying and learning from role play, dressing up, gathering and counting shapes, and handling utensils in outdoor wet and dry areas when experimenting with tactile resources such as water, sand, dough and rice.
• At the time of the inspection, children were using the traditional story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’ to read aloud, sing songs and to act out the sequence of the story. One Nursery child expressed himself very strongly by explaining why the ‘wolf’ is very naughty.
• In the Reception classes, children skilfully and accurately hold pencils and crayons to write their name, and recognise individual letter sounds in words. They are making good progress in breaking down and blending sounds to read unfamiliar words. They could, however, be given more opportunities to write independently and more extensively in Reception Year.
• The teaching and support provided for children in the Nursery class are of high quality. Many children, for example, were keen to point out to an inspector what they were doing when sorting shapes or when reading aloud from pictorial prompts with their classmates.
• Children in the Reception classes make consistently good progress, building on the excellent start made in the Nursery. The integration of newly arrived children, many of whom speak little or no English, is skilfully managed and highly effective. The children share and communicate with each other with increasing confidence, skill and enjoyment. They handle books and read aloud and are able to predict the next sequence in the story by explaining what happens, for example, when the ‘little pigs’ build a brick house.
• Records of children’s work and assessments are kept very well in the ‘learning journeys’ which are accessible to parents and provide a clear account of their children’s progress and learning. Records also show that the celebration of the major world faiths and a range of cultural traditions are taught and respected, making a significant contribution to the children’s spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• The leadership and management of early years are very effective in providing children with an outstanding start to their schooling. In addition to home visits, the staff liaise with other early years settings within the school’s locality and learning hub to undertake moderation exercises and establish accurate assessments of children’s learning and progress. Assessments are regular and help to monitor how well each individual child is doing, as well as providing parents with remarkable evidence of their children’s progress and development in the children’s ‘learning journeys’.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 103905 Sandwell 10025358 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 Community 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 448 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Andrew Sanders Andrew Orgill 0121 5534178 www.hargate.sandwell.sch.uk headteacher@hargate.sandwell.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 2–3 October 2012

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• This is a large primary school and numbers are increasing each year. Pupils come from a range of backgrounds. The largest groups are represented by pupils of White British, Indian or Pakistani heritage. Over half of the pupils speak English as an additional language, which is a much higher proportion than that of most schools. A large proportion, approximately one in 10, join the school at different times, most of whom are new arrivals to the United Kingdom and speak little or no English, but one or more European, Asian, African or Middle Eastern home languages.
• The governing body has extended early years provision since the previous inspection by admitting two-year-old children to its ‘Little Gaters’ setting on the school site. The provision is staffed by four qualified adults who are key workers and manage no more than four children each. Early years now comprises a pre-school setting for two-year-olds and provision for three-year-olds in the Nursery class. All the children in both of these pre-school settings attend part time. In addition, there are two Reception classes for four- and five-year-olds who all attend full time.
• The school manages provision for pupils who have hearing impairments. The pupils are admitted to the school’s roll by the local authority. The local authority delegates funding for this provision to the school’s leaders. There are currently 16 pupils who have a range of hearing impairments and nearly all are taught in mainstream classes. In addition, the pupils are taught for short sessions each day by specialist teachers of the deaf and other specialised learning support practitioners. The school is shortly going to have this provision fully delegated to it as part of the school’s budget and special educational needs funding agreement (‘the local offer’).
• The percentage of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is higher than that of most schools and also includes some pupils who have profound learning difficulties or complex physical, mental health or medical needs.
• The percentage of pupils eligible for pupil premium funding is high compared with most schools.
• The school met the government’s floor standards in 2016, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.
• There is a charity group across the road that offers before and after school provision, that some of the parents choose to use, and the school works closely with them for the families they serve.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors carried out lesson observations, some of which were undertaken jointly with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. Inspectors spoke to pupils during lessons about their work and progress. They also checked samples of pupils’ recorded work and met with groups of pupils to discuss their work, behaviour and safety, or to hear them read. Inspectors spoke to pupils informally during break- and lunchtimes to ask them their views about the school. Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour and safety in the playground and at other times. The lead inspector observed a school assembly.
• Inspectors considered a range of school documentation, including: leaders’ and governors’ own evaluations of the school’s effectiveness; the school’s improvement and action plans; information about pupils’ achievement, progress and performance; and documents and information related to governance, teaching, behaviour, attendance and safeguarding.
• Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and members of teaching and support staff. The lead inspector met the chair of the governing body and a school improvement adviser from Sandwell local authority. The lead inspector also met with the manager of the ‘Little Gaters’ setting for two-year-olds, who manages staff and works closely with families to monitor the welfare and safety of children.
• Inspectors spoke to a number of parents and carers to seek their views about the school. Inspectors considered the 58 responses from parents to the online Ofsted questionnaire, Parent View.
• Inspectors spoke to nearly all teaching staff to provide feedback on lessons observed. Inspectors also considered the views expressed by some staff about how well they are supported in carrying out their duties and responsibilities.

Inspection team

Charalambos Loizou, lead inspector Mel Davies Derek Gardiner Kevin Butlin Collette Higgins Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector