Hallgate Primary School Cottingham Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment further so that:
  • assessment information is used sharply to identify gaps in pupils’ learning and address them promptly
  • pupils write neatly and legibly across different subjects
  • in the early years, every opportunity is taken to improve children’s vocabulary.
• Improve the curriculum in science in key stage 1 so it is as strong as it is in key stage 2.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher leads with commitment and ambition. Staff morale is high and all teachers who were spoken to by inspectors felt well supported.
• The curriculum provides lively, exciting experiences for pupils. The recent archaeological dig fired pupils’ enthusiasm for history. There are plentiful opportunities for pupils to be involved in musical and drama performances and a speech competition. Pupils celebrate festivals from different faiths and learn about cultures other than their own through the books they read and assemblies. This promotes pupils’ understanding of life in modern Britain.
• In the key stage 2 science curriculum, pupils take part in scientific investigations which are successful in helping pupils to develop their vocabulary, scientific understanding and evaluative skills. The key stage 1 science curriculum, however, is at the early stages of development.
• Parents and carers are engaged well in supporting learning at home. For example, the ‘book and a butty’ event helped parents understand about the importance of reading with their children.
• The pupil premium is used particularly well to boost the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Each pupil has a ‘pupil premium passport’, which gives teachers excellent information on pupils’ barriers to learning. This enables teachers to give the right amount of support to all aspects of pupils’ learning, including their attendance.
• Middle leaders have a good sense of what is working well in the school and what still needs further work. This has led to rising standards since the last inspection and middle leaders constantly strive to make things even better.
• The additional funding for special educational needs is now having a positive impact on improving the progress of pupils. For example, reviews of pupils’ progress involve the thoughts of the pupil and their parents. Interventions to raise pupils’ achievement are carefully thought out and regularly evaluated to make sure they are making a difference.
• Self-evaluation is accurate and honest. School leaders are aware of what is working well and what needs further development.
• The local authority has supported the school well since the previous inspection. This has had a strong impact on raising achievement, including in the early years. Support from the Ebor Academies Trust helped to develop the skills of middle leaders.
• Additional funding for physical education (PE) is used well. Some of the funding is used to boost the skills of teachers in teaching sports. The school benefits from membership of a local sports partnership so that pupils can participate in a range of outdoor sports.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has a strong understanding of the school’s strengths and the areas that need further improvement.
• Governors receive good-quality and up-to-date information on pupils’ outcomes. They use this information well to challenge and support school leaders.
• Each governor has specific responsibilities as part of the governing body, which puts them in an ideal position to challenge individual leaders. For example, the governor with responsibility for the use of the pupil premium funding meets regularly with the leader with this responsibility. This ensures that the governing body receives accurate and detailed feedback on disadvantaged pupils’ achievement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Appropriate checks are made on staff on their appointment.
• Safeguarding and child protection documents are kept securely. They are well maintained and detailed in their content. School leaders have ensured that safeguarding policies and procedures have been updated to reflect the latest national requirements.
• The school site is well maintained and is safe and secure. Appropriate risk assessments are carried out regularly.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff are well trained to report any concerns promptly.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Improvements to the quality of teaching have led directly to improved outcomes. In lessons, teachers carefully check for pupils’ understanding, and ensure that they answer questions in full sentences and explain their thinking fully.
• Teaching assistants know just how much support to give pupils without spoon-feeding them. Working closely with teachers, they assess pupils’ needs well and deliver carefully tailored packages of support. This means that pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities make good progress.
• In mathematics, leaders have put into place strategies to help pupils improve their fluency and to reason and solve problems mathematically. This is leading to pupils making good progress across all year groups.
• In reading, pupils read a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts. In key stage 1, phonics is taught daily and systematically, so pupils quickly learn about letters and the sounds they make. In key stage 2, pupils learn more complex inference and deduction skills.
• In their writing, pupils use a good range of vocabulary and punctuation. Pupils write neatly in writing lessons, but not always as neatly in other subjects.
• In most lessons, teachers know their pupils well and use assessment to pinpoint what pupils need to do to improve. However, this sometimes lacks sharpness so that pupils’ weaknesses persist without being addressed.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils spoke to inspectors about the ‘Super Learners’ project and how they had learned how important it is in class to ‘have a go’ and that it is ‘OK to make mistakes’. In lessons, inspectors noted that pupils were resilient, confident learners who often volunteered answers and contributed to class discussions with enthusiasm.
• Many pupils grasp the plentiful opportunities to make a positive contribution to school life, such as becoming playground buddies, members of the school council and house captains.
• Pupils aspire to be voted a ‘values champion’ by their peers for their contribution to the school and wider local community.
• Pupils often initiate events themselves. For example, they have raised money for a local hospice and organised a fund-raising day for muscular dystrophy.
• Residential trips and a school focus on developing outdoor learning help to develop pupils’ confidence, for example through making shelters and canoeing.
• Pupils understand how to stay safe. They know about potential dangers associated with water and the road. They know how to stay safe when using the internet or their mobile phones. No pupils said that they had suffered from bullying but were very clear that if it did happen, they would not hesitate to contact a member of staff. The detailed records indicate that there are few instances of bullying and when they do occur, they are tackled robustly.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Inspectors were impressed by pupils’ good manners. The school site is litter free and pupils wear their uniform correctly.
• In lessons, pupils concentrate and apply themselves diligently to their work. On the rare occasions when the work is repetitive or does not challenge them, they fidget and lose concentration.
• At lunchtime, most pupils play sensibly with play equipment or chat in small groups.
• Since the last inspection, a range of measures have been put into place to address absence, particularly persistent absence. Pupils’ attendance is broadly average, as is the rate of persistent absence.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about behaviour in the school, commenting that it has improved significantly over the past two years.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Attainment is rising year on year and in the 2018 key stage 2 tests, attainment was above average in all subjects. Moreover, in the 2018 tests, pupils made strong progress in each subject.
• School assessment information indicates that pupils in each year group currently in the school are making rapid progress in all subjects. Inspectors, through their scrutiny of pupils’ work and observations in lessons, verified this.
• As a result of a whole-school focus on developing pupils’ vocabulary, pupils’ writing is rich and varied. This is also apparent in their speaking, where teachers encourage pupils in lessons to use a variety of words in their answers to questions.
• As pupils move through the years, they learn their times tables and learn to solve increasingly complex problems in mathematics. Moreover, they become adept at reasoning in mathematics, explaining how they arrived at their answers and offering alternative methods to solve problems.
• Attainment in science has risen in key stage 2 because pupils are now taught a range of science skills through lively experiments. They are also taught how to evaluate these experiments and they learn new scientific vocabulary in every lesson. In key stage 1, the curriculum is still being developed in science, so pupils’ outcomes are not as strong as they are for older pupils.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ attainment lags a little behind that of their classmates although every year, it rises. In 2018, in both key stages, disadvantaged pupils made good progress.
• Pupils from Gypsy/Roma heritage make good progress in each year.
• In key stage 1, the proportion of pupils reaching the required standard in phonics is above average, having risen each year since the last inspection. This is because it is taught daily and teachers are now skilled at spotting gaps in pupils’ understanding of letters and sounds.
• Similarly, attainment in 2018 was above average in reading, writing and mathematics in key stage 1. This was the result of good teaching and learning and the strong use of assessment information.
• A carefully targeted approach to support pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities ensures that they make good progress in all subjects. Moreover, they are always integrated fully into activities alongside their classmates.
• Teachers encourage pupils to read for pleasure. Most learn to read with fluency and expression. Pupils spoke to an inspector about their favourite books and characters with enthusiasm.
• By the time pupils reach the end of Year 6, they have become confident, literate learners. Along with their well-developed spiritual, moral, social and cultural awareness they have acquired on their journey through the school, they are well prepared for the next stage in their education.

Early years provision Good

• Outcomes for children in the early years improved in 2018 so that a greater proportion exceeded the early learning goals than in previous years. The funding for disadvantaged children is used effectively. This means that they make as much progress as other children do.
• In the new Nursery class, children from different backgrounds learn to socialise and make friends quickly. Supported by adults, they soon speak using increasingly complex sentences and learn to count and recognise letters.
• Children quickly learn the basics of reading, writing and mathematics. By the end of Reception, children are confidently writing sentences. Consequently, they are well prepared for the demands of Year 1.
• Staff make home visits before children enter the Nursery. This ensures that the curriculum constantly changes to reflect children’s interests.
• Children behave well. They sit and chat quietly at the snack table and have good hygiene when using the bathroom. All children take responsibility for tidying up during the day and are quick to respond to adults’ requests.
• The outdoor area provides a particularly stimulating environment for children to learn through play. Weekly ‘challenges’ for each child ensure that they do not limit themselves to one or two activities. Fun games, such as letter hunts, help to develop children’s social and speaking skills as well as their ability to read and write letters.
• Adults know the children well and ensure that they achieve well across all areas of learning. In the main, adults challenge children to expand their vocabulary through reading books and by asking them searching questions. However, on occasions, opportunities are missed to develop children’s vocabulary.
• Parents are well engaged with their children’s learning, often attending ‘stay and play’ sessions and contributing to assessments.
• The early years is well led and managed. New staff in the Nursery are being well trained to support children. Assessment information is used well by all staff to identify children’s next steps in learning. Safeguarding and children’s health and safety are afforded the highest priority.

School details

Unique reference number 135078 Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire Inspection number 10053239 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 Community 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 279 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Simon Crosby Jane Foster 01482 846136 www.hallgateprimaryschool.co.uk hps@eastriding.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 15–16 June 2016

Information about this school

• Hallgate Primary School is an average-sized primary school.
• In January 2018, the school began admitting children aged three into a new Nursery class. At that time, staff from a nursery setting that had recently closed joined the school.
• The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium is average. The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is average.
• Most pupils are of White British heritage and so the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average.
• A small proportion of pupils are of Gypsy/Roma heritage.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited lessons, listened to some pupils reading and looked at the work in pupils’ books to evaluate their progress over time. They spoke to pupils, staff, governors and a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors scrutinised various documents, including the summary of self-evaluation, leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching, safeguarding information, and assessment records.
• The 52 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were considered by inspectors, along with the 31 responses to the staff questionnaire.

Inspection team

Robert Jones, lead inspector Melissa Milner Darren Marks

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector