Hawkedale Primary School

Hawkedale Infants School – A Foundation School Stratton Road, Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, TW16 6PG

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils learn quickly in all classes and as a result, attainment is above average by the end of Year 2. Pupils do especially well when learning to read.  Teachers’ enthusiasm for the subjects they teach is infectious and they use praise well to enable pupils to gain in confidence and to take pride in their work.  Pupils’ excellent attitudes towards learning and their thorough involvement in judging how well they are doing support them in achieving well.  Senior leaders and governors know how to make the school outstanding in the future because they are fully aware of what the school does well and where it could still do better. All members of staff are keen to play their part in making the school even more successful.  Parents and carers are delighted that their children come to this rapidly improving school.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Children in the Reception class do not consistently learn quickly enough when working on activities they have chosen for themselves.  Teachers do not always change work during lessons when it becomes clear that it is either too hard for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs or could be made even more challenging for the more able.  The new leaders who are responsible for improving teaching and progress in a subject area have not had enough opportunity to find out for themselves at first hand precisely how teaching and learning can be improved to make it outstanding in the future.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed 11 lessons and all were joint observations with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with senior leaders and teachers, pupils, members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.  The inspection took into account 21 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View and informal disussions with a sample of parents and carers.  The inspector considered the views raised in 11 staff questionnaires.  A range of information supplied by the school was scrutinised including the school’s own assessment data, planning and monitoring documents, the school development plan, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and safeguarding documents.

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Inspection team

Alison Cartlidge, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Hawkedale Infants is a much smaller than average-sized infant school.  An above average proportion of pupils are supported through school action, school action plus or have a statement of special educational needs.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional money given to schools by the government) is below average.  There have been several changes in staffing over the last two years including a new headteacher. The school has been in a soft federation with a good school in the area over the past year. The headteacher of the other school in the federation led Hawkedale Infants until the appointment of the new headteacher in September 2012. The federation was put in place to raise standards of teaching and learning and develop leadership in the school , and comes to an end in January 2013.  A privately run nursery on the site was not part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Make sure that all activities that children chose for themselves in the Reception class are purposeful and help them to learn quickly.  Adjust activities during lessons in Years 1 and 2 on the occasions when the learning of all pupils is not rapid, so that the more able are given harder work, and disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are helped to improve straight away.  Strengthen the roles of the new leaders so that they can influence improvement in the subjects they look after.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment on entry to the school varies, with the majority of children working within the expected level for their age when they entered the Reception class in the most recent year. Children make good progress and most are working at or above the expected levels for their age when they join Year 1.  Reception children learn quickly when working with a member of staff, such as when identifying objects that start with the same letter sound. Occasionally, progress slows when the activities that children choose for themselves have no clear learning purpose.  Pupils make good progress in Years 1 and 2, leading to above average attainment by the end of Year 2. Pupils do best in reading because they develop and use their phonics (knowledge of the sounds letters make) well. For example, one pupil in Year 2 said, ‘I use all the sounds to help me.’ They are very interested in reading. As one pupil said, ‘I enjoy reading in the grass it makes

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The achievement of pupils is good

me feel on holiday.’  Writing has improved well since the last inspection, although occasionally in both writing and mathematics the more-able pupils are not expected to do hard enough work and consequently do not always learn as quickly as they could.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs do well in most lessons because they receive good support from members of staff. Occasionally their learning slows because work is not made easier if they are struggling to keep up in a lesson.  The small proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium funding do well because the school uses the money to help these pupils with their behaviour and learning, such as by funding a breakfast club or providing additional help in lessons.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good and has improved swiftly this year. All parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire are pleased with teaching.  In the Reception class, children learn quickly, especially when supported by an adult. Occasionally, when they are working on tasks they have chosen for themselves they do not concentrate for long enough because they do not receive enough help in developing their ideas.  In all classes, good learning is promoted well through enjoyable activities. The enthusiasm of members of staff ensure that pupils are absorbed in their learning. For example, children in the Reception class enjoyed practising writing letters in shaving foam and pupils in Year 1 worked together well finding different ways of making 20 pence on the legs of their ‘money spiders’.  Effective questioning helps to move learning on promptly. In a Year 2 science lesson probing questions about pushing and pulling helped pupils to make statements such as ‘everything goes

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The quality of teaching is good

faster downhill’ and ‘If you push it harder it goes faster’.  Members of staff work together well and manage behaviour consistently through the regular use of praise. Pupils are given good opportunities to work collaboratively and to think about the progress they have made in each lesson. Pupils in Year 2 set themselves writing targets such as ‘use more wow words’ or ‘add some adverbs’ and younger pupils are keen to give thumbs up to show if they think they have done well.  The purpose of work is explained clearly, although it is not always made explicit enough to more-able pupils how they can extend their learning further during the lesson.  There are good opportunities for pupils to practise their reading, writing and mathematics in other subjects. In mathematics, pupils in Year 2 wrote their own notes about how they would remember to tell the time to the nearest quarter, while in information and communication

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The quality of teaching is good

technology they used their mathematics skills to estimate distances before programming the robots.  Teachers’ marking has improved since the last inspection and both verbal and written guidance now provide valuable support. Pupils are impressed with this advice. For example, they said they ‘highlight our work’ and ‘help us when we make mistakes’. Occasionally, comments written for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are not explained well enough to help these pupils to improve their work straight away.  Pupils are skilled at checking their own work and often suggest their own next steps in learning. They can explain why some work is better than others. For example one said, ‘I’ve been very successful with my punctuation’ and another explained that their work was good because ‘I took my time with it.’

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour and safety of pupils are exemplary because they are such enthusiastic learners and are very proud of their school and their success. They try hard even when the task is difficult. For example, pupils in Year 2 did not give up when they had problems providing the right directions for their mini-robots.  Pupils work together really well and are always keen to help each other. For example, in a literacy lesson in Year 2, one pupil discreetly helped another when he became stuck while reading aloud to the class.  All parents and carers who responded to the inspection questionnaire are pleased with behaviour and safety at the school. Pupils feel exceptionally safe and typically say, ‘you stay safe because there are lots of teachers’ and ‘dinner ladies look after us’. A new behaviour policy has enabled pupils to sort out upsets for themselves and they speak fondly of following ‘Kelso’s choices’ when

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

dealing with their own problems. Consequently, there is very little unkind behaviour of any kind and pupils play and share together sensibly indoors and on the playground.  Pupils have a particularly good understanding of the need to stay safe. For example, children in the Reception class know that it is not safe to eat the shaving foam because ‘you might get a poorly tummy’ and pupils in Year 2 know that ‘you need to hold on tight’ when on the climbing frame.  Pupils respect others and know that you show respect by ‘being helpful’ or ‘caring’. They praise each other without prompting. For example, one pupil in Year 1 said ‘well done’ to his partner for identifying the full stops in a piece of writing.  Attendance has risen to above average in the most recent year and the school has worked successfully with families to ensure pupils arrive punctually.

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The leadership and management are good

 Senior leaders set high expectations for staff and pupils and consequently there have been good improvements since the last inspection. The downward trend in pupils’ progress and weaknesses in teaching that emerged shortly after the last inspection have been reversed. Issues for development identified at the last inspection have now been tackled successfully and as a result teaching, pupils’ progress and behaviour have all improved strongly.  Leaders manage how well teachers are performing effectively. They work closely with teachers identifying what they need to do to make teaching even more successful. The headteacher’s judgements on teaching are accurate and, consequently, training is selected on the basis of what will help teachers and the pupils most.  Leadership is not yet outstanding because not all new leaders have had the opportunity or time to bring about improvement in the subjects they look after.

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The leadership and management are good

 Information on pupils’ progress is used well to identify groups of pupils who are doing less well than others and action is taken to ensure that there is no discrimination and all pupils have equal opportunities. For example, pupil premium funding was used well last year to strengthen relationships between the home and school, resulting in better attendance and more confident pupils.  The curriculum (what the school intends to teach pupils in each subject) provides a good variety of interesting and meaningful topics that engage the pupils’ interest fully.  Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development makes a positive contribution towards pupils’ learning. For example, following a local visit, pupils in Year 2 suggested how people value the church, saying: ‘people come to church to think’ and ‘you pray and sing’.  Parents and carers are very positive about the school. They noted that their children ‘come on

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The leadership and management are good

well, especially in reading’ and find it to be a ‘friendly family school’.  The local authority provided good additional support when the school went through significant staffing changes. This support, together with the successful link with another school, enabled the school to recover quickly and to increase the capacity to continue to improve without external support.  The governance of the school: – has increased in confidence and effectiveness with recent training and governors are now asking the right questions to help school leaders check that the correct actions are being taken to improve the school further – makes effective checks that everything is working well because governors visit the school frequently so that they can find out for themselves and know from their own observations where improvements are still needed.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 125284 Local authority Surrey Inspection number 402324

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Infant School category Foundation Age range of pupils 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 89 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Suzanne Renwick Headteacher Joanne Davies Date of previous school inspection 18–19 May 2010 Telephone number 01932 789412 Fax number 01932 770319 Email address head@hawkedale.surrey.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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