Harestock Primary School

Harestock Primary School Bramshaw Close, Harestock, Winchester, SO22 6LU

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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 Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  Pupils’ achievement is good. Rates of progress have improved since the previous inspection. Almost all pupils across the school now make at least good progress.  Over recent years, standards have risen across the school.  Last year, pupils at the end of Year 6, particularly boys, had made outstanding progress throughout Key Stage 2 in mathematics.  Teaching over time is good and some is outstanding, particularly in reading.  Since the previous inspection, closer tracking of pupils’ attainment and progress has helped the school to make sure that gaps between pupils are closing.  The school is a welcoming, friendly community where pupils and staff interact well and where other cultures are warmly celebrated. Pupils feel very safe.  Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school, and this makes a strong contribution to their good learning. They have good opportunities to develop social and cultural

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

skills which prepare them well for life after school.  Changes in the governing body have ensured that it now offers good support and challenge to the school, and holds senior leaders to account well.  Senior leaders have worked successfully to address the dip in progress in English in Key Stage 2 for Year 6 pupils leaving the school in 2012. Pupils now make good progress in English in all year groups.  Strong support from the local authority has helped the school to improve the quality of teaching in English and mathematics.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not always provide pupils with clear enough advice about how to move to the next level, or give them time to respond to advice, especially in writing. Work is not always at the right level of difficulty for pupils and the pace of learning in lessons is, occasionally, either too fast or too slow.  Some of the targets in the school’s action plans are not always clear enough to show the impact on pupils’ learning.  Pupils who have a parent in the armed services, or who are known to be eligible for free school meals, make less progress than their peers.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching in 19 lessons in all of the school’s classes. Some of these observations were conducted jointly with senior leaders.  A dance company conducted workshops with classes on the second day of the inspection, and some of these sessions were also observed.  Meetings were held with pupils, senior and middle leaders, members of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors held informal discussions with parents and carers. They also took account of 55 responses to the Parent View online survey, and 38 questionnaire responses from staff.  They looked at pupils’ work in lessons, and also scrutinised pupils’ books with the headteacher. Inspectors heard pupils reading and observed them in class and around the school.  A wide range of school documentation was considered. This included information relating to the attainment and progress of pupils, the performance management of staff, records of lesson

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Information about this inspection

observations, the school’s website, the school’s action plans, its self-evaluation, local authority reports, behaviour records, and safeguarding information.

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Inspection team

Najoud Ensaff, Lead inspector Additional inspector Stephanie Matthews Additional inspector John Collins Additional inspector Robert Arnold Additional inspector

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Information about this school

 Harestock is larger than the average-sized primary school and numbers have increased since the previous inspection. It has both single-age and mixed-age classes.  There has been a restructuring of the leadership team since the last inspection and a number of changes in teaching staff.  The school serves a mobile community with a higher-than-average proportion of pupils entering and leaving the school at different times of the year and during their school life.  The large majority of pupils are of White British heritage. There are few pupils who speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported through school action is above the national average. The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is in line with the national average.  The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils

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Information about this school

eligible for free school meals, in the care of the local authority or with a parent in the armed services) is lower than the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching to outstanding by ensuring that:  teachers always provide pupils with very clear guidance, through marking, about how to move to the next level, and give pupils time to respond to this guidance  learning moves at a suitable pace in all lessons  pupils are always given work that is at the right level of difficulty for them.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise leadership and management to outstanding by ensuring that:  targets in school action plans are always specific about their impact on pupils’ learning and easy to measure  plans specify who is responsible for checking on the impact of actions to make sure they are working  leaders use assessment information consistently well to help increase the rates of progress for pupils with parents in the armed services or who are known to be eligible for free school meals.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The trend over recent years has been one of rising attainment in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2. Rates of progress across subjects and classes have also improved.  Children come from a wide range of pre-school settings and enter Reception classes with skills in reading and writing that are generally much lower than expected for their age. Their skills in mathematics are at broadly expected levels. Current Reception children entered with stronger skills in mathematics than those in the past.  Pupils make good progress across the school so that when they leave at the end of Year 6 their attainment in English and mathematics is close to the national average. Attainment in writing is less strong than reading across the school. Current Year 6 pupils entered the school with skills that were well below others and over a third of Year 6 pupils joined the school in Key Stage 2, so their attainment is currently below average in English and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2012, pupils in Year 6 made outstanding progress across Key Stage 2 in mathematics so that their attainment in mathematics was above average. In 2011, Year 6 pupils made outstanding progress in English across Key Stage 2.  The proportions of pupils who were in the school throughout Years 5 and 6 and who attained at or above the expected levels in 2012 were above average. Pupils who join the school at various stages settle quickly and make as much progress as others.  Although pupils’ performance in the Key Stage 1 phonics (linking sounds and letters) screening check was not as good as in other schools nationally, attainment in reading in both Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 has strongly improved and is now in line with, or above average, in all Key Stage 2 classes. Attainment in reading has also moved closer to average for Key Stage 1 pupils.  The few pupils for whom English is an additional language make particularly good, and

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The achievement of pupils is good

sometimes outstanding, progress in English and mathematics as a result of the school’s strong work to develop their language skills.  Although last year some disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs did not do as well as similar groups nationally, internal school data indicate that these pupils generally make similarly good progress to their peers in Key Stage 2 and expected progress in Key Stage 1. This is as a result of focused support from teaching assistants, additional lessons outside of class and the good use of challenging targets. Occasionally, where teachers do not consider pupils’ abilities and needs carefully enough, their progress is not as rapid.  Last year, pupils supported through the pupil premium in Year 6, who have parents in the armed forces or who are known to be eligible for free school meals, made much less progress than their national counterparts. Their attainment in English and mathematics as measured by

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The achievement of pupils is good

average points scores was well below average. Current school data, however, indicate that gaps between pupils supported through pupil premium funding and their peers in the school are closing. However, their attainment is generally between one and two terms behind that of their peers.  More-able pupils at the school make good progress. Last year, the number of pupils in Year 6 who gained the higher levels in the end-of-Key Stage 2 tests, in English and mathematics, was above average, and was significantly above average for the highest levels in mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching over time ensures that pupils make good progress across the school. Teachers have positive working relationships with pupils, who behave well in lessons so that learning proceeds without interruption. As a result, pupils achieve well.  Teachers provide pupils with good opportunities to work in pairs or groups, sharing their learning and developing their communication skills. Where teaching is best, learning goals are very clear and teachers ensure that tasks are at the right level of difficulty for all pupils. The best teaching also stimulates pupils’ imagination and provides them with the right level of challenge so that learning moves at a brisk pace.  For example, in a well-planned history lesson in Year 3 and 4, the teacher considered pupils’ different abilities well and helped them to make at least good progress in their writing. She communicated the intended learning very clearly and challenged pupils to imagine they were Sir

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The quality of teaching is good

Walter Raleigh. Using boastful and persuasive language, they tried to gain funding from Queen Elizabeth. In a Year 6 French lesson, effective questioning by the teacher and high levels of appropriate challenge ensured that pupils’ skills in French were good.  Teachers promote pupils’ social and cultural skills very well through art, music and dance, and through learning about different countries. During the inspection, pupils took part in Around the World Week; they had opportunities, for example, to compare similarities and differences between schools in India and the United Kingdom, and to learn about music and dance from the Caribbean and China.  While teachers plan lessons that interest pupils and develop their independence through paired and group work, they do not always set work at the right level of difficulty or move learning on at the right time. This means that pupils’ progress is not always as rapid as possible.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly, often providing pupils with praise and a comment. However, their comments are not always precise enough to guide pupils to the next level of attainment, and pupils are sometimes not given the opportunity to respond to teachers’ written comments.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils behave well in lessons. They focus well and work hard, and this makes a strong contribution to their good achievement. School records of behaviour, and responses by pupils and parents and carers, indicate that this good behaviour is usual for pupils at the school.  Behaviour around the school is good. The school fosters good relationships and pupils are friendly, welcoming, polite and respectful to adults and to each other. Behaviour is not yet outstanding because, in lessons where teaching is less strong, pupils occasionally lose attention.  Pupils report that they feel safe at school and that they know how to keep themselves safe. They understand about different forms of bullying, such as physical, verbal and cyber-bullying. They say that any rare instances of bullying are effectively dealt with. Discrimination of any kind is not tolerated in the school.  The school has worked hard to improve attendance so that almost all pupils now attend

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

regularly.  Overwhelmingly, parents and carers agree that the school keeps their children safe and that behaviour is good in the school.  Almost all parents and carers who responded to the online Parent view survey believe that their children are well looked after. Many who spoke to inspectors commented positively about the way in which their children’s specific needs are supported by teachers at the school.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders and managers have been successful in improving teaching and achievement since the previous inspection. Changes in the governing body of the school have allowed it to offer more effective support and challenge to senior leaders. This, alongside a restructuring of management, has helped to bring about key improvements.  Strong support from the local authority has helped the school to improve the focus of leadership and management, and the quality of teaching in mathematics and English.  Senior leaders and subject leaders make regular checks on the quality of teaching and marking as well as the planning of learning. They provide useful feedback to staff, setting them clear targets which have helped to improve the quality of teaching. Pay progression is securely linked to performance. Senior and middle leaders hold formal meetings with teachers every term to review pupils’ progress, and this is helping them to close gaps in the learning and attainment of

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The leadership and management are good

groups of pupils.  Subjects are well planned and organised into topics. Pupils report that they enjoy their learning and the opportunities to take part in extra-curricular clubs and educational visits.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral and social skills effectively through a range of subjects as well as regular music and art activities, extra-curricular clubs and memorable educational visits. Pupils are given particularly good opportunities to develop their social and cultural skills by raising money for charities and learning about other communities in Britain and abroad.  School action plans are focused on the right priorities and are helping the school to move forward. While some have clear time frames and specific targets, not all are as clear, and they do not always specify who is responsible for carrying out actions. This means that progress towards these targets is more difficult to check.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has started to work more effectively with parents and carers, for example through improving the school website and adjusting timings for open afternoons. A few parents and carers who responded to the online Parent View survey expressed some dissatisfaction over the way in which senior leaders responded to their concerns.  The inspection team found that leaders have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They have improved the school’s performance and the governing body is effectively addressing concerns raised by parents and carers.  The school’s revised tracking system is helping it to monitor more closely the attainment and progress of pupils across the school so that additional support is put in place quickly to address any gaps in learning.  The funding for pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is used appropriately to provide, for example, specialist staff for classes and one-to-one support to these pupils to boost

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The leadership and management are good

their learning, as well as being used to allow them access to residential activities. Gaps between these pupils and their peers are closing, although their attainment is still below their peers and all pupils nationally.  Senior leaders generally use assessment information well to drive up improvement, particularly in Key Stage 2. However, leaders do not consistently use this information well enough to increase rates of progress for pupils or specific groups of pupils, in particular those with parents in the armed services or who are known to be eligible for free school meals.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is both supportive of the school and asks searching questions of it. Governors have a good understanding of the school’s work, including the quality of teaching in the school. They discuss how well the school is doing in comparison to others in the country, and ask searching questions of the school, for example about the achievement of particular groups of pupils and how challenging targets are. The governing body has a clear oversight of how well teachers are doing, ensuring that pay and promotion for staff are closely linked to the good achievement of their pupils. It oversees the school’s finances well, making sure that, for example, pupil premium funding is spent appropriately so that it is beginning to make a positive difference to these pupils. The governing body ensures that child protection policies and safeguarding meet requirements and that staff and pupils work in a safe environment.

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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 116241 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 401582

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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 Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 282 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Kelsie Learney Headteacher Jacqueline Sankey Date of previous school inspection 10–11 November 2009 Telephone number 01962 881575 Fax number 01962 884836 Email address adminoffice@harestock.hants.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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