Hensall Community Primary School

Hensall Community Primary School Church Lane, Hensall, Goole, Yorkshire, DN14 0QQ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 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 achieve well. They make good and often outstanding progress throughout the school. By the time they leave the school in Year 6, pupils reach levels which are higher than other pupils nationally.  Teaching is good and some is outstanding. Teachers know their pupils well and set work to match the needs of all pupils.  Teachers are skilled at questioning pupils so that all pupils are made to think even harder.  Behaviour and safety are outstanding. Pupils enjoy coming to school and attendance is high.  The school is well led by a headteacher who knows her school very well. She has a clear vision of what to do to make the school outstanding. Staff and governors all share this vision.  Governors are fully involved in following the progress pupils make and checking on the quality of teaching.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In some lessons, teachers’ planned introductions are too long and this does not allow pupils enough time to explain their own ideas.  Pupils are not given enough time in lessons to consider how they could improve their work and the work of their friends.  Sometimes work in books is not neat enough.  The current system used to follow the standards and progress of pupils does not analyse groups of pupils automatically or compare the progress they make to national figures with sufficient precision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed nine lessons in a range of subjects. Some of the lessons were observed jointly with the headteacher. Inspectors also observed an assembly and listened to pupils read.  Inspectors analysed recent parental responses to a school questionnaire as well as 23 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View).  Inspectors analysed questionnaire responses received from 18 members of staff.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, staff, representatives of the local authority and members of the governing body.  A number of documents were studied, including the school’s self-evaluation, the school development plan and the school’s information about pupils’ progress and attainment. A range of policies and documents relating to performance management, safeguarding, behaviour and attendance were also studied.

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Inspection team

Joanna Sharpe, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Jennifer Firth Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school where numbers on roll have increased in recent years.  The majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  Some of the classes contain pupils from different year groups.  The numbers of pupils in each year group are small.  There are no disabled pupils.  The proportion of pupils who are supported through school action is low.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium funding is lower than the national average. (The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and those children that are looked after.)  The proportion of pupils who are supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is low compared to the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set minimum expectations for

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that more is outstanding by ensuring that:  teachers allow pupils more opportunities in lessons to explain their own ideas to the teacher and to their peers  teachers allow pupils enough time to think of ways they could improve their own work and the work of their peers  pupils’ presentation of their work is consistently good.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that the new system to analyse pupils’ progress and standards supports the improvement of teaching and learning by:  tracking all the different groups of pupils, such as those known to be eligible for pupil premium funding, as separate groups  comparing pupils’ achievement more precisely with that of other pupils nationally.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children join the school with starting points that are below those typically expected for their age. Although there was a dip in standards in mathematics in 2012, pupils leave school with standards in English and mathematics that are above those of other pupils nationally.  Pupils’ rates of progress in English and mathematics from their individual starting points are as expected or more often are better than expected for their age.  This is due to the consistently good teaching. In mathematics, pupils’ interests are engaged by lessons that are very practical. An example of this was in an outstanding lesson in Years 1 and 2 where pupils used coloured sweets to consider some mathematical problems. Pupils succeeded very well in estimating, calculating probability and interpreting graphs because they were highly engaged by this activity. Progress of pupils with special educational needs is good. This is due to

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The achievement of pupils is good

the good quality support put in place by the headteacher who then follows pupils’ attainment carefully to make sure the support has been successful.  There are few pupils who are known to be eligible for pupil premium funding. They make progress at the same good rate and attain similarly in English and mathematics as other pupils in the school who are not eligible.  All groups of pupils benefit from the close attention the school pays to the promotion of equality of opportunity and this reflects in their equally strong achievement.  Pupils enjoy reading and achieve at a higher rate than other pupils nationally. A recently introduced scheme to support teaching in the younger classes, of the sounds that letters make (phonics), has already supported improvement in reading skills. Older pupils comment on the wide and exciting range of literature available. A homework book, used in all classes, emphasises the importance of reading both at home and in school, and ensures parents are

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The achievement of pupils is good

aware of the skills pupils are learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers know their pupils well and activities meet the needs of all the pupils. This was seen clearly in a Year 3 mathematics lesson. Pupils were learning about time, and different activities enabled pupils to learn quickly and at the appropriate level.  Teachers regularly use problem-solving activities to extend pupils’ thinking and learning, especially more-able pupils. Even the youngest pupils in Reception have mathematical problems set as homework.  Lessons are often very practical and pupils become enthusiastically engaged in learning. In Year 4, the teacher planned a very successful lesson about three-dimensional shapes and pupils learned by using soft three-dimensional sweets as resources. This helped them gain a much clearer understanding.  Lessons meet pupils’ interests well. After a visit to learn about the Second World War and a subsequent drama lesson, pupils in Years 5 and 6 were inspired to produce some good quality

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The quality of teaching is good

creative writing.  Teachers and teaching assistants use their time well in the classroom to support all pupils in making good progress. Teaching assistants are frequently used to support pupils whose needs may be different from other pupils. They do this well.  Teachers are good at explaining to pupils what they are learning, although some explanations are too lengthy. This means pupils do not get the opportunity to explain their own ideas to support deeper understanding.  Skilled questioning is seen regularly in all classes. The teacher in Year 5 & 6 questioned pupils to make them think for themselves when they were mixing ingredients in a science lesson.  All written work is regularly marked and teachers note how pupils can improve their work. This is also done in class verbally. However, teachers do not give pupils enough opportunities to consider how their own work and the work of their peers could be improved.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers do not make sure that the presentation of pupils’ written work is always as good as it could be.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Parents, staff and pupils agree that behaviour is outstanding and bullying extremely rare. Pupils in Years 5 and 6 recently took part in a ‘Childline’ workshop about bullying. The workshop gave pupils a clear understanding of different forms of bullying and how to deal with a range of situations.  Behaviour management is very good. High standards of behaviour from pupils are expected and maintained at all times.  Any incidents that do occur are dealt with exceptionally well. Discussions are held between both parties to help them resolve any concerns they may have and these are well documented. This enables the school to tackle any discrimination swiftly and to foster exemplary relationships.  Older pupils play an active part in maintaining this very high standard of behaviour. A system of school buddies helps pupils resolve any minor conflicts before they escalate. All pupils are also taught strategies to avoid conflict, such as walking away if someone is annoying them, which

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

they call ‘de-bugging’.  Pupils enjoy taking on a wide range of responsibilities, for example, milk monitors and being members of committees such as the eco-committee and the school council.  Pupils enjoy coming to school and attendance is high.  Pupils say they feel safe and have a very good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. Visits to the local secondary school and from the e-safety governor reinforce this understanding, especially regarding keeping safe on the internet.  Low-level disruption in lessons is extremely rare. This is in part due to the good support received by pupils who may have a problem in maintaining these high standards of behaviour at all times.  Relationships are of the highest quality which is evident as pupils move around the school. They are polite, highly courteous and friendly to each other and to visitors.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher knows her school well and has a clear vision of what is needed to make it an outstanding school. There is no senior leadership team as all teachers have areas of responsibility. All teachers and governors share the headteacher’s vision.  Areas of improvement from the last inspection have been addressed well. The school development plan provides accurate details of where the school needs to improve further. All teachers and governors play an active part in carrying out the improvement actions required. This demonstrates that the leaders and governors are capable of continuing these improvements.  The local authority acknowledges that the school only needs basic support from them due to the strengths of the headteacher, staff and governors.  Performance management systems are clear and are securely based on improving teaching and learning. Staff comment that they are well supported. Improvements have been secured through

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The leadership and management are good

a variety of means, including training on data handling, and through sharing examples of good teaching amongst themselves and with other schools.  All teachers carefully follow the progress of pupils in their class and this is linked to targets in the teachers’ own personal performance development plan. All teachers also complete a detailed summary of teaching and learning relating to their area of responsibility, for example, English. This includes analysing progress information, looking in pupils’ books and lesson observations.  Information relating to pupils’ progress and standards is studied regularly to ensure all pupils are making the appropriate amount of progress. Even so, the current system does not follow pupils’ progress in sufficiently fine detail to allow staff to make easy comparisons with national averages. It also does not automatically follow the progress of different groups of pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum matches the interests of pupils and the new website is designed to enhance this even further. It also ensures equality of opportunity for all pupils.  The new website has details of how the pupil premium funding has been spent and the effect it has had on the progress of those pupils who are entitled to it.  The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is important to the school and they develop these skills well. Links with a school in China which prompted pupils to share culture boxes, and learn Mandarin and philosophy in school, help develop these skills further.  The governance of the school:  Governors are regularly involved in school events and follow pupils’ progress using the school’s information and they can compare pupils’ progress with other similar schools. They check the impact of financial decisions such as the difference made by pupil premium funding for those

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The leadership and management are good

pupils known to be eligible for this. Governors are well trained and different committees enable them to become skilled and well trained in specific areas so they can support school improvement. One committee deals particularly with the performance management of the headteacher. Governors have a picture of the strengths and areas of development for each teacher and set targets appropriately.

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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 121403 Local authority North Yorkshire Inspection number 403461

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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 130 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Lynn Patrick Headteacher Heather Conroy Date of previous school inspection 18 March 2008 Telephone number 01977 661340 Fax number 01977 661340 Email address admin@hensall.n-yorks.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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