Hunnyhill Primary SchoolOfsted inspection, 24 Apr 2013

Hunnyhill Primary School Forest Road, Parkhurst, Newport, Isle of Wight, PO30 5SH

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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 Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school.  The strong commitment of staff to helping pupils learn has created a very positive ethos where pupils work hard and do well. Achievement is good; attainment is rising and is well placed to rise further.  Teaching is uniformly good and pupils benefit from activities that are extremely well designed to move them on from the level at which they are working.  The teaching of the sounds letters make in words (phonics) is a strength and a model of good practice, resulting in Hunnyhill sharing its expertise with student teachers.  Based on a strong culture of safety, pupils enjoy school, get on very well together and behave well. They and their parents are adamant that no bullying takes place.  The headteacher is a very strong leader and excellent team builder so that staff work very well together in monitoring and development work.  The governing body plays a key role in helping staff to deliver good quality education. They

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

not only challenge the school to do well, but support staff effectively to achieve their goals.  Self-evaluation is accurate and development planning is well targeted at areas that still need improving. The school is well aware of where it can improve the quality of education further and staff and governors are working determinedly to address this.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 There are some aspects of pupils’ attainment that still need improving, especially their reading comprehension, handwriting and spelling, and their ability to carry out mathematical investigations.  Although some elements of teaching are outstanding, these are not seen consistently in all lessons and marking is not always helpful enough in identifying what pupils achieve.  Pupils have too few opportunities to use their literacy and numeracy skills in other subjects.  Until recently, the school was not identifying specific detail as to what caused some weaknesses in pupils’ performance.  The attention needed to be given to the move to new accommodation has limited some governor monitoring activities.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 11 lessons, of which four were joint observations with the senior leaders. In addition, the inspection team made a number of other short visits to lessons, heard a sample of pupils read and scrutinised a sample of pupils’ recorded work from all year groups.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, members of the governing body and staff including senior and middle managers.  Inspectors took account of the 10 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and the school’s own recent parent questionnaire. A small number of parents and carers bringing their children to school were also spoken to.  They observed the school’s work and scrutinised a number of documents including the school’s records on current pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance. Documents relating to planning, monitoring and safeguarding were also looked at.

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Inspection team

Diane Wilkinson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Ian McAllister Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Hunnyhill is a smaller than average-sized primary school. A number of pupils are taught in mixed-age classes.  The proportion of pupils with special educational needs supported by school action plus or a statement of needs is above average. The proportion supported by school action is broadly average.  The school does not use any alternative provision for pupils.  The proportions of pupils from minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language are below average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides funding for children in local authority care, children from service families and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, is above average.  The school meets government floor standards in English and mathematics, the minimum standards for pupils’ attainment and progress required by the government.  The Jigsaw Childcare Centre uses a classroom and part of the outdoor area at the school. This is

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Information about this school

run by a private provider and was not inspected.  Hunnyhill is a leading partner literacy school for the Isle of Wight graduate teacher training programme.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise attainment by:  improving the ability of pupils to understand and report about what they read  making sure that pupils write neatly and legibly and spell accurately in all their written work  ensuring that pupils can apply their mathematical skills well in a wide range of investigations  providing more opportunities for pupils to use their literacy and numeracy skills in other subjects.  Increase the effectiveness of teaching by ensuring that more lessons are outstanding by the end of 2013 through:  capitalising more on pupils’ strong commitment to learning and raise expectations of them further  providing more highly stimulating activities that enthuse and motivate pupils to do their very best  marking pupils’ work so that it indicates precisely what pupils have achieved and use this information to ensure ability grouping is regularly updated  supporting phase and subject leaders in monitoring the impact teaching is having on

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

achievement.  Enhance the effectiveness of leadership and management in bringing about improvement by:  undertaking a thorough analysis of the exact aspects that prevent individual and groups of pupils from doing better, so that improvement planning can pinpoint specifically how to address this  ensuring that the governing body’s first hand monitoring is strongly focused on school development priorities.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Reception children’s skills and knowledge on entry are below those expected for this age. Since the last inspection the proportion of children entering Reception with under-developed literacy and numeracy skills has increased.  Reception children make good progress towards their goals for learning, but attainment overall is slightly below average by the end of the year.  Achievement is good across the school and by the end of Year 2 attainment is average, including in reading. It is well placed to rise further, with Year 1 pupils already exceeding the levels expected for their age.  A number of factors, including staff changes, limited the attainment of pupils in the Year 6 national tests last year. Disruption caused by the move to a new site during the summer term further affected some pupils’ progress. Partly as a result of this, pupils did not achieve as well as they should. Inspection evidence clearly shows that the school acted swiftly to address this, so

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The achievement of pupils is good

that pupils currently in Years 3 to 6 make good progress. Their attainment is typically average and rising across the school.  The school’s strong commitment to providing equality of opportunity and preventing discrimination is evident in the good achievement of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs and also pupils who speak English as an additional language.  Good use of the pupil premium funding ensures that those pupils who receive it achieve well. By Year 6, the large majority have closed the gap on their peers, a much better picture than in most schools.  The good phonic knowledge of pupils allows them to read fluently and confidently from a young age. However, the school has rightly identified that their comprehension skills need further development.  Year 2 pupils write correctly in sentences, using descriptive vocabulary to enliven their work. By Year 6, pupils write well in a range of formats, but untidy handwriting and inaccurate spelling

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The achievement of pupils is good

sometimes detracts from the quality of their work.  Pupils’ calculation skills are good and Year 6 pupils work competently with fractions or measures. Pupils have fewer opportunities for work with data, or for planning and carrying out their own mathematical investigations, which limit their attainment.  Both pupils and their parents recognise that pupils achieve well, praising the support they receive.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Previous weaknesses in teaching, which were a contributory factor to the Year 6 under performance last year, have been fully addressed, and there is a strongly consistent approach to key features in lessons. Inspection evidence and the school’s own monitoring indicate that teaching in all year groups and subjects is uniformly good.  Good teaching is underpinned by strong planning in which activities are very well matched to different ability groups. Where excellent assessment of pupils’ learning takes place, pupils are constantly moved between different groups according to whether they are experiencing difficulty with a particular aspect, although this does not happen in all lessons.  Learning is significantly enhanced by the very positive relationships between staff and pupils. Consequently, pupils are willing to learn and strive to do what their teachers ask. However, teachers do not always capitalise sufficiently on this to encourage pupils to make excellent gains

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The quality of teaching is good

in their learning.  Adults explain new skills and knowledge well and pupils are very clear as what is expected of them in their activities. This is evident in both whole class and group work. In the latter, well- briefed teaching assistants support learning well, a key factor in the good support for disabled pupils and those with special education needs.  Learning is enjoyable and challenging and keeps most pupils motivated well; although, only occasionally are lessons introduced with highly stimulating activities that encourage outstanding learning.  Pupils are set effective individual targets to help them improve and, when marking work, teachers often point out what pupils need to do to achieve them. However, marking rarely pinpoints exactly what pupils have achieved in the level towards which they are working. This limits teachers’ and leaders’ ability to accurately monitor progress.  Parents agree teaching is good and, in response to their requests, the setting of homework has

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The quality of teaching is good

recently been reviewed so they can play a greater role in supporting their children’s learning. However, there has been too little time to see the full impact of this.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 This is a very happy school with good relationships between pupils and with adults and a strong learning ethos.  Pupils and their parents correctly report that behaviour is good and that bullying is extremely rare.  From a young age, pupils quickly develop the capacity to work well with each other which enhances their group work, allowing them to test out ideas and to evaluate and refine their own and other pupils’ work.  Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school; although, on a few occasions, younger pupils take a while to settle on their individual tasks or sometimes talk loudly which limits learning.  The school has worked hard to encourage good attendance and the number of poor attenders has decreased. Attendance levels are broadly average and improving.  The strong commitment to the safeguarding of pupils means that they and their parents are totally confident that pupils are well looked after. Pupils look out for each other around school

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

and are well aware of how to protect themselves from harm, especially when using the internet.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is an inspirational and supportive leader with a very strong capacity for getting the best out of her staff. Teamwork amongst staff and with governors is excellent.  Year 6 pupils who took national tests last year did not make good progress. Their progress had been hampered by staff changes in previous years and, despite requests to defer the move to the new school, the local authority planned this to take place in May, causing some disruption to the school’s work. Leaders and governors responded quickly and effectively to ensure that improvement since then has been rapid. Achievement is now good in all year groups and attainment is rising.  Staff and governors use data well to ensure that self-evaluation is thorough, and put in place improvement priorities which are well targeted as weaker aspects of the school’s work. However, monitoring systems did not pinpoint the exact details causing weaknesses in pupils’ performance.

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The leadership and management are good

Although effective systems are in place to address this, it has meant that some weaknesses, for example in comprehension skills, are still being tackled.  There is a strong determination to eradicate remaining weaknesses and effective plans are in place to do so, which gives the school a good capacity to improve further.  The systems for the monitoring and support of teaching, including through performance management, are good and have helped bring about consistently good teaching and address important improvement priorities well. The headteacher and governors are meticulous in ensuring that salary increases are only awarded for success in achieving pupils’ good progress.  Opportunities to observe outstanding teaching in other schools is helping to develop the quality in Hunnyhill. Staff willingly share their own expertise with others schools and organisations, for example in supporting students on the Isle of Wight graduate training programme.

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The leadership and management are good

 The curriculum has been effectively planned to give pupils a broad and interesting education, to support their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. It also supports their good gains in developing literacy and numeracy skills, although there are few opportunities planned for pupils to use these in other subjects.  Safeguarding policies and procedures fully meet statutory requirements. Those related to child protection, the vetting of staff and assessing risk are rigorously applied by both staff and governors.  Pupils benefit from the school’s strong engagement with their parents and the opportunities provided for parents to support their children’s education. They also gain from the effective partnerships with other providers, for example the Jigsaw Childcare Centre which benefits both Reception children and those who attend the centre.  The school has received only limited support and challenge from the local authority in recent

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The leadership and management are good

years, a concern for both staff and governors as they increased the school’s age range and coped with building difficulties at the new site. The local authority did little to help the school address the issues which caused under performance in Year 6 last year.  The governance of the school:  The very positive relationship between staff and governors is a key factor in the way the school has rapidly and successfully responded to weaknesses identified last year. Governors are committed to training, well informed, understand data about pupils’ progress well and take their responsibility for holding the school to account extremely seriously. Alongside this, they recognise their own responsibility for supporting the school through the work needed to be undertaken to address weaknesses. It is clear that over the past two years much of governors’ time has been taken up with dealing with the refurbishment of, and the move to, the new

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The leadership and management are good

accommodation. The governors are now able to devote more time to school improvement, particularly in first-hand monitoring of how weaker aspects are being addressed. Effective performance management of the headteacher has helped bring about recent improvements. Governors are well informed about the performance management of other staff and make astute decisions about agreeing salary increases, an example of their good financial management. Another example is the very good decisions made regarding the allocation of the pupil premium funding to providing targeted teaching support, extra learning resources and a range of activities to encourage good attendance and positive attitudes to learning. This is regularly and effectively monitored and the outcomes for these pupils are very positive.

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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 118167 Local authority Isle of Wight Inspection number 412907

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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 208 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Tony Murrant Headteacher Lynda Evans Date of previous school inspection 28–29 June 2010 Telephone number 01983 522506 Fax number 01983 522506 Email address office@hunnyhillschool.co.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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