Highfield Hall Primary School

Highfield Hall Primary School Highfield Lane, Chesterfield, S41 8AZ

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Requires improvement 3 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Pupils do not make consistently good progress throughout the school. Progress was slower in 2013 than in previous years and not enough pupils reached the higher level 5 in the national tests.  Teachers do not always help pupils to think more deeply about their learning in lessons to support the development of their attitudes to learning and on occasions they do not have high enough expectations of how much pupils can learn in lessons and set work that is hard enough for the most able.  Marking does not typically give pupils clear advice on how to improve their work and pupils do not regularly have time to reflect and respond to comments.  Staff do not rigorously follow the school’s policies for playground supervision.  Leaders, managers and governors have not ensured that good standards of teaching and pupils’ achievement have been maintained since the previous inspection.  Subject leaders are not involved in developing

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

teaching and achievement in their areas.  Tracking systems are not used to monitor progress so all staff know how much progress pupils are making. Leaders do not focus on progress in lesson observations so on occasions judgements are over generous.  Governors do not regularly check on the progress of pupils in the school.

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The school has the following strengths

 The Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Children access a wide range of activities both indoors and outdoors to support them in developing skills in all areas of learning.  Attendance has improved and is now similar to other primary schools.  Pupils say that they feel safe in the school and parents responding to the online survey agree.  Pupils behave well around the site and are courteous and polite to each other.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed 16 lessons or part lessons including three sessions of phonics (letters and their sounds). One observation was carried out jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with three governors, staff and a local authority representative.  Inspectors spoke to pupils about their views of the school, listened to them read, attended an assembly and looked at their work in books.  The inspection team met with parents informally whey they brought their children to school, reviewed correspondence from parents and took account of the 45 responses to the online Parent View survey.  Questionnaires completed by 16 staff were also considered.  Inspectors observed the school’s work, reviewed the school’s own evaluation of its performance and plans for the future, records relating to the management of the performance of staff, minutes of meetings of the governing body and documents relating to behaviour, safeguarding

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Inspection team

Susan Williams, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Alan Brewerton Additional Inspector Andrew Beckett Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are White British.  The proportion of pupils for whom the school receives the pupils premium, additional government funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and other groups, is above that found nationally.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is below average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is well below average.  Leadership posts were reorganised and new subject leaders took up their posts in September 2013.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching so that it is good overall by:  giving the most able pupils more difficult work so they make faster progress  providing pupils with questions that help them to think and learn more deeply  teachers having higher expectations of the work rate of pupils in lessons  marking giving pupils clear advice on how to improve their learning and pupils having time to think and respond to this to improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:  developing the roles of subject leaders to improve the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress in their subject areas  improving tracking systems so that leaders and all staff know how much progress pupils are making and so teachers can be held to account for good progress in their classes  leaders focusing on the progress that pupils make during lesson observations so more accurate judgements on the quality of teaching can be made  governors checking on the progress of pupils to ensure they make good progress  ensuring that procedures are followed thoroughly for supervision at breaks and lunchtimes.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils do not make consistently good progress in Key Stages 1 and 2. In 2013, progress slowed at Key Stage 2, with few pupils making the faster rates of progress compared with national figures. The proportion of the most able pupils who reached the highest, level 5, in national tests was also below those found nationally. The most able pupils do not always receive work that is hard enough to challenge them in lessons so they make fast progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive additional support in classes. Although there are examples of some pupils making good progress in some subjects, progress is mixed for these pupils and, similarly to other pupils, it is not consistently strong.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils known to be eligible for support from pupil premium funding receive extra help in lessons and this year there are plans to fund activities such as theatre groups and workshops to enrich pupils’ experience of school. In the national tests in 2013, these pupils were approximately three months behind other pupils in reading and writing and six months behind in mathematics. Progress for these pupils is similar to other pupils and is not strong in all year groups.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Attainment at Key Stage 1 was broadly average in reading and mathematics in 2013 and writing was above average. At Key Stage 2 attainment was broadly average in reading, writing, mathematics and in the new English grammar, punctuation and spelling test.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Children enter the Nursery with skills and abilities below those usually expected for their age, particularly in their communication and language development. The school has recognised this and a member of staff has had specialist training to support language development. Children enjoy a wide range of activities, both indoor and outdoor which support their development and staff work well with them to develop their learning so progress is good with a similar proportion reaching a good level of development as seen nationally last year.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school has a consistent approach to the development of reading. Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage make a good started to learning their letter sounds which is built on in Year 1. In the Year 1 phonics check in 2013, a higher proportion of pupils reached the required standard than in schools nationally.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There is not enough teaching that is consistently good for pupils to make good progress. Teachers do not always have high enough expectations of the work rate of pupils in lessons. The most able pupils do not receive work which always helps them to make the best progress as sometimes they find it too easy.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils are not always helped to develop their thinking or to learn more deeply. Although work is marked by teachers, there is not always advice on how pupils can improve their work or opportunities for pupils to think about and respond to comments.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Strengths of teaching are the positive relationships between teachers and pupils. Teachers circulate in lessons and give individual support to help pupils learn. Teaching assistants are well deployed and they use their initiative to adapt activities and on occasions to help other pupils if progress starts to slow or pupils need help.  In a Year 5 and 6 English lesson the photographic resources of different locations inspired pupils with their writing. They were encouraged to use their imagination and read passages of descriptive writing highlighting words they could use later. Pupils worked well together on this activity and enjoyed using these words in their writing.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage children are well supported in their learning and make good use of indoor and outdoor environments. For example, in a Nursery session on the explorer topic children enjoyed built igloos outside which deepened children’s understanding of Eskimos and their communities. Staff helped children in their learning, particularly in targeted help with language development and children enjoyed the activities and made good progress.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Pupils’ attitudes to learning are not always strong and this means they do not always focus as well on their learning as they could which doesn’t support their faster progress. Pupils do not always know how to improve their work so they can focus on this in lessons.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Behaviour around the school is much better, pupils play well and socialise with each other. They are courteous and polite. Pupils do not have concerns about behaviour or bullying. They know about different types of bullying including name calling and cyber bullying and are confident that staff would help if they had a problem. The behaviour logs show very few incidents and that these are followed up well. The school is effective in promoting equality of opportunity, good relations and ensuring there is no discrimination.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure requires improvement. On occasions, staff do not always follow the school’s procedure for supervision in the playground as rigorously as leaders expect, particularly at lunchtime.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Pupils say that they feel safe in the school. They know how to keep safe on the internet, particularly with internet chat sites. All parents responding to the online survey said that they feel safe in the school although some parents raised concerns about access to the site when the gate was open.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The school has worked hard to improve attendance this academic year and this has now improved to be similar to all primary schools nationally last year.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders and governors have not ensured that good standards of teaching and achievement have been maintained. Subject leaders do not yet have a role in leading improvements in teaching and pupils’ progress in their areas. They are new to their roles and understand the areas they need to focus on but plans are at an early stage of development.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders do not focus on tracking pupils’ progress so they and other staff are not clear how much progress has been made and teachers cannot be held to account for pupils in their classes making good progress.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 When observing teaching, leaders do not focus on the progress pupils are making so accurate judgements are not always made.  The management of the performance of staff ensures teachers have targets linked to pupils’ average attainment, school priorities and for some staff their leadership roles. However, the lack of focus on progress means it is difficult to hold teachers to account for pupils making good progress in their classes.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Literacy and numeracy are given priority in the curriculum with most subjects taught through topic except music which is taught by a subject specialist and French. On occasions topic sessions have a specific subject focus, such as in science when studying forces. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted through assemblies, topic work and religious education and through the development of responsibilities such as the house captains and school council representatives supporting other pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The new sports funding has been used to buy new equipment and to join the local sports partnership which provides access to competitive sporting events for teams and training for staff. There are plans for introducing cycling proficiency, street dance, a day for archery and skipping to promote pupils’ health and well-being. The school hopes the funding will enhance sporting provision and build on its success with the football team. It is too early to evaluate the impact of these initiatives.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The leadership of the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. The access to both indoor and outdoor learning has improved since the previous inspection. Staff know the children well and plan activities which support them in making good progress in their learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided support to the school around quality assurance and to support with monitoring teaching. Despite the weaker progress in 2013 the local authority did not provide additional support or challenge to the school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors do not receive information on pupils’ progress so they can monitor how well pupils, including groups of pupils who receive additional support, such as from pupil premium funding, are doing. Governors are aware of how this funding is being spent. Governors oversee the processes for the management of the performance of staff and sign off pay awards for staff who meet their targets. Governors receive updates on the quality of teaching from the headteacher and some governors have visited lessons. However, governors do not link the reports of the quality of teaching with how well pupils are progressing. Although governors have looked at some published data, they focus on attainment measures and have not challenged senior leaders for the progress pupils are making in the school to ensure that this is good. Governors ensure safeguarding meets all statutory requirements.

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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 112667 Local authority Derbyshire Inspection number 431204

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 362 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stuart Yeowart Headteacher Mr Gary Martin Date of previous school inspection 9 January 2009 Telephone number 01246 273 534 Fax number 01246 554 120 Email address info@highfieldhall.derbyshire.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

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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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