Hinguar Community Primary School

Hinguar Community Primary School New Garrison Road, Shoeburyness, Southend-on-Sea, SS3 9FE

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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

 Leaders and governors have not pushed through improvements rapidly enough since moving to the school’s new site. Teaching and pupils’ achievement have suffered as a result.  Teaching varies too much in quality across the school. As a result, pupils do not always learn as well as they could or reach the standards they should.  Teachers do not always check the pupils’ learning and what they understand carefully. As a result, they can miss those who need harder work or more support.  Teaching does not always hold the pupils’ attention. A small number sometimes lose concentration and their learning slows as a result.  Pupils have few opportunities to apply their literacy and numeracy skills to learning in subjects other than English and mathematics.  The school has not been entirely successful in developing a strong partnership with parents.

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The school has the following strengths

 Leaders have swiftly established a successful nursery in which children settle quickly and learn well.  The pupils’ creativity is nurtured well through music, dance, drama and art.  The school uses additional funding well to increase the progress of eligible pupils.  Pupils feel safe in school and know who to turn to if they have a problem. Their considerate behaviour outside lessons makes for an orderly and happy school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 13 lessons, three of which were observed jointly with the headteacher or assistant headteachers.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils, school staff, and members of the governing body, including the Chair. A telephone discussion took place with a representative from the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 42 responses to the online parent questionnaire (Parent View) and held informal discussions with parents at the start of the school day.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a number of documents. These included the school’s own information on pupils’ current progress, planning and monitoring documentation, records relating to behaviour and attendance, and documents relating to safeguarding. Inspectors also took account of the 34 responses to the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors listened to the reading of a sample of pupils in Year 2.

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Inspection team

Martin Beale, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Matthew Klimcke Additional Inspector Gillian Walley Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is average in size for a primary school.  Almost all pupils are from White British backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for funding through the pupil premium is above average. This is additional government funding which, in this school, supports pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average and falling.  The school moved to a new site in September 2012, with the addition of a nursery. It has experienced considerable changes of teaching staff since then. Half of the teachers with a class responsibility are new to the school since September 2013.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations

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Information about this school

for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve teaching by ensuring that:  teachers carefully check the pupils’ learning and understanding in lessons, and so adapt their teaching appropriately  more opportunities are provided for pupils to apply and develop their literacy and numeracy skills across different subjects  teachers set stimulating work in lessons to engage the interest of pupils and retain their concentration.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management by:  sharpening the way leaders evaluate all aspects of the school’s work, so they develop a more accurate view from which to plan for its improvement  strengthening the partnership with parents so they can support their children’s learning better.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Recent changes to the teaching staff mean that pupils are not making consistently good progress across the school in reading, writing and mathematics. The most able pupils make similar progress to other pupils in their classes, doing well in some year groups, but with their progress requiring improvement in others.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Year 6 test results have fluctuated in recent years. They fell in 2013 and showed slow progress over Key Stage 2 for this group of pupils. Results were below average in reading, writing and mathematics. This was largely because the proportion of pupils who exceeded the ‘expected’ Level 4 was below average. Pupils did badly in the test on grammar, punctuation and spelling.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The decline in achievement by Year 6 has been halted this year. Pupils in the current Year 6 are making better progress and are on track to reach higher standards than in 2013. More pupils are working at higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The attainment of children when they enter the school is rising. Children now enter the school with skills that are typical for their age. They make good progress in the nursery and Reception. Staff training and an increased focus on developing early writing skills in Reception has led to rising standards, following well-below-average attainment in 2013.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school has successfully tackled below-average attainment of Key Stage 1 pupils in phonics (the sounds that letters in words represent) through more effective teaching. Pupils now confidently use their phonic skills when faced by words that are unfamiliar. The school has also introduced a more carefully planned programme for teaching grammar, spelling and punctuation. This is leading to rising attainment in Year 6.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs generally make good progress. This is because their specific needs are carefully identified and suitable support is provided and adjusted quickly if needed.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school uses pupil premium funding well, with the result that eligible pupils now make good progress across the school. Spending is matched to the specific needs of pupils in each year group, but mostly to provide individual and small group teaching. The attainment of eligible Year 6 pupils in 2013 lagged behind that of their classmates by over two terms in mathematics and writing and almost six months in reading. Currently, eligible pupils are making better progress and working at higher levels than other pupils in Year 6.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching is improving but does not consistently promote good learning across all year groups. Teachers do not always question pupils carefully to check their learning in order to be sure what they have understood. This means they do not adapt their teaching when pupils are finding work too hard or the most able clearly understand what they are being taught.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Effective teaching in the nursery and Reception supports the children’s good learning. The children were seen during the inspection to be excited by the activities they undertook and keen to learn. Adults use the space inside and out well to provide well-resourced activities that engage the children and meet their individual needs. Relationships are strong. Adults continually interact with the children, paying close attention to their responses in order to move their learning forward.  Teaching in Years 5 and 6 is enabling pupils to make good progress over time. In these years, the work set is suitably challenging for all pupils and retains their interest. Expectations are high, and the guidance teachers provide through marking makes clear to pupils how they can improve their work.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupils in a Year 6 mathematics lesson seen during the inspection made good progress in applying their number skills when designing new sweets and working out their costs. This linked to their visit the day before to the theatre to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Pupils found the problems they were given interesting and worked very constructively in groups. The teacher made sure the most able had harder work than others and directed support staff well to guide those who needed extra help.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. Some pupils, parents and staff judge that the school does not consistently ensure that pupils behave well at all times. Observations during the inspection indicate that, where teaching is not interesting or challenging enough, pupils do not always concentrate fully on their work. Pupils say their learning can sometimes be disturbed when teachers have to correct the behaviour of others.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Not all parents agree that the school deals effectively with any bullying incidents. Pupils are very aware of the different forms bullying can take and are taught strategies to deal with it. They say there have been a few incidents but these are mostly dealt with effectively by the school. This is confirmed by school records.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 Most pupils work hard and are keen to do well. They are polite and well-mannered. Pupils take great pride in responsibilities such as being school councillors or ‘Eco Warriors’. The school is calm and orderly. Pupils show great respect for the new buildings and play areas. Their attendance is above average.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils requires improvement

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say they feel safe in school and their parents largely agree. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, such as through training to ride a bicycle safely.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leaders have successfully established the school on its new site. They have responded appropriately to some dips in the pupils’ achievement, but staff changes and weaknesses in planning have limited the impact of their work to improve teaching and learning.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is checked regularly by the headteacher and subject leaders. Targets set for each teacher are firmly based on increasing the pupils’ progress. This has led to further training, focused particularly on teachers new to the school. Some previously inadequate teaching has been eliminated. The impact of the teaching on pupils’ learning is improving but has not reached a consistently good level, because the school’s evaluation of its performance is not always accurate enough to identify precisely what action is needed to improve it.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher and governors recognise they have not yet done enough to strengthen the partnership with parents following the move to the new site. They have not managed to engage with all parents. This is in spite of putting on workshops to advise parents on how they might support their children’s learning and improving communication through the website and text messaging. A significant number of parents are not happy with various aspects of the school’s work, including how staff deal with their concerns.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils do not have enough opportunity to apply and develop their literacy and numeracy skills across different subjects. Furthermore, history and geography are not studied in sufficient depth for the pupils to make good progress. Their work in both subjects is limited and shows little depth to their understanding.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority has provided the school with appropriate support to tackle the dip in attainment and its move to the new site. This has included providing training to improve aspects of teaching. The school also works in close partnership with other local schools in order to access their expertise. These partnerships have helped support improvements in teaching and the pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior and subject leaders support the headteacher well in helping to provide an orderly school in which teaching can improve and the pupils can thrive. They work alongside teachers and provide good models of teaching which others observe as part of their training.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school provides many opportunities for the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This includes the strong emphasis on the creative and performing arts, the opportunity to play an instrument and visits to places such as the National Gallery. Pupils learn about the local community and the world they live in, as well as the values by which they are encouraged to live their lives.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school is using the new primary school sports funding well to extend its already wide range of activities, including pupils learning to swim in the new pool. Teachers’ confidence and skill in teaching gymnastics have improved through training by specialist coaches engaged through this funding. Pupils are also participating in greater numbers in sporting activities and achieving success in local competitions.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  The governing body fulfils its responsibilities well despite several recent membership changes. Linking new governors with more experienced members has enabled them to become effective quickly. Governors’ expertise is continually refreshed through regular training and a twice-yearly day in school focusing on issues linked to school improvement. Governors are secure in their understanding of assessment data. This enables them to ask pertinent questions of the school such as about what is being done to tackle the decline in results in 2013. Governors understand clearly the quality of teaching and what the headteacher is doing to bring about its improvement. They have made sure that only good and better teaching will be rewarded by pay rises and promotion. Governors keep a very tight overview of finances, including the impact of additional funding such as the pupil premium. They have identified

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The leadership and management requires improvement

that high staffing costs are starting to eat into budget surpluses and are looking at alternative models for the future. Safeguarding procedures are secure and their implementation carefully checked by governors.

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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 114772 Local authority Southend-on-Sea Inspection number 443869

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 254 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David George Headteacher Vivienne Stevens Date of previous school inspection 19 October 2010 Telephone number 01702 292721 Fax number 01702 298892 Email address office@hinguar.southend.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 and 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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