Hazelwood Junior School

Hazelwood Junior School Hazelwood Lane, Palmers Green, London, N13 5HE

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 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 make good progress from their starting points. As a result, attainment is well above average in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Leaders have effective systems in place to track closely the progress of pupils. They quickly identify those pupils who need extra help with their learning. This ensures that pupils who are at risk of underachievement make good progress.  The marking of pupils’ work has improved. This helps pupils to make good progress with their learning.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development effectively. This has a positive impact on pupils’ learning.  Pupils have good attitudes to each other and the school. Their behaviour in lessons and around the school is good. They feel safe. They enjoy coming to school, as reflected in their good punctuality and high attendance.  The headteacher’ ambition to bring about

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

improvements is shared by staff. Leaders, managers and governors work together effectively. They have been successful in improving the quality of teaching and raising pupils’ achievement since the previous inspection.  Governors are skilled in their roles. They know the school well and work effectively to bring about improvements.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Standards in writing are not as high as in mathematics and reading because pupils do not practise their writing skills in a variety of ways. Pupils do not always have demanding tasks to help stretch their learning further.  Pupils do not always understand what is expected of them by the end of the lesson.  Pupils do not always respond to teachers’ marking and comments to help them deepen their understanding and improve their learning.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 25 lessons, of which seven were joint observations with senior leaders. Inspectors also observed pupils at break-times and attended the Year 6 show.  Meetings were held with different groups of pupils. The inspectors listened to pupils in Years 3 and 6 read, and discussed their reading with them.  Inspectors held discussions with the headteacher, senior and middle leaders, the Chair and Vice- Chair of the Governing Body and two other governors. A telephone discussion was held with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and examined a range of documentation, including the school’s information on how well pupils are doing, improvement plans and checks on the the quality of teaching. They also looked at minutes of governing body meetings and records relating to behaviour, safety, attendance and safeguarding.  Inspectors looked at pupils’ work to see what progress they make and to judge the quality of

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Information about this inspection

marking and feedback.  The inspectors took account of 89 responses received from parents to the online questionnaire (Parent View). In addition, inspectors spoke to parents in the playground at the start of the school day.  The inspectors also considered 16 questionnaires completed by staff.

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Inspection team

Avtar Sherri, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Amrit Bal-Richards Additional Inspector Clementina Olufunke Aina Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 Hazelwood Junior School is larger than the average-sized junior school.  Pupils come from a wide range of ethnic groups, with the largest group having a White British an Any other White background. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well above average.  The number of pupils who speak English as an additional language is well above average.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium funding is average. This is additional government funding provided to give extra support to those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and to children who are looked after by the local authority.  The number of disabled pupils and pupils who have special educational needs supported by school action is well above average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average.  There have been changes in staff, including senior and middle leaders, since the previous

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Information about this school

inspection.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  The school is part of a hard federation and shares the same headteacher and governing body with Hazelwood Infants School. The infant school was inspected at the same time as the junior school.  The children’s centre, which shares the school site, is managed jointly by the governing body and the local authority and has been inspected previously.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase teaching to outstanding levels so that pupils make rapid and sustained progress across the year groups by ensuring that:  all pupils have challenging tasks so that they can maximise the progress they make with their learning  teachers’ explanations are clear so that all groups of learners understand what is expected of them by the end of a lesson  pupils act on advice given in teachers’ marking to help them further their understanding and improve their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise pupils’ achievement in writing by:  ensuring that pupils practise writing in a wide variety of ways to help them become more confident to write at length.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 In 2013, attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 was significantly above average in mathematics, reading, writing and English grammar, punctuation and spelling. Pupils’ attainment is stronger in mathematics and reading than in writing.  School information shows that pupils make good progress from their starting points in mathematics, reading and writing, and that pupils continue to maintain the good achievement in all subjects by the end of Key Stage 2.  Progress in writing is not as strong as in mathematics and reading. This is because pupils do not practise their writing skills often enough by writing at length in a wide variety of ways.  Pupils enjoy reading and have good access to a range of books in the school library. They read at home and teachers and teaching assistants hear them read frequently. Teaching helps deepen their understanding of their texts and strengthen their comprehension skills. As a result,

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The achievement of pupils is good

pupils make good progress.  Pupils do particularly well in mathematics. Pupils enjoy their lively starts to lessons where they are quick to do calculations in their heads and are accurate problem solvers.  Teachers and teaching assistants provide effective care and support for disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. As a result, these pupils make similar progress to their peers and achieve well.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language make good or better progress with their learning. This is because teachers and teaching assistants skilfully build pupils’ vocabulary and grammar, with good opportunities for speaking and listening.  The most able pupils make equally as good progress as their peers. They achieve the higher levels in all subjects. The school enters an above average proportion of pupils for tests that are more typically taken at secondary school. Senior leaders’ commitment to promoting equality of

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The achievement of pupils is good

opportunity and tackling discrimination help pupils from different ethnic groups to achieve equally as well as their classmates.  In 2013, the attainment gap between pupils supported by the additional funding and their peers widened in both English and mathematics. Leaders have responded well by giving a much greater focus to this group of pupils through well targeted support. This includes after-school tuition, clubs and classroom support. As a result, they are now making better progress with the attainment gap narrowing quickly. For example, in 2013, the gap was about four terms in reading, about five terms in writing and just over two terms in mathematics. However, by the end of the current year, gaps for the pupils supported by additional funding have narrowed in all subjects. These pupils are now about two terms behind their peers in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The quality of teaching has improved since the previous inspection. It is typically good.  Skilful teaching assistants support pupils’ learning well in the classroom. In addition, pupils’ own positive attitudes and good relationships with each other and adults all create a conducive atmosphere for learning.  Pupils have good opportunities to build their vocabulary and express their understanding in mathematics. For example, in a Year 5 mathematics lesson on working systematically, pupils considered word problems and had to write and explain how they arrived at the their answer.  Scrutiny of pupils’ work show the hard work that teachers have put into their teaching to enable pupils to make good progress. Teachers’ marking of pupils’ work has improved overtime. Pupils are usually given guidance on how they can improve their work further. However, they do not always act on the advice given in marking and this restricts how well their work improves.

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The quality of teaching is good

Occasionally learners do not always know what is expected of them by the end of the lesson because teachers’ explanations are not clear enough. Teaching does not always provide pupils with a range of ways to practise their writing at length.  Teacher expectations of pupils are usually high. However, there are occasions when pupils do not have sufficiently challenging tasks to move them on to the next stage of their learning.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are included in all activities and effectively supported in their learning.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are polite, courteous and respectful of each other and adults. They have good attitudes to learning, follow teachers’ instructions well and waste very little time when settling down to their learning.  Playtimes are harmonious and pupils from all backgrounds get on well really with each other. Lunchtimes are calm and orderly, and pupils take responsibility to keep the playground and classrooms tidy and free of litter.  Behaviour is not outstanding because pupils do not always take responsibility for their learning. For example, sometimes when pupils are stuck with their work, they wait for help rather than attempt to complete it themselves. This slows down their progress.  Pupils enjoy their learning and come to school on time. Attendance is above average and staff work well with parents to gain support for the school’s work on maintaining this.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils say they feel safe in the school,

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

and they have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. For example, they know how to use the internet safely and understand about road and fire safety. They understand the dangers of cyber-bullying and what to do should it happen.  Pupils say that on the rare occasions when incidents of poor behaviour do occur, the staff deal with them swiftly. There have been no exclusions over the last three years.  Nearly all of the parents who responded to the online questionnaire (Parent View) confirm their child is happy and feels safe at school. Most parents agree that pupils are well behaved at school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher and leaders at all levels are ambitious for the school. They have worked coherently to bring about improvements since the previous inspection. As a result, the quality of teaching is good and pupils achieve well.  Leadership and management are not outstanding, however, because leaders have not secured typically outstanding teaching to ensure that pupils consistently make and sustain rapid progress.  The quality of teaching is closely checked and there is effective support and training provided to the teachers to improve teaching further. The headteacher has put in place a robust system for managing staff performance, with a clear link between performance and progression up the pay scales. In their drive to improve the quality of teaching, the headteacher and the governors have taken decisive action to eradicate poor teaching.  Middle managers (often those responsible for subjects, aspects or year groups) have improved

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The leadership and management are good

their roles and effectiveness since the previous inspection. They are increasingly involved in checking upon the quality of teaching and progress of pupils. They know about the school’s priorities for development, and produce their own subject plans that identify appropriate priorities that effectively feed into the school’s development plan.  There are effective systems to track pupils’ progress. These enable the school to identify pupils who are falling behind in their learning in order to provide them with additional support. For example, disabled pupils and those with special educational needs are tracked and supported effectively to enable them to make good progress.  Subjects are planned well so that pupils engage in a wide range of themed and practical activities. These extend their knowledge and understanding, and have a good focus on ‘thinking skills’. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is promoted effectively. Pupils

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The leadership and management are good

interact well in the classroom, in pairs and in groups. Pupils enjoy the sporting activities and the after-school clubs that the school provides. The school’s diversity week contributes well to pupils’ understanding about diversity and respect for different cultures and religions. Music is particularly strong and pupils enjoy playing different instruments and singing together.  The school is using the primary sports funding well to provide a broader range of activities to promote pupils’ physical well-being. It is ensuring an increasing number of pupils are taking up the physical activities on offer and that these are sustainable after the funding ceases.  There are good links with parents, and the school provides workshops for them so that they can support their children’s learning more effectively. A large majority of parents who responded to the Parent View questionnaire felt the school is well led and managed, as do nearly all of the

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The leadership and management are good

staff responding to the staff questionnaire.  The local authority has helped the school to bring about improvements since the previous inspection.  The governance of the school:  Governors are very ambitious for the school. They are aware of the school’s strengths and areas for development through good quality information they receive from the headteacher, and through their visits to the school. They have had training on analysing information on pupils’ performance. They know how the school’s performance compares to that of similar schools and other schools nationally. They use this information well to challenge senior leaders on the work they do on raising achievement. They are involved in shaping and evaluating development plans and assessing their own effectiveness in bringing about improvements. They are fully informed of teachers’ performance, know how it is managed and how it links to their pay progression. They understand how it drives up the quality of teaching through

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The leadership and management are good

appropriate target setting and training. They have a good understanding of how the school’s finances are spent. For example, they know how the additional funding is closing the gaps in attainment, and how the primary sports funding is increasing the participation of pupils in sports activities and promoting their physical well-being. Governors are trained on, and are knowledgeable about, safeguarding issues. They ensure that pupils are kept safe and that safeguarding arrangements meet 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 101996 Local authority Enfield Inspection number 442127

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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 Junior School category Maintained Age range of pupils 7–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 360 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Neil Smith Headteacher Nicky Ross Date of previous school inspection 10–11 January 2013 Telephone number 020 8886 3216 Fax number 020 8886 6472 Email address headteacher@hazelwood.enfield.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

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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