Hatch Warren Junior School

School report Hatch Warren Junior School

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Requires improvement 3 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The school’s success is founded on the significant strengths of its headteacher and the very good support she receives from the deputy headteacher.  Other leaders and the governing body support senior leaders well. Together, they effectively check the school’s work and address weaker aspects, including those related to teaching and pupils’ achievement.  Governors hold school leaders to account well and willingly use their expertise to help benefit both staff and pupils.  There is a strong commitment amongst staff and governors to do their best for pupils. They continually seek ways to improve and are already tackling remaining areas for development. The school is exceptionally well placed to improve further.  The strong coaching and support to improve teaching quality help ensure that teaching and learning are at least good.  Pupils achieve well. Their progress has improved rapidly over the last five terms, especially in reading

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

and mathematics where very good programmes of work are in place.  Procedures for measuring pupils’ attainment and progress are particularly effective. As a result, the school is swift to intervene when this slows for any pupil.  The support for disabled pupils, those with special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils helps ensure they achieve well. Most reach the levels expected for their age by the time they leave.  Pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school is outstanding. Pupils enjoy school very much and want to do their best. Attendance levels are high.  Rigorous attention to safeguarding requirements helps pupils feel very safe and secure in school. They and their parents know that pupils are very well looked after.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 In writing, achievement is not improving quite as rapidly as in reading and mathematics. Fewer pupils exceed the levels expected for their age. Pupils’ understanding of how to write for different audiences or purposes and their spelling skills are not yet fully secure.  The organisation of learning activities in writing does not support learning as well in reading and mathematics.  Teaching is not yet outstanding. There is still variation in the rate of learning, the level of challenge for pupils who learn quickly and pupils’ own checks on their work and response to marking.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed learning in 12 lessons or parts of lessons, of which five were joint observations with the senior leaders. In addition the inspection team made a number of other short visits to group or individual activities, including those to help pupils who have fallen behind catch up. They also heard several pupils read, scrutinised a sample of pupils’ written work and visited some extra-curricular activities.  Meetings were held with pupils, members of the governing body and staff including senior and middle managers. A conversation was held with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors took account of the 42 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View). They spoke to a small number of parents collecting their children from school.  Responses from the 12 staff questionnaires were analysed.  The inspectors observed the school’s work and scrutinised a number of documents, including records on

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Information about this inspection

current pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance. They looked at documents relating to planning, checks on the quality of teaching and safeguarding.

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Inspection team

Diane Wilkinson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a larger than average-sized junior school, with three classes in each year group.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is well below average. Very few pupils speak English as an additional language.  A very small minority of pupils (below the national average) is eligible for pupil premium funding. This additional funding is to provide extra support for disadvantaged pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and to children who are looked after.  There have been a considerable number of staff changes since the previous inspection, including the appointment of a new deputy headteacher. The interim headteacher is also headteacher of another junior school in the Basingstoke area.  The school meets the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for attainment

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Accelerate progress so that more pupils exceed the levels expected for their age, particularly in writing by:  organising writing activities in a way that helps pupils to make as rapid progress in this subject as in reading and mathematics  ensuring that pupils spell accurately in all their written work  enhancing pupils’ skills in writing for different audiences or purposes with little support from staff.  Raise the quality of teaching so that it is outstanding, through ensuring that:  all teachers capitalise on pupils’ great thirst for learning and maintain a rapid rate of learning, including moving pupils on to new tasks when they learn quickly  pupils consistently respond to comments they receive from adults in their marked work to help improve their work  the checks on their own progress that pupils undertake in reading and writing are as good as those in mathematics.

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The leadership and management are good

 A major reason for the school’s rapid improvement since its previous inspection is the considerable strengths of its interim headteacher. She has shown great determination in raising the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievement through the introduction of a range of new procedures and very well-judged improvement strategies. The procedures for measuring pupils’ progress are used to very good effect.  She is ably supported by the governing body. The headteacher and the governors have made very astute appointments of staff who have the capacity to move the school forward quickly. This is most notable in the appointment of an experienced deputy headteacher who works very successfully with the headteacher in checking the school's effectiveness and development work.  Senior leaders’ skill in improving the contribution of other leaders is evident in the way that subject and year leaders effectively support the drive for improvement. The leaders rightly told inspectors that they

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The leadership and management are good

now work efficiently as a team. They are empowered and supported to check the school’s work accurately and address remaining weaknesses well. They are fully committed to the ambition of achieving a high quality education for pupils.  Leaders recognise that, despite recent improvements, there is still more to do to reach their goals to improve the quality of teaching and raise achievement in writing. They have established checking on how well the school is doing firmly in its culture. All teachers keep a very regular check on their class progress data. Year leaders speak of the way in which meetings with their teams are always founded on ‘how we can do better’.  Very regular and accurate evaluation of the school’s work underpins improvement planning that is targeted well at weaknesses. Those remaining priorities are already beginning to be addressed successfully.  The quality of teaching is very regularly checked in a range of ways by leaders at all levels and by

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The leadership and management are good

governors. Consequently, they have a thorough picture of its impact on pupils’ progress. Coaching and support between staff help them to learn from the best practitioners and improve their performance. The sharing of expertise and ideas amongst staff is well-established.  Formal management of teachers' performance is strongly founded on producing pupils’ good achievement and maintaining their welfare. Underperforming staff or those new to the profession are supported well.  The safeguarding of pupils is high priority for staff and governors, who are well-trained in this aspect. All policies and procedures, for example, those for child protection or the vetting of staff, are followed rigorously.  Promoting equality of opportunity, fostering good relationships and discouraging discrimination are a strong priority for the school. Leaders monitor behaviour and attendance very well.  The different subjects taught meet new government requirements well. The wide range of activities

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The leadership and management are good

engage pupils’ interest effectively and supports their good achievement. The current mathematics programme is exceptionally good at promoting the new national approach and pupils’ high attainment. Programmes for pupils’ personal, social, health and emotional development are also very effective and make a key contribution to developing pupils’ outstanding behaviour.  Additional funding supports the specific needs of disadvantaged pupils to good effect. This is principally allocated to employing additional staff and to purchase learning resources. Inspection evidence indicates that these strategies encourage pupils’ positive attitudes to school and supports their achievement effectively.  Leaders employ expert coaches and teachers, using the sport fund grant wisely. Specialist staff not only help develop pupils’ skills, but also those of school staff. This approach increases pupils’ participation in a

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The leadership and management are good

wider range of sports and, where evidence was available (netball), improves their skills well too.  The school promotes pupils’ moral and social development exceptionally well. The governing body fulfils its statutory duty to promote British values of fairness and the rule of law especially well. Pupils understand the democratic process through their school council elections. Pupils receive good quality help, for example to gain an understanding of different religions and cultures. This develops their spiritual and cultural development effectively as a result.  Staff and governors engage well with parents in encouraging their children’s progress. Parents receive good information, including the twice yearly written reports about their child’s progress. They support homework effectively  The local authority provides very good support to leaders in order to help the school improve. In particular, it negotiated the appointment of the interim headteacher. Training from officers and subject

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The leadership and management are good

specialists has helped the school to improve middle leadership and pupils’ achievement. Officers are rightly confident that leaders require minimal support in the future.  The governance of the school:  Governors are well-informed and have a clear understanding of how well the school is performing. They hold staff to account and provide support for the journey towards excellence, while maintaining positive relationships. With the support of the interim headteacher, governors’ involvement in checking the school’s work has improved considerably. Governors are knowledgeable about pupil achievement information, comparing the school’s performance with others effectively. Governors undertake first hand monitoring including looking at classroom learning and pupils’ work. This way they gain a very accurate picture of teaching quality. Informed by helpful reports on teachers' performance, governors make astute decisions about salary increases. Their decision making regarding staffing and succession

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The leadership and management are good

planning is very good. Governors’ consultation with staff, pupils and parents about the school’s work is excellent. Their monitoring of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and the sport grant is regular and effective.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.  In lessons and around the school, pupils’ exemplary behaviour makes the school a very happy place to be and supports their learning exceptionally well.  The school provides very effective support for the few pupils who find good behaviour difficult. Their behaviour improves especially well over time. Low level disruption in lessons is a rarity.  Through their thirst for learning, pupils demonstrate excellent attitudes to school. They take great pride in their work, consistently striving to achieve what is expected of them. This, and their rising attainment, prepares pupils very well for the next stage of their education.  Pupils are very thoughtful and unfailingly polite to adults and each other. Visitors to the school and staff at venues pupils visit regularly comment on this.  Pupils have a strong sense of their responsibility towards others. They recognise the importance of British

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Behaviour

values such as tolerance and respect. Pupils work very well together in pairs or groups.  Pupils are very proud of their school and enjoy taking on roles, for example as school councillors, where they can give something back. Attendance levels are consistently high and pupils are always punctual to lessons.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding.  Adults carry out all policies and procedures related to this area especially well. Pupils and their parents are rightly confident that the school cares for pupils very well at all times. Site security, for example, has a high priority.  Pupils and their parents agree that bullying in any form is extremely rare. They have total confidence in the ability of staff to deal with any speedily and successfully.  Pupils demonstrate a good understanding about how to avoid hazardous situations. For example, they are well aware of how they should use the internet, including social media sites.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The school has eradicated inadequate teaching successfully and ensured a consistency of approach in most lessons. There is a strong learning ethos in all classes. Relationships between staff and pupils are especially good.  Both teachers and learning support assistants explain and demonstrate new learning well, engaging in good discussions with pupils to help them understand easily. They provide effective support, for example through wall displays, to help pupils understand.  Lessons usually start with high expectations of behaviour and so interruptions are very rare. Not all staff, however, are as effective as each other at encouraging pupils to work hard throughout the lesson, particularly as they come to the end of their tasks.  Information about pupils’ past achievement helps plan future work effectively. Teachers assess how well pupils progress during lessons with skill. Sometimes pupils find the work difficult. Both teachers and

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The quality of teaching is good

learning support assistants are adept at providing further explanation, extra resources or, when necessary, going back a step to help pupils feel more secure. Consequently, pupils at risk of underachieving do well.  Not all staff are as good at moving pupils on who are learning quickly, particularly in reading and writing. This is rarely the case in mathematics where the guidance given to pupils on what is expected of them consistently identifies what they can go onto next.  The guidance provided to help pupils themselves consider how well they are doing in mathematics is especially good. During the inspection it was clear that pupils knew exactly when to move on to a new level. Pupils proudly told inspectors of how well they had progressed as a result. Although this approach is effective in other subjects, it is not as good in reading and writing.  Homework supports learning in lessons because of careful planning. Parents support their children well in

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The quality of teaching is good

this; for example, addressing spelling weaknesses successfully. Pupils are very enthusiastic about holiday projects they undertake where they have full responsibility for planning their work.  Especially well organised teaching of reading and mathematics is helping pupils at different stages in each class learn well. Currently the school is looking at ways to achieve the same levels of learning in writing.

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The achievement of pupils

 The strong drive to improve achievement has seen the rate of progress accelerate rapidly since the previous inspection. Consequently, pupils achieve well and are quickly making up for slower progress made prior to the last academic year. In reading, writing and mathematics most pupils reach the expected level by the time they leave.  The decline in attainment seen in 2012 and 2013 has halted, and in last year’s national assessments attainment in reading and writing was above average. It was especially good in mathematics where it was back to the high levels seen in previous years. In this subject the proportion achieving well was above the national average.  At the heart of rapid progress in mathematics since 2013, is the excellent programme of work in place to encourage high achievement. The proportion of pupils exceeding the level expected for their age in national tests last year was significantly above average. More Year 6 pupils are working at the higher

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The achievement of pupils

levels currently than in previous years. Virtually all pupils develop very good calculation skills. The very large majority use these to especially good effect in a wide range of contexts and in solving mathematical problems.  Although not as good as mathematics, achievement in reading has improved. This is because following a good analysis of what was holding pupils back, leaders took effective action.  Very good support for pupils who find reading difficult helps them to develop very good phonic skills (the sounds letters make). By Year 6 all pupils read accurately and with good understanding. Most pupils have a good comprehension of what they read. The middle and higher attaining pupils use this to very good effect in their work.  The current focus on supporting the small minority of pupils who find it difficult to use the knowledge they glean, for example from non-fiction books, to answer questions is very effective. The large majority of

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The achievement of pupils

current Year 6 pupils are already working at levels above those expected.  Writing has tended to be the weaker aspect of pupils’ attainment in the past. Although this has improved well, it is still not quite as good as in reading and mathematics.  The school carried out a very thorough analysis of the slightly below average results in the grammar, punctuation and spelling test in 2013. This helped leaders to address pupils’ weaknesses well, particularly in grammar and punctuation. Pupils’ sentences are well written. They use interesting vocabulary and appropriate punctuation to add to the effectiveness of their written work. Their spelling has not improved so well and tackling this is a current priority, including through homework.  More opportunities for pupils to write in different subjects help them to write in different styles and for different audiences. However, pupils are still a little reliant on adults helping them to decide the format to

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The achievement of pupils

use and how to organise their work, hindering their progress.  Leaders have combined skilfully their promotion of language, taught as part of the writing programmes, with promoting pupils' speaking skills. As a result, pupils communicate and converse very well.  The most able pupils achieve well consistently, virtually all reaching the higher levels in national tests. High quality work produced by these pupils was evident during the inspection.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs achieve well due to the good attention given to their individual needs. Most reach the expected levels by the end of Year 6.  Disadvantaged pupils achieve well. From their starting points, disadvantaged pupils now make good progress compared with that expected nationally. In the majority of year groups they are working at levels only marginally behind their classmates. By the end of Year 6, in 2014, pupils' attainment was only about

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The achievement of pupils

a term behind that expected nationally in reading, writing and mathematics and rising well. It was about two terms behind that of their classmates because of the above average standards other pupils attain.  The very small proportion of pupils from minority groups achieve well, sometimes outperforming their peers. Once pupils who speak English as an additional language become sufficiently competent in English they make rapid progress.  The rate of progress in all subjects continues to accelerate. Consequently, both progress over time and pupils’ attainment have a good capacity to improve.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 116255 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 455331

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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 7−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 323 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Paul Kersley Interim Headteacher Diane Charman Date of previous school inspection 26–27 September 2013 Telephone number 01256 328252 Fax number 01256 363531 Email address admin@hatchwarren-jun.hants.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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