Lift Hazelwood

Hazelwood Academy Stokesay Drive, Toothill, Swindon, SN5 8DR

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Not previously inspected This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher is ambitious in her vision for the academy’s future. She has taken a resolute and determined approach to the leadership of the academy. Other senior leaders and governors offer good support. As a result, the academy is improving.  Leaders have created a calm and friendly environment where all pupils are included in everything that the academy has to offer.  Pupils’ progress has improved over the last year and a half and is good.  Disabled pupils, those who have special educational needs and those who speak English as an additional language achieve well.  Pupils’ overall attainment by the end of Year 6 has improved. Standards are broadly average in reading and mathematics and above average in writing.  The good quality of teaching leads to pupils’ increasingly good progress. High expectations have helped to raise pupils’ achievement.  Teachers and assistants skilfully foster good working relationships with pupils.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 School leaders and teachers have successfully set high expectations for pupils’ behaviour.  Pupils are well behaved and show positive attitudes to learning. They feel safe in school.  In the Nursery and Reception classes, children are eager to learn and behave well. They make good progress as a result of good quality teaching. Teachers assess children’s learning accurately.  Governors are strong supporters of the academy but also have the knowledge and confidence to hold senior leaders to close account.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Occasionally, teachers do not set work that is sufficiently demanding for pupils, including the most able.  Some gaps remain between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and other pupils, both in the school and nationally .

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 12 lessons, of which two were joint observations with the headteacher. Inspectors also scrutinised samples of pupils’ work in English and mathematics. They heard a sample of pupils in Years 1 and 2 read.  Inspectors held meetings with groups of pupils, members of the academy’s staff, and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Governing Body. A meeting was held with a representative of the academy’s sponsoring trust.  There were too few responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, to be used as evidence of parents’ opinions about the school. Inspectors spoke with small numbers of parents accompanying their children to school.  Inspectors took account of the 21 responses to the questionnaire for school staff.  Inspectors observed the school’s work and looked at a range of documents, including the school’s own data on pupils’ current attainment and progress, planning documentation, records relating to behaviour

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Information about this inspection

and attendance, and documents relating to safeguarding, performance management, the use of extra government funding and the curriculum.

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Inspection team

Chris Grove, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is a primary academy that is broadly average in size.  The academy is situated in the western part of the town of Swindon in northern Wiltshire, and draws most of its pupils from the local area.  The majority of pupils are of White British heritage; others come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium (which provides additional funding to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children in local authority care) is about two in every five pupils. This is above average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is about one in every 15 pupils. This is broadly average.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is more than one in every four pupils. This is well above average.  The early years provision consists of a part-time Nursery class and a full-time Reception class.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Hazelwood Academy converted to become an academy school in June 2013. When its predecessor school, Toothill Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be satisfactory overall.  The academy is sponsored by the Academies Enterprise Trust.  Following a period of interim leadership, a new headteacher was appointed from April 2013.  In autumn 2014, several new teachers joined the school, including the two early years teachers.  Among the school’s accreditations are the Eco Schools (Silver), the Healthy School (plus) and the Swindon Young Carers (Standard 1) awards.  The Early Birds breakfast club is managed by the governing body and formed part of this inspection.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the overall quality of teaching to outstanding so that pupils make excellent progress, by ensuring that teachers consistently set work that is sufficiently demanding for all groups of pupils, including the most able.  Continue to close the remaining gaps in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and their peers by building on the successful work carried out in this area, so that the progress of these pupils accelerates further.

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The leadership and management are good

 The new headteacher has an ambitious vision and has set a clear direction for the academy. Her approach to leadership is resolute and determined. With the good support of governors, she has appointed and empowered a new senior leadership team. The new team, in turn, is having a positive impact, for instance on the compilation and use of assessment information, on the leadership of English and on provision to support all pupils according to their particular needs and circumstances.  The headteacher is in the process of establishing an effective team of middle leaders, including the subject leaders for mathematics and religious education. The team is making good contributions to the academy’s leadership.  The headteacher provides strong leadership of teaching. She has undertaken a programme of observations, with feedback and advice given to teachers about improvement. The programme has improved the quality of teaching so that it is now consistently good. This has led to better progress by

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The leadership and management are good

pupils. Academy leaders have addressed resolutely any identified poor teaching.  The new leader’s evaluation of the work of the academy has accurately pinpointed strengths and weaknesses, and resulted in school improvement plans of good quality.  There is clear staff support for the direction being taken. Without exception, all those members of staff who completed a questionnaire agreed that they are proud of the school and know what they are trying to achieve as a school.  The range of subjects and activities on offer is good. The academy gives high priority to developing pupils’ knowledge and skills in reading, writing and mathematics. To teach the wider curriculum, leaders draw imaginatively on commercially available units of work. There is a considerable emphasis on environmental awareness for which the academy has gained an award. Leaders also support pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through promoting personal values. For example, singing and other

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The leadership and management are good

musical activities, events such as arts weeks and the specialist teaching of French contribute well to pupils’ cultural development. Elections to the school council and to the eco council foster appreciation of democratic values. The academy also celebrates the ethnic and religious diversity of modern Britain, promoting tolerance and respect.  The academy makes good use of its primary sport funding. For example, the funding has allowed a mentoring programme to increase teachers’ knowledge and confidence to teach aspects of physical education. Additional clubs in multiskills, netball and football have extended the range of after-hours provision. The Healthy Schools award acknowledges the academy’s efforts to promote pupils’ physical well-being.  The academy spends the additional government funding for disadvantaged pupils in a large variety of ways. Leaders recognise the need to close further any gaps in achievement between disadvantaged pupils

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The leadership and management are good

and their peers, and are currently using the funding principally to provide additional teaching assistant support for pupils identified as in danger of underachieving.  The academy has established effective partnerships with parents. For instance, the termly events for each class bring parents into the academy and newsletters let them know what their children will be learning. The academy has also improved engagement through home-school diaries for pupils in Years 3 to 6. In addition, the parent information sessions, for example on the teaching of phonics (the links between letters and sounds), have been well received.  The school has employed a family support worker and a counsellor. These roles help to support, among others, those pupils who are young carers. The school holds a local award in recognition of this work.  The improved rates of progress by all pupil groups reflect the success of the academy in promoting

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The leadership and management are good

equality of opportunity and tackling discrimination.  Senior leaders have made effective arrangements which fully meet all safeguarding and child protection requirements.  The academy’s sponsor has taken a close interest in its development and had a positive impact on its work. For instance, the sponsor has recently supported the academy by commissioning a detailed review of its effectiveness, which took place at the beginning of the spring term 2015. The review came to favourable conclusions about the academy’s performance. The sponsor is rightly confident in the capacity of the academy’s leadership because of the senior team’s robust and accurate view of the school’s effectiveness.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school: Governors are very supportive of the academy. They have a secure understanding of its particular context and understand how well the academy is performing in comparison with other schools. They are also knowledgeable about the quality of teaching. They undertake the headteacher’s annual appraisal very effectively and are well informed about the academy’s arrangements to set targets for other staff. They are consulted about whether salary progression is merited and know that this judgement is closely linked to teachers’ performance. The headteacher and governors have tackled any underperformance rigorously. Governors meet their statutory obligations. They also have the knowledge and confidence to hold the academy to good account.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils themselves say that behaviour is good in classes and around the school. Teaching assistants provide appropriate support for the small number of pupils who sometimes find it difficult to behave well in lessons so that there is no disruption to learning.  Pupils behave well around the school. They are polite towards adults, for example holding doors open for them. At lunchtimes in the hall where pupils eat their midday meal, the atmosphere is calm and orderly. There are separate morning breaktimes for younger and older pupils. This arrangement works well because fewer pupils are in the playground at these times. Pupils report that behaviour is generally good in the playground, though there are occasional disputes about football.  Pupils show positive attitudes to learning. They listen carefully to their teachers. Pupils are engaged by activities and concentrate well. They cooperate well with partners to share ideas.

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Behaviour

 The small number of parents who spoke to inspectors thought that pupils’ behaviour is good. Most of the members of staff who returned a questionnaire agreed that behaviour is good and is consistently well managed.  Although attendance remains below average, it has improved markedly over the past 18 months. The academy continues to promote good attendance effectively and takes a firm stance towards unauthorised absence.  The breakfast club offers a good start to the day for pupils and supports their attendance and punctuality well. In addition to providing a healthy breakfast, the staff give good support to pupils’ learning. They provide well-focused activities, for example, to consolidate knowledge of multiplication tables. Pupils engage well with the adults, and cooperate well with one another. The club is a safe environment for pupils.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. The pupils who spoke to inspectors said that they always feel safe at school because the grounds are securely fenced and the gates are locked. There is good supervision by adults. Pupils also say that they would feel confident to talk to their teachers if ever they had concerns.  Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. For example, in personal, social and health education lessons, they discuss issues such as ‘stranger danger’, road safety and the dangers of smoking. The school also holds ‘e-safety days’ which deal with safe use of the internet and computers.  In their responses to the survey, every member of staff agreed that pupils are safe in the school.  Pupils understand what constitutes bullying and recognise the different forms that bullying can take. They say that there is some bullying, but that the school encourages all pupils to report bullying incidents.

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Safety

Pupils are confident that teachers deal effectively with reported cases of bullying. They show a good understanding of cyber-bullying and say that it does not happen in school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The good quality of teaching, including the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics, has led to pupils’ increasingly good progress since the academy opened.  Teachers and teaching assistants are skilful in fostering good, caring relationships between adults and pupils, and between the pupils themselves. This is a significant factor in the encouraging approach to learning in classrooms, and leads to the positive ethos which pervades the academy.  The headteacher sets high expectations for teaching staff. This, in turn, leads to teachers’ high expectations of pupils’ behaviour, which are well established and understood by the pupils themselves.  Teachers mostly provide good levels of challenge for all groups of pupils by matching the tasks set to the ability levels of different pupils. For instance, in a mathematics lesson in Year 5, pupils of middle and lower abilities undertook various relatively straightforward problem-solving tasks, well supported by teaching

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The quality of teaching is good

assistants who made good use of questioning to check their understanding. Meanwhile, the teacher worked with the most able pupils on more demanding problem-solving work involving fractions and mathematical reasoning.  However, on occasions, work set is not sufficiently demanding for some pupils, including the most able. As a result, although they achieve well overall, these pupils do not yet make rapid progress.  Teachers mark pupils’ work regularly, and provide useful feedback for them. Teachers’ comments offer guidance that is specific to individual pupils so that they know what they need to do to improve. Pupils’ responses show that they act on teachers’ advice.

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is good

 The headteacher has set high expectations for pupils’ achievement across the academy. This, too, has had a positive impact which is reflected in pupils’ improved rates of progress and higher overall attainment.  Pupils’ improving rates of progress since September 2013 are the result of the concerted action by school leaders. As a result, pupils in all year groups are now making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Good progress has led to higher standards of attainment. In 2014, pupils’ attainment in national assessments at the end of Year 6 was similar to the national average in reading and mathematics, and above average in writing, where almost half of the pupils in the year group reached the higher level (Level 5).  Pupils’ attainment by the end of Year 2 in 2014 was markedly higher in all subjects than in 2013, especially in reading. In particular, the proportions of pupils who reached the higher level (Level 3) were

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is good

above average in reading and also in mathematics.  The academy has successfully focused on improving pupils’ knowledge and understanding of phonics (the links between letters and the sounds that they make). Results in the Year 1 phonics screening check in 2014 were much higher than in 2013 and above the national average.  Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. One reason is that teaching assistants support these pupils well.  Those pupils who are learning English as an additional language make consistently good progress in reading, writing and mathematics because staff give them good quality support that develops their language skills. Pupils from different ethnic backgrounds achieve well.  The most able pupils achieve well overall and make particularly good progress when teachers set demanding work for them. Nevertheless, this is not always the case and on occasions, when the tasks set

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is good

are too easy, progress for these pupils slows.  In assessments at the end of Year 6 in 2014, disadvantaged pupils were less than two terms behind their classmates in reading and writing, and about one term behind in mathematics.  In 2014, the gap in the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in the school compared to that of other pupils nationally narrowed slightly in reading. In mathematics, the gap narrowed more substantially. In the case of writing, the gap was fully closed. The gaps were the equivalent of about one and a half terms in reading, and slightly more in mathematics.  The academy’s evidence shows that disadvantaged pupils are now making better progress.

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is good

 When children first come to the academy, either in the Nursery or in the Reception class, their knowledge and skills are typically below, and often well below, those that are typical for their age. They make good progress in the Nursery, and develop a good foundation for school learning, especially in their communication, language skills and in their personal skills.  Most children behave well, show positive attitudes to learning, and are eager to participate. The few children who find it more difficult to behave well are skilfully supported by teaching assistants. In both the Nursery and Reception classes, children’s relationships with members of staff are good.  Children use equipment and resources safely. They understand the importance of hygiene. For instance, they wash their hands before snack time.  Children make good progress. By the end of the Reception Year in 2014, a higher than average proportion

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is good

of children reached the expected level of attainment in their communication skills and use of language, and in their personal and physical development. In mathematics, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected level was similar to the national average. This indicates good progress in all these areas of learning. Children are well prepared in these areas for entry to Year 1.  Overall, children achieve well in developing the early reading skills because teachers develop their knowledge of phonics well.  Provision in the early years, including the quality of teaching, is good. There is a good balance between activities led by adults and those where children take greater responsibility for their own learning. Teachers are accurate in their assessments of children’s learning. The classrooms are well resourced to support children’s learning in different areas.  In a well-organised session in the Nursery, for instance, the teacher made good use of resources to

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is good

stimulate a discussion with children about the tools that builders use. The teacher was careful to link the discussion with children’s previous learning about the topic of building.  Teachers and assistants keep detailed records of children’s learning and achievements, known as ‘learning journeys’. These records are designed to show the progress that children make in the different areas of the curriculum, and contain photographs as well as examples of their work.  The new teaching team has established effective routines and good expectations, to which children respond well. However, on occasions, work set could better extend the most able. Adults do much to encourage children to become independent by doing things for themselves. Teachers are making good use of the outside area.  Teachers encourage parents to engage with their children’s learning. For example, they invite parents in at the start of the day to help children to choose their activities. Teachers also involve parents well by

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is good

sharing the children’s learning journeys with them.  The headteacher is closely involved with the work of the early years team. She observes teaching and provides constructive feedback and support for the teaching staff.

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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 139207 Local authority Swindon Inspection number 449878

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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 Academy sponsor-led Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 217 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julie Nurden Headteacher Suzanne Lloyd Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected. Telephone number 01793 497250 Fax number 01793 513178 Email address contactus@hazelwoodacademy.org 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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