Hook Infant School

Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Early years provision Outstanding 1

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Under the outstanding leadership of the headteacher, there has been a successful drive to improve teaching. The headteacher, along with very efficient leaders and governors, is constantly seeking ways to promote outstanding teaching and achievement.  Children in Reception progress rapidly so their attainment is above what is typical for their age on entry to Year 1. Very effective transition to Year 1 prepares pupils very well for Key Stage 1.  Standards in reading, writing and mathematics are well above average by Year 2. Pupils make exceptional progress from their starting points.  Teaching is at least good and often outstanding in all year groups. Teachers set tasks that inspire pupils to learn and build extremely well on their prior learning.  Staff, including support assistants, are very well trained. School leaders monitor the quality of teaching very thoroughly. They provide teachers with very effective support so they can reach their

p.1

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

demanding targets.  The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral and cultural development is excellent. The exciting curriculum gives pupils rich opportunities for developing their academic, creative, practical and sporting skills.  Senior leaders have created a very safe, caring environment which enables pupils to thrive. Pupils say they feel safe and are kept safe.  Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary. They thoroughly enjoy coming to school, work hard and are very keen to do well.  The governing body has a wide range of expertise which it uses very well to support and challenge the school.  The school’s very strong partnerships with parents contribute to the school’s success. Parents are very appreciative of all the school does for their children.

p.1

Information about this inspection

 The inspection team observed learning and looked at pupils’ work in 20 lessons, all of which were observed jointly with the headteacher or deputy headteacher. They listened to a sample of pupils read in Years 1 and 2.  Pupils’ behaviour was observed in lessons and during lunch and break times. Inspectors met with groups of pupils to gain their views of the school and spoke informally to them at break and lunchtime.  Inspectors looked at documentation, including policies, records and guidance relating to safeguarding and behaviour, and at the school’s improvement and self-evaluation documents. They examined attendance figures, records of behaviour and other incidents, and the school’s website.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, senior leaders and middle leaders to discuss systems for keeping pupils safe and to discuss the progress groups of pupils make. They met with the Chair of the Governing

p.2

Information about this inspection

Body and three other governors. They examined records of the local authority’s involvement with the school and held a telephone conversation with a local authority representative.  Inspectors considered parents’ views of the school through informal discussions before and after school, the 99 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) and the few letters sent by parents. The team spoke to staff during the inspection and took account of the 25 responses to the staff questionnaire.

p.2

Inspection team

Eileen Chadwick, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

p.2

Information about this school

 Hook Infant School is larger than the average-sized infant school.  There are four classes in Reception and three classes in Year 1 and Year 2. The school is growing in size in response to local need.  The early years comprises of just the Reception classes which children attend full time. There is no Nursery.  Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who come from minority ethnic heritages is average while the proportion who speak English as an additional language is a little above average.  The proportion supported through the pupil premium (additional government funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after) is below the national average.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those with special educational needs is below average.  The building of four new early years classrooms is due to commence in the summer to meet the needs of

p.3

Information about this school

the expanding school.  Pupils have access to the SCL (Soccer Coaching Limited) breakfast and holiday clubs on the same site as the school. This provision is privately managed and subject to a separate inspection. The report for this provision can be found on the Ofsted website.

p.3

What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of phonics teaching by ensuring that teachers and teaching assistants give pupils enough time to pronounce the component sounds in words.

p.3

The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher provides outstanding leadership and is ably supported by the deputy headteacher. They have created a school where there is a strong drive to enable everyone to succeed.  Senior leaders, staff and governors work with determination and skill to constantly improve the school. The headteacher’s highest priorities are always to improve the quality of teaching and to raise pupils’ achievement.  The school does all it can to ensure pupils have equal opportunities to succeed. Senior leaders and staff make very regular and rigorous checks on pupils’ progress. If any pupil falls behind for any reason, quick action is taken to remedy this.  Additional funding is expertly used to raise the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. This results in them making excellent progress, similar to their classmates, because of the extra help they are given to improve their reading, writing and numeracy skills.

p.4

The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leaders regularly visit classrooms, check pupils’ books and assessment information. As a result, they have a very accurate understanding of teaching and learning across the school.  Year leaders and middle leaders are very effective. They have a very good knowledge of the strengths and priorities within their subjects and year groups. These leaders make important contributions to improvements in the quality of teaching and achievement across the school.  The performance of staff is extremely well managed. Teachers’ performance targets and pay progression are very closely linked to pupils’ attainment and progress. Staff, including teachers new to the profession, are very well supported. When areas for improvement are identified, they are followed up quickly with training and coaching.  Leaders are highly committed to working with parents and do this very well. Parents who responded to the Parent View questionnaire showed overwhelming support for the way the school is led and managed.

p.4

The leadership and management are outstanding

The vast majority of parents are very pleased with the progress their children are making.  The rich and exciting curriculum builds pupils’ basic skills exceptionally well. It is enriched by a wide range of visits, visitors and practical activities which bring learning to life. Pupils enjoy their themed projects and are enabled to develop their academic, creative, practical and sporting skills extremely well.  The school makes very good use of its additional primary sports funding. Staff are benefiting from the expertise of a specialist sports teacher who works alongside them. Pupils are now engaged in a wider range of physical and sporting activities. This includes break and lunchtime sessions which are led by trained members of staff.  The school’s promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. Staff have high expectations and promote pupils’ personal development and self-esteem effectively. Assemblies and

p.4

The leadership and management are outstanding

religious education are used well to promote Christian values of respect and tolerance. Pupils are given systematic opportunities to learn about cultural differences and other faiths. Discrimination is not tolerated.  Pupils are beginning to understand the importance of democracy. For example, pupils learn about the importance of fairness as they vote for pupils to represent them on their own school council. They learn to understand the importance of listening to other pupils’ views during regular ‘Philosophy for Children’ lessons.  The local authority provides ‘light-touch’ support. The school has found the local authority’s challenge useful. It has acted on its recommendations as well as buying extra support when needed, for example to enhance staff’s subject expertise.  Arrangements for safeguarding are very thorough and meet statutory requirements.  The governance of the school: Governors use their wide range of expertise for the school’s benefit. They are very ambitious for the

p.4

The leadership and management are outstanding

school and have received training to ensure that they have the necessary skills to carry out their roles. They know the school well and have high expectations of staff and pupils. They use a good range of information to ensure they know how well the school performs compared with other schools nationally. They challenge and question senior leaders and have a good understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They hold school leaders to account and set rigorous performance targets for the headteacher. They are fully aware of the performance of staff and make sure pay rises for staff are deserved. Governors ensure that funding is used well and has a direct impact on pupils. This can be seen in the improvements to outcomes for early years children since the previous inspection. They closely monitor the spending of the pupil premium grant and sports funding. They ensure these monies are used

p.4

The leadership and management are outstanding

appropriately to raise pupils’ achievement.

p.4

Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. This is true at Hook Infants in class, during lunch and break times, and when pupils move around the school.  Relationships are excellent and pupils from different backgrounds get on extremely well together. This is because the school places a very strong emphasis on promoting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Pupils are exceptionally polite with each other and staff. This ensures everyone enjoys being part of this harmonious community. Pupils greet each other with smiles and say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ without being reminded.  Pupils enjoy school and have extremely positive attitudes to learning because lessons are designed to hold their interest. They are quick to participate and keen to do their best. They listen carefully when their classmates explain their ideas and get on with their work very well when working alone.  Pupils and their parents have highly positive views of how well pupils behave and how the school manages

p.5

Behaviour

their behaviour.  Attendance rates are above average. The school has robust procedures to ensure pupils regularly attend school. It works closely with families to promote good attendance.

p.5

Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. There are robust systems to ensure the safety of pupils, including those whose circumstances might make them vulnerable.  Pupils are extremely well cared for and pupils say they feel very safe at school. Pupils contribute to the safe environment at the school in the manner in which they conduct themselves.  The overwhelming majority of parents who responded to Parent View feel that their children are kept safe in school.  Pupils show high levels of understanding of how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet. Pupils and staff receive training in e-safety.  Bullying is extremely rare. Pupils are aware of different types of bullying and know what to do if anything unkind should happen to them.  Staff are very well trained to ensure the needs of pupils with particular difficulties are met, such as medical or physical needs.

p.5

The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers and support staff make learning and classrooms exciting. The vibrant curriculum, combined with teachers’ very systematic teaching of basic skills, underpins pupils’ rapid learning.  Teachers plan very carefully and provide experiences that enable groups and individuals to make as much progress as they can. They are vigilant in seeking opportunities for pupils to extend their learning and ensure pupils learn to work hard.  Teachers’ strong subject knowledge, enthusiasm and high expectations result in an excellent response from pupils.  The teaching of reading is a particular strength. Phonics are taught very systematically across the school. Guided reading is carefully planned so that reading activities build very well on pupils’ prior learning..  Transition from Reception to Year 1 is exceptionally well organised and this enables pupils to readily adjust to their new classes and ways of working. This was very evident in very effective reading sessions

p.5

The quality of teaching is outstanding

seen in Year 1 classes. Teachers’ careful planning ensured all pupils settled quickly to their reading tasks and all, including the groups working with the teacher or independently, learned very well.  The teaching of writing is also most effective. Teachers demonstrate excellent examples of writing, for example when showing pupils how to use ‘sentence openers’ to gain other people’s interest. Teachers make full use of exciting topics such as ‘Castles and Dragons’ to introduce high-quality literature. This captures pupils’ imagination, as when Year 2 pupils eagerly wrote their views of ’What makes a good dragon’.  The teaching of mathematics stimulates rapid progress because assessment information is used to ensure activities are challenging and build very well on pupils’ existing skills. Pupils are given plenty of opportunities to practise new skills as well as to apply their skills, knowledge and understanding to

p.5

The quality of teaching is outstanding

challenging problem-solving activities.  Marking is very effective and teachers’ written comments in books are readily understood by pupils and contain helpful suggestions for improvement.  Teaching assistants make a very important contribution to the quality of teaching. This is because they are highly skilled and teachers plan very carefully so they are used to support and challenge different groups of pupils very effectively.  Both teachers and teaching assistants teach phonics and, overall, help pupils to learn very well. Very occasionally during oral work, they do not give pupils enough opportunities to break words into their component sounds.

p.6

is outstanding

 Children enter the Reception classes with levels of skills and knowledge that are broadly typical for their age. Their excellent progress leads to above average attainment in all areas of learning by the time they enter Year 1.  Pupils’ rapid progress continues in Key Stage 1. Their attainment in phonics in the Year 1 checks is above average. It has risen in recent years because of the successful impact of staff training for teaching phonics.  Pupils’ attainment in Year 2 is well above average in reading, writing and mathematics. It has been significantly above average for many years in all three subjects.  The most-able pupils make excellent progress across the school. The proportions reaching higher levels was significantly above average in 2014 in all three subjects. The current Year 2 pupils are on track to achieve similarly high standards. Teachers have high expectations and design activities to ensure these

p.6

is outstanding

pupils are consistently challenged.  Pupils read very well. They make extremely good use of the sounds and letters they have been taught when reading new words. Learning to read is a high priority in the school and pupils develop a thirst for reading. Many are beginning to read widely, and are equally competent when reading factual books as well as stories.  Pupils make outstanding progress in writing for different purposes.. By Year 2, pupils’ creative and factual writing is impressive. They write clearly in well-constructed sentences and use imaginative vocabulary to express their ideas.  Pupils’ progress in mathematics is equally strong. The school builds pupils’ basic skills exceptionally well, and they often become very competent when adding, subtracting and understanding simple multiplication facts. They make excellent progress in applying their understanding of numberfacts to carry out calculations, for example when solving two-step problems using money.

p.6

is outstanding

 Disadvantaged pupils supported by additional government funding benefit from well-organised and effective extra support. Consequently, they make as much progress as other pupils.  School checks on the attainment of disadvantaged pupils in Year 2 show they are attaining at a similar level to their classmates in reading, writing and mathematics. When compared with other pupils nationally in 2014, there were no attainment gaps in reading or writing and they were one term ahead in mathematics. This represents a substantial improvement compared with their attainment in 2013 when they were two terms below other pupils nationally.  Pupils from minority ethnic groups, including those who speak English as an additional language, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make excellent progress. There are strong systems in place to ensure provision fully meets their needs, in particular through working with parents to help

p.6

is outstanding

their children to achieve their potential. Almost all pupils are working at expected levels, and some, from all of these groups, are working at levels above those expected for their age.  Pupils learn rapidly across a wide range of subjects. They make excellent progress in developing their computing skills and apply these to help them learn in other subjects. Some exceptionally good work was also seen in history and design and technology.  For their ‘Fire’ topic, Year 2 pupils were stimulated by a visiting drama company to enact the Great Fire of London. Their subsequent writing was stunning as they retold how the fire started and spread. Pupils were able to explain how firefighting technology had changed over time after looking closely at a modern fire engine and subsequently, designing and making their own.

p.6

is outstanding

 Children start school with skills and abilities that are in line with what is typical for this age.  They make excellent progress so that, by the end of Reception, the proportion reaching a good level of development is above that found in most schools, including in communication and language, literacy and numeracy.  All staff implement the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures very effectively. As a result, the children are kept very safe and secure, and are extremely well cared for.  Children quickly become used to routines because there are excellent arrangements to help them settle. They greatly enjoy being in Reception because classrooms are calm but productive and provide exciting places in which to learn. Consequently, children are enthusiastic learners who show curiosity and delight, and behave very well.  Teaching activities are of a high quality. Learning opportunities both indoors and out are irresistible.

p.7

is outstanding

Children make rapid strides in developing their early literacy and numeracy skills because these are seamlessly woven into imaginative play, for example when children read instructions, take orders or pay for their purchases in the ‘Bear Factory’.  Staff provide a very effective balance of adult–led and adult-supported learning experiences alongside interesting opportunities for children to choose activities for themselves. Daily literacy and numeracy lessons are followed through in high-quality small-group work, and opportunities for independent learning. This was seen, for example, by children adding and subtracting small objects, such as tiny bears, and beginning to write out numbersums during their self-chosen activities.  The teaching of reading is given high priority. For example, lessons in sounds and letters enable children to rapidly learn new sounds and recognise them in written form. Adults often give children plenty of

p.7

is outstanding

opportunities to break spoken words into their component sounds. However, on a few occasions, adults do not spend enough time on this, which then slows the children’s acquisition of early reading skills.  Adults are very adept when joining in with play to extend children’s learning. This includes helping children to apply their knowledge of letters and sounds when writing, for example, during role play or when selecting activities from the enticing ‘invitation to write’ areas. Children are given exceptional opportunities to express their ideas through imaginative role play, art and design and making tasks.  Carefully targeted activities make sure the most able achieve their potential. Disabled children and those with special educational needs are nurtured very well and make progress in line with others.  Leadership and management are outstanding. Staff are highly trained and motivated, and, as a result,

p.7

is outstanding

children make rapid progress. Assessment of children’s progress and reporting to parents are excellent. Parents are very closely involved in their children’s development at school because the school provides excellent information about how they can help their children at home.

p.7

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

p.8

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.

p.8

School details

Unique reference number 116228 Local authority Hampshire Inspection number 448790

p.9

School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

p.9

School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 273 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Alison Collier Headteacher Melanie Walker Date of previous school inspection 21 January 2010 Telephone number 01256 764487 Fax number 01256 761046 Email address office@hook-inf.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 .

p.9

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.

p.10

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

p.10

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

p.10

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’.

p.10

School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.10