Setting

Mrs Jill Lockwood Headteacher Hedworthfield Primary School Linkway Hedworth Estate Jarrow Tyne and Wear NE32 4QF

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Primary School, South Tyneside

Following my visit to your school on 28 April 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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Primary School, South Tyneside

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in December 2014. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Primary School, South Tyneside

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection.

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Primary School, South Tyneside

The school should take further action to:

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Primary School, South Tyneside

 review the school development plan so that there is a clear line-of-sight from actions to measurable outcomes, with milestones that can be easily checked by the governing body  improve the consistency of written feedback to teachers by making clear links between the quality of teaching and the impact on pupils’ learning over time. CfBT Inspection Services Suite 22 West Lancs Investment Centre Maple View Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566850 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email: dmccarrick@cfbt.com

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Evidence

During the inspection, I met with you and the associate deputy headteacher, middle leaders, a group of staff, a small group of pupils from Key Stage 2, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the governing body and two representatives from the local authority to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. I evaluated the school development plan and scrutinised other documents, including the school’s evaluation of its performance, a report on the external review of pupil premium, minutes of governing body meetings, records of monitoring of teaching and the local authority action plan to support the school. I toured the school with you, visiting all classrooms and looked at samples of pupils’ work. I also reviewed some of the checks which the school carries out to safeguard pupils.

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Context

The deputy headteacher has been absent since January 2015. An experienced senior leader from outside the school has been appointed as associate deputy headteacher to provide additional senior leadership on a part-time basis until the deputy headteacher returns. A reorganisation of staffing has resulted in a change in leadership of the language unit. The governing body reconstituted in February 2015 and a new Chair and Vice-Chair have been appointed.

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Main findings

Prompt and appropriate action has been taken to address the priorities identified at the last inspection. However, improvements have been heavily reliant on external support. Governors recognise the need for this support to reduce over time so that the headteacher and the governing body take full responsibility for improving the school and build the necessary capacity to sustain improvement.

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Main findings

Middle leaders are taking important and effective steps to improve the quality of teaching. They have benefited from the extra time they have been given to fulfil their roles and from a comprehensive programme of support provided by a National Leader of Education. This has helped them to deliver training which has resulted in improvements to the level of challenge for more able pupils across the school. Middle leaders have been instrumental in developing the school’s new marking and feedback policy. They have carefully monitored its introduction and provided additional support and guidance to teaching staff to refine the impact that marking has on learning. Pupils speak enthusiastically about the improvements they have made to their work as a result of feedback from their teachers.

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Main findings

Leaders have begun to establish a culture of sharing practice and professional reflection. Staff are very positive about the programme of ‘coaching partners’ and the opportunities to observe teaching in other schools. This has raised their expectations of what pupils can achieve. Leaders at all levels are checking the quality of teaching regularly through lesson observations, learning walks and scrutiny of pupils’ work. However, there are notable differences in the quality of the evaluation of lessons and the written feedback provided to teachers. In the best examples, the link between the actions of the teacher and the subsequent impact on pupils’ learning is explicit and the feedback provides succinct areas for improvement. In the weakest examples, there is a mismatch between the judgement on the quality of teaching and the achievement of pupils in the lesson. Teachers occasionally receive mixed messages when lesson

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Main findings

observations deliver a snapshot judgement on the quality of their teaching, rather than taking a broader view of the quality of teaching over time.

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Main findings

Senior leaders amended the school development plan following the inspection. The plan identifies a number of appropriate actions which are rightly focused on the areas for improvement from the inspection. However, it requires significant revision so that progress can be checked and individuals held accountable for outcomes.

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Main findings

Governance has been strengthened following the reconstitution of the governing body in February 2015. The newly appointed Chair and Vice-Chair of the governing body have visited the school on a number of occasions and have been receptive to advice and guidance from the local authority. They have an accurate picture of the school and what needs to improve. Governors have assumed specific areas of responsibility, enabling them to hold senior leaders to account more robustly. They recognise that they need to develop their skills in evaluating pupils’ achievement data and have sought external support to address this issue.

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Main findings

Although appropriate safeguarding checks have been carried out, the single central record of these checks has not been maintained accurately. The school has taken recent, urgent, remedial action to address this, but this must be monitored closely in the future to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to keep pupils safe.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further monitoring inspections and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The local authority is providing robust challenge and high quality support to help the school improve. The Primary Lead Advisor has undertaken regular reviews of the school and observed lessons with the headteacher. As a result, the local authority knows the school extremely well. Support has been brokered from an experienced senior leader to provide additional capacity in the role of associate deputy headteacher. This has enabled the school to improve the use of pupils’ achievement data to inform meetings to discuss pupil progress and to identify appropriate interventions more swiftly. Work with a National Leader of Education through a National Support School has had a significant impact on the ability of middle leaders to monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching effectively. An external review of pupil premium and an external review of governance were commissioned through the local authority and have resulted in two sharply focused plans to improve these

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External support

specific areas. Support from a local authority Early Years advisor and a school improvement advisor has led to improvements in the quality of teaching and the achievement of children in Nursery and Reception classes.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for South Tyneside.

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