Setting

Mr J Bailey Headteacher Haylands Primary School Bettesworth Road Ryde Isle of Wight PO33 3HA

p.1

Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Haylands Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 12 November 2015, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the school’s previous monitoring inspection.

p.1

Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Haylands Primary School

The inspection was the third monitoring inspection since the school was judged to have serious weaknesses following the section 5 inspection which took place in July 2014. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

p.1

Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Haylands Primary School

Having considered all the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time:

p.1

Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be published on the Ofsted website. I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Hampshire.

p.1

Her Majesty’s Inspector

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

place in July 2014

 Ensure that, throughout the school, teaching is always good or better by:  − consistently planning tasks that help pupils make good progress, particularly the most able  − providing activities which engage pupils’ interest, make suitable demands of them and motivate them to behave well  − developing pupils’ confidence to respond to questions and explain their answers − increasing the subject expertise of staff, especially in English and mathematics − improving the effectiveness of teaching assistants in supporting learning when in classes.    Raise pupils’ achievement by ensuring that they:   consistently spell accurately and use the correct grammar and punctuation when constructing sentences   develop effective skills for planning and writing extended pieces of work, including in subjects other than English   develop their ability to apply mathematics skills well in different situations, including when solving problems 

p.2

place in July 2014

 are able to understand what they are reading, including being able to identify the plot or characters through clues in a fictional text.    Increase the impact of leaders on the school’s performance by ensuring that:  − leaders in charge of subjects play a full part in checking and improving the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress in their areas of responsibility − governors develop their skills fully to hold all school leaders to account for the impact of their work.

p.2

place in July 2014

An external review of governance should be undertaken to assess how this aspect of leadership and governance may be improved.

p.2

Evidence

Her Majesty’s Inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, a group of other leaders, governors, and a representative from the local authority. She checked school documentation, including the leaders’ checks on lessons and pupils’ work, and evaluated minutes of meetings. She also visited lessons and checked work in pupils’ books.

p.3

Context

A new deputy headteacher and senior teacher joined the school in September. Two teachers left at the end of the summer term and two teachers started this term.

p.3

The quality of leadership and management at the school

The headteacher has continued to act with rigour and determination in tackling the areas for improvement. He has modelled his expectations very effectively. All staff are now committed to improving the school and know what they each need to do to make this happen.

p.3

The quality of leadership and management at the school

Governance is becoming increasingly effective. The Chair of the Governing Body now meets regularly with the headteacher to review progress; this has ensured a shared understanding of the priorities. Governors visit the school more frequently to gather first-hand evidence of how the school is improving. They are supportive, rightly, of the headteacher and are beginning to have confidence in the progress they can see. Leaders appreciate the increased support and presence of governors.

p.3

The quality of leadership and management at the school

Leaders at all levels are becoming more effective in driving improvements. The headteacher has been clear about leaders’ roles and responsibilities through job descriptions and appraisal targets. Leaders now have the confidence and expertise to use their own initiative to identify issues and plan how to tackle them, rather than relying on direction from the headteacher. Subject leaders, although new to their roles, are very positive about their additional responsibility. They have undertaken useful activities to get to know their subjects and how well they are taught across the school, but they are not yet clear about how they will make the teaching and learning in their subjects better.

p.3

The quality of leadership and management at the school

The headteacher and deputy headteacher check teaching regularly and provide useful feedback to help teachers improve. The senior teacher works with individual teachers who require more support. As a result, inadequate teaching has been eradicated. Until now, rightly, the priority has been on improving teachers’ practice; however, leaders now need to turn their attention to how much progress pupils are making in lessons to be clear on the effectiveness of teachers. Many teachers now plan lessons that are interesting and support learning well. In all lessons seen, pupils were keen to work and wanted to do well. In the best lessons, the activities were well matched to pupils’ ability and were well structured to help pupils learn more. The plans for English and mathematics have helped teachers to organise a sequence of lessons so that pupils are able to build up their skills and deepen their understanding. Pupils throughout the school demonstrate confidence

p.3

The quality of leadership and management at the school

and enjoy sharing their responses to teachers’ questions.

p.4

The quality of leadership and management at the school

Teaching assistants are much clearer about their roles and are playing a greater role in supporting pupils, both during lessons and in the assessment of what pupils can do. This is helping both teachers and pupils to know the next steps in the pupils’ learning. Teaching assistants and teachers are working more closely to plan what support is needed and how it will be provided, and so teaching assistants are now deployed more effectively.

p.4

The quality of leadership and management at the school

Pupils are achieving better in some areas but it is still variable. Outcomes for children in Reception Year were better than last year and the proportion that made a good level of development is now above the national figure. In Year 1, more pupils achieved the expected level in phonics than last year, but this is still not in line with the national average. In Key Stages 1 and 2, the improvements were more erratic. This is because of the legacy of ineffective teaching and underachievement. However, since January, when the headteacher joined, the progress has accelerated and some pupils are beginning to catch up to where they should be. Leaders and governors need to agree that accelerated progress is required, and plan how this can be achieved to enable those who have fallen behind to catch up as quickly as possible.

p.4

Strengths in the school’s approaches to securing improvement:

 Everyone is now working together to make the school the best it can be and the pace of change has increased further.  Leaders are becoming more effective at driving improvements across the whole school and providing useful support to the headteacher.  Teachers are much clearer about what pupils can do and plan lessons that meet pupils’ needs more closely.  Pupils are learning more and are beginning to catch up to where they need to be.

p.4

Weaknesses in the school’s approaches to securing improvement:

 Teachers do not yet ensure that all pupils make progress in every lesson.  Some teachers’ subject knowledge in English and mathematics is not yet thorough enough.  Middle leaders are not yet improving their subjects.

p.4

External support

The local authority has continued to provide effective support, which has been targeted in the right areas, such as the development of leaders and improving teaching practice. The school adviser knows the school well and provides useful feedback to focus leaders and governors on the next steps. It would be helpful if this could be reiterated at the end of the report to avoid any misinterpretation and ensure points are not overlooked.

p.5