Hareside Primary School

Hareside Primary School Hareside, Cramlington, Northumberland, NE23 6BL

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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This is a school that requires improvement

 Learning and progress is not good enough in the early years and Key Stage 1.  Teachers’ expectations are not always high enough. Pupils, especially the most able, are not routinely given work that stretches them to reach the highest standards. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs do not always make the progress of which they are capable.  The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they make) requires improvement. Pupils do not make rapid progress in phonics. The tasks pupils are given do not match their needs because teachers do not use their knowledge of pupils’ skills and abilities well to plan appropriate activities.  Middle leaders’ checks on the subjects that they manage are too superficial. They do not identify what needs to be done immediately to improve the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils.  Senior leaders have not acted quickly enough to establish a robust system to track attainment and

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This is a school that requires improvement

progress made by pupils.  Governors have not held leaders to account for the achievement of children in the early years as effectively as they have for the pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2.

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The school has the following strengths

 Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, make good progress in Key Stage 2 to reach standards in reading, writing and mathematics which are significantly above the national average.  Pupils are safe in school. The school’s work to ensure pupils are safe online is outstanding. The pupils’ knowledge of this aspect of safety is exceptional.  Attendance has improved and is above average.  Pupils enjoy school and are happy to attend. Pupils are very courteous and polite. They are wonderful ambassadors for their caring and harmonious school.  Children settle quickly into life in the Nursery class. They concentrate well, persevere with tasks and are eager to learn.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and learning so that it is consistently good or better in the early years and Key Stage 1, by ensuring that teachers: make better use of their knowledge of pupils’ skills and abilities to plan work which enables pupils to make more rapid progress pronounce sounds correctly when teaching phonics and insist that pupils pronounce sounds correctly too increase their expectations of what the most-able pupils can achieve and plan work which enables them to excel and shine plan work at just the right level to enable all pupils with disabilities and special educational needs to make the progress of which they are capable.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the impact of leadership and management at all levels by ensuring that: governors receive information about the learning and progress of all groups of pupils in all year groups on a regular basis, so they can hold senior leaders to account more effectively for the achievement of all pupils across the whole school middle leaders check the quality of teaching in their subjects, take timely action to address weaknesses and evaluate improvements procedures in relation to special educational needs reflect the most up-to-date guidance and best practice recommendations a system to monitor the progress of pupils in the acquisition of phonics knowledge and skills is established a robust and reliable system to assess and track pupils’ achievements in Key Stages 1 and 2 is established as a matter of urgency.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 Senior leaders’ evaluation of the progress pupils make in Key Stage 2 is absolutely accurate. However, their evaluation of progress in the early years and Key Stage 1 is too positive.  Leaders have not worked quickly enough to establish a robust and reliable system to measure the achievement of pupils in Key Stages 1 and 2. Leaders know, from their checks of teaching and from their checks of pupils’ work in books, that progress made by current pupils in Key Stage 2 is better than the school’s current assessment information indicates. Inspectors also found this to be true.  Middle leaders do make regular checks on the quality of teaching in the subjects that they lead. However, their checks are not sufficiently forensic to identify that progress made by some groups of pupils in some key stages is not good enough. Checks on work do not give enough emphasis to the progress of different groups of pupils, such as the most able in English. Therefore, weaknesses in teaching and provision

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

sometimes go unnoticed. This hinders leaders’ ability to bring about improvement.  Leaders identified, quite correctly, that the school’s provision for pupils to rapidly acquire phonics skills and knowledge was weak. An online phonics programme, which can be accessed by pupils in school and at home, was established at the beginning of the school year. Staff believe it has had an immediate impact. However, as there is no system to track the standards pupils reach and the progress pupils make in phonics, the early impact of this intervention cannot be measured reliably.  Leaders have not ensured that the school’s policy and improvement planning in relation to disabled pupils and those with special educational needs have sufficient rigour or reflect the most up-to-date guidance and best practice recommendations. This sometimes prevents the accurate identification of the most appropriate support for individual pupils. These pupils do not make the progress of which they are

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

capable.  The school is particularly successful at ensuring that disadvantaged pupils make rapid progress in Key Stage 2 to reach standards that are above those of non-disadvantaged pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics. These pupils are very well prepared for the demands of the curriculum in Key Stage 3. Senior leaders and governors are rightly very proud of this achievement. However, leaders have not ensured that the progress of disadvantaged pupils is as rapid in the early years and Key Stage 1.  There are well-established systems to manage the performance of staff. These systems, together with the learning logs that are completed by individual teachers, help senior leaders to plan the training that is needed by staff in school.  The curriculum is broad and balanced. It is underpinned by Hareside’s ten attributes. Pupils, staff and governors (the whole-school community) are expected to be: thirsty for learning, empathetic, responsible,

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

aspirational, reflective, confident, literate, resilient, numerate and creative. Exciting activities ensure pupils make good progress in subjects other than English and mathematics. For example, Year 5 pupils enthusiastically took part in a modern foreign language lesson during the inspection. The pupils knew the days of the week and the months of the year by the end of the session. They are well prepared for modern foreign languages in Key Stage 3. The formal curriculum is complemented well by the extensive range of extra-curricular activities available to pupils. The curriculum in the early years and Key Stage 1 does not ensure that pupils make good or better progress.  Pupils have some knowledge of modern British values. They know about personal freedoms and understand the concept of democracy. The pupils consider moral dilemmas, rights and responsibilities during assemblies. They take part in charitable events such as ‘The Dahlicious Dress up Day’. In this

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

overwhelmingly mono-cultural school, the pupils are not as knowledgeable about cultures and faiths that are distinctly different from their own.  The headteacher and his senior leaders have established a harmonious school in which staff morale is high and staff enjoy coming to work. However, the culture of high aspirations for and high expectations of all pupils is not yet embedded consistently in every classroom.  There are effective systems to record, check and address safeguarding issues such as poor behaviour, name-calling and online bullying. The annual review of safeguarding provided to governors is comprehensive and informative.  Similarly, the physical education and sport funding for primary schools is spent wisely to increase the number and variety of sporting opportunities available to the pupils. The number of pupils who access extra-curricular activities has increased in line with the improved provision.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school Governors know about the achievement of pupils at the end of Key Stage 2. They challenge senior leaders about the results of the annual phonics check in Year 1 and Year 2 together with the standards that pupils reach at the end of Key Stage 1. Governors have not shown such challenge with regard to the progress made by children in the early years. Governors check the school’s work during formal monitoring visits. Although very willing and eager to support and challenge the school’s leaders, some acknowledge that they do not have the educational background and skills to evaluate the subject that they are checking. This does limit the effectiveness of their challenge and support. Governors are very well informed about the impact of additional funding for pupils, especially for those disadvantaged pupils who are eligible to receive the pupil premium in Key Stage 2. Governors understand the relationship between staff performance and salary progression. Staff do not

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Effectiveness of leadership and management requires improvement

progress up the school’s salary scale as a matter of course. Governors do ensure that the school’s policies are reviewed on an agreed annual cycle. However, they have not ensured that the content of all policies is revised prior to review and ratification. There were a number of policies on the school’s website prior to the inspection that did not reflect current guidance.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Staff recruitment procedures meet national guidelines. Staff receive appropriate training and access online training. The school achieved the E-Safety Mark in June 2015. It has embedded online safety across the curriculum so that pupils and staff understand how to stay safe. This is a strength of the school.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

 In Key Stage 1, some teachers lack the subject knowledge to ensure that pupils make good or better progress. Teachers sometimes accept incorrect answers from pupils, such as to questions about mathematical vocabulary.  The pupils do not make rapid enough progress in the acquisition of phonics skills and knowledge in Key Stage 1 because some teachers’ knowledge and understanding of the subject is not strong enough. Inspectors heard teachers pronouncing sounds incorrectly during lessons. Progress is also slow because little account is taken of what pupils already know and can already do. Sometimes pupils, including the most able, are taught the same sounds over and over again. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs sometimes make slow progress in phonics because the work is too difficult for them.  Teachers provide feedback to pupils both orally and in writing. There was no agreed system for marking

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

and feedback at the time of the inspection because the policy was under review and teachers were trialling a number of different systems. However, marking and feedback was judged to be very effective in the workbooks of lower-ability pupils in Key Stage 2. These pupils act on the feedback they are given in mathematics and make rapid progress.  All pupils have individual targets to achieve in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils value these targets and work hard to achieve them and make their work better. The targets are most effective when they are closely matched to pupils’ abilities.  Provision for the most-able pupils in Key Stage 1 and in some year groups in Key Stage 2 does not always lead to good or better progress. Inspectors checked a number of workbooks and found that the most- able pupils are often given the same work to complete as the rest of the pupils. These most-able pupils do not make the progress of which they are capable because there is insufficient challenge for them and

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement

because their teachers do not have high enough expectations of them.  In Key Stage 2, teachers have high expectations of pupils in relation to the use of ambitious vocabulary and the correct spelling, punctuation and grammar in writing. Teachers expect pupils to use the higher- level skills of inference and deduction in reading. They expect pupils to apply their existing knowledge to solve difficult problems in mathematics.  Teachers and learning support assistants use questioning very astutely in Key Stage 2 to ascertain what pupils know and what they need to teach next. Inspectors witnessed this in a Year 6 lesson on equivalent fractions in which pupils made rapid progress. These pupils were so interested in their work that they continued their discussions during morning break.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils are happy to attend Hareside Primary School because they are well cared for and feel safe and secure. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. This comment is typical of many: ‘My child is very happy at school, he mentions lots of aspects like the friendliness of the staff and the things he has learnt when he comes home.’  Pupils are very polite to each other, to adults and to visitors. Very occasionally, individual pupils can show a lack of respect for themselves and for school property.  Pupils understand the different forms that bullying can take and have absolute confidence that the headteacher and his team will deal with any incidences of bullying quickly and appropriately. Pupils told inspectors that this happened two or three terms ago when there was a spate of pupils using the term ‘gay’ in a hurtful manner.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school has worked incredibly hard to ensure that pupils, staff and parents feel safe online. The school council has posted its own information video on the school’s website about how to stay safe online. Over 20 parents recently attended online safety training at a neighbouring primary school. This aspect of safety permeates every aspect of the school’s work.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Senior leaders have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and the pupils work hard to live up to their expectations. Occasional instances of silly behaviour occur in Key Stage 1 when teaching fails to challenge pupils.  Behaviour is good in lessons in Key Stage 2, especially when pupils are interested and excited by their learning. They are too busy to misbehave. It does not cross their minds. Pupils told the inspectors that, in some year groups, pupils behave better for their class teacher than they do for peripatetic teachers or supply teachers.  Pupils enjoy taking on additional responsibilities around the school. The school councillors are particularly active. Videos about their work are posted on the school’s website and include information about work in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).  Pupils attend school regularly and are rarely late for school. The school has worked hard to increase

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Behaviour

attendance to above the national average. Persistent absences have also reduced because of the work that the school has undertaken with individual pupils and their families.  Parents are happy with the behaviour in school. Ninety-eight per cent of the parents who responded to the school’s own survey in 2014 identified behaviour as good. Similarly, 90% of the parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, during the inspection identified behaviour as good.

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

 Outcomes for pupils require improvement because too few pupils make good progress from their starting points in the early years and in Key Stage 1.  The Year 2 pupils reached above-average standards in mathematics at the end of the last academic year. This was not matched in English, where they reached broadly average standards in reading and writing. The standards reached in reading were the lowest in five years. Over time, girls reach much higher standards in reading and writing than boys.  Over time, too few pupils reach the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check. In 2015, the proportion who achieved the expected standard by the end of Year 2 was significantly below the national average.  Recently, the Year 6 pupils at the end of Key Stage 2 reached standards significantly above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics – the highest standards since the last inspection. Most pupils

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

make good progress in Key Stage 2 as a result of good teaching and effective support by learning support assistants.  The progress that is made by disadvantaged pupils is more rapid in Key Stage 2 than it is in the early years and Key Stage 1. By the end of Key Stage 1, disadvantaged pupils are two terms behind their non- disadvantaged classmates overall. Disadvantaged pupils reach higher standards than non-disadvantaged pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6. In 2015, they reached higher standards in reading than their non-disadvantaged peers in school. This is a significant achievement.  The most-able pupils, from their starting points, do not make good progress in some classes in some year groups. This is particularly evident in mathematics in Key Stage 1 and lower Key Stage 2.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs at the end of Year 6 in

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Outcomes for pupils require improvement

2015 was too small to be statistically representative. However, over time, the majority of pupils with disabilities and special educational needs do not make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Pupils’ progress is good in a range of subjects other than English and mathematics. For example, inspectors noted how well pupils develop their skills and knowledge in art to produce high-quality pieces of work.

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Early years provision requires improvement

 The vast majority of children enter the early years with skills and knowledge that are typical for their age. The proportion reaching the expected level of development is broadly average at the end of the key stage. The children get off to a very promising start during the Nursery Year but progress slows in the Reception Year. Children, including disadvantaged children, do not make good progress overall. Some are not ready for the increased demands of the Year 1 curriculum.  Senior leaders have not taken action to address slow progress in the early years because the school has an inaccurate view of the children’s starting points.  The quality of teaching is variable in the early years. In the Nursery class, adults really listen to the children, ask open-ended questions and encourage children to think, reflect and reply. The children show sustained concentration and perseverance. They are not easily distracted. The children in the Nursery

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Early years provision requires improvement

class are enraptured by and totally engaged in their learning. For example, during the inspection, a child explained how rockets are propelled by huge explosions of fuel – no mean feat for a three-year-old. The child’s excitement, engagement and thirst for knowledge were a joy to behold.  The teachers in the Reception classes plan learning activities which are linked to the children’s interests. However, a number of children are easily distracted and need individual support from adults to complete their tasks. These interruptions slow the learning and progress of the other children in the classes. Teachers do not always provide work which enables the most-able children to really excel and make rapid progress in their learning.  Children do not make rapid enough progress in their acquisition of phonics knowledge and skills in the early years. This is because too much work that the children can already do is repeated. They become

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Early years provision requires improvement

bored and their attention wanes because they are not challenged or stimulated effectively.  Teachers have created a warm and welcoming environment for learning in the early years classrooms. The children are safe and secure. They have learnt a great deal about how to stay safe during their work on super-heroes including the local police, firefighters and doctors.  Leaders’ investment in an online tool to record the children’s work and progress at home and at school is proving to be a valuable link between home and school. Parents are proud to upload photographs and comments about their children’s activities at home.

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School details

Unique reference number 122268 Local authority Northumberland Inspection number 10000557

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Maintained Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 476 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Anderson Headteacher Geoff Love Telephone number 01670 712440 Website www.haresideprimaryschool.org.uk Email address admin@hareside.northumberland.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 14–15 November 2011

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Information about this school

 The school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.  The proportion of disabled pupils or pupils who have special educational needs is below average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils, those eligible for support through the pupil premium funding, is broadly average. Pupil premium funding is additional government funding for pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and for children who are looked after by the local authority.  The overwhelming majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  Children in the early years attend full-time provision in the Reception classes and part-time provision in the Nursery classes.  The school met the government’s minimum floor standards for primary schools in 2014.  The school has achieved the 360 degree E-safety mark, the School Games Silver Award, the Northumberland Enhanced Healthy School Award and is an accredited anti-bullying school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors visited 28 part-lessons, five of which were observed jointly with the headteacher.  Meetings were held with school leaders and two governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body. The lead inspector also spoke to a representative of Northumberland local authority and the school’s improvement partner.  The inspectors spoke informally to pupils in lessons and at various times during each day. They also spoke formally to two groups of pupils, one group on the first day of the inspection and another group on the second day.  Questionnaire returns submitted online by 13 members of staff were taken into consideration.  The inspectors scrutinised a range of pupils’ workbooks and information about pupils’ current progress in lessons. They also reviewed a number of documents including the school’s improvement plan, attendance records, information relating to the work the school does to keep pupils safe and minutes of

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Information about this inspection

meetings of the governing body.  The inspectors took account of the views of 51 parents from the Ofsted online survey, Parent View, together with the school’s most recent survey of parental views.  Pupils from Years 1 and 2 read to the lead inspector.

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Inspection team

Belita Scott, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector John Young Senior Her Majesty’s Inspector Lucie Stephenson Karen Homes Catherine Morgan Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Inspection team

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

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