Harting CofE Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Fiona Mullett Headteacher Harting CofE Primary School Tipper Lane South Harting Petersfield Hampshire GU31 5QT

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 12 July 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in April 2012.

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

You provide clear and effective leadership. The governing body and local authority value the rigour and focus that your leadership has brought to the school since you began in September 2014. You have taken decisive and effective action to improve the quality of teaching in the school.

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

Although in 2015 the proportion of pupils reaching expected levels at the end of key stage 2 was below those seen nationally, pupils who did not reach expected levels still made good progress from their significantly lower starting points. Key stage 1 pupils’ outcomes were significantly improved in 2015.

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

Your school is a calm and purposeful place to learn. Relationships across the school are warm and respectful. Pupils in lessons and around the school are focused on the task in hand. Teaching assistants make a valuable contribution to the learning and personal development of pupils.

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

Leaders have a clear sense of the school’s strengths and are clear about what the next developments need to be. You know which groups of pupils have had less effective teaching in the past and you are tracking their progress very carefully. You are ambitious for every child in the school and governors share this passion. Your plan for school improvement reflects the fact that the proportion of Year 6 pupils working at the expected levels in writing will be lower than in reading and mathematics.

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

At the time of the last inspection, inspectors recognised many strengths in the school, including pupils’ high attendance, exemplary manners and courtesy, the pace and challenge of teaching and pupils’ respect for diversity. You have been successful in maintaining these strengths. Inspectors also identified that greater problem-solving opportunities, writing for a range of purposes and matching levels of challenge to pupils’ needs would further their progress. Leaders have enhanced the school’s work by ensuring that:

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

 problem-solving and reasoning skills are developed well across the school, including in the early years  pupils have rich and varied reasons to write across the curriculum  teaching in key stage 1 is more effective  the most able pupils are challenged across a broad and balanced curriculum  pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make strong progress from their starting points.

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You and your governors have created a strong culture of keeping children safe. You place great importance on staff conduct. You ensure that those aspects that relate to pupils’ safety are not open for discussion, such as the use of mobile phones and staff use of social media. Pupils, parents and staff value this aspect of your work and feel that the school is safe. Detailed record keeping enables you to track every conversation and phone call regarding vulnerable pupils and families. Your work with external partners has a positive impact on pupils’ well-being, for example through significantly reducing absence.

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Short inspection of Harting C of E Primary School

Leaders have ensured that policies and procedures are understood. Governors add rigour to your school systems. For example, the nominated safeguarding governor will countersign any changes to your single central record of recruitment checks. Leaders and governors have undertaken the appropriate training to ensure that they are knowledgeable and effective in their roles.

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Inspection findings

 Your focused leadership is having a positive impact on all aspects of the school’s work. You have strong insight into the quality of teaching and learning in the school and have taken significant action to improve it.  Governors know the school well and value your leadership. Members of the governing body undertake a range of monitoring activity to get first-hand information about the education pupils receive. Governors are also clear about their strategic role and know the difference between their role and yours. The assessment and progress information that governors receive is clear and understood. However, the system is relatively new and you and governors recognise that the processes now need to be embedded and lead to even greater challenge regarding pupil progress.  Leaders use the pupil premium effectively. Disadvantaged pupils make good progress, including those who have a special educational needs and/or

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Inspection findings

disabilities.  Leaders engage in a wide range of moderation activity. This enables teachers to check their assessment judgements of pupils’ work with other local schools.  In most year groups, the proportions of pupils working at age-related expectations are high. Leaders know where teaching was not as strong in the past and have been quick to accelerate progress. A high proportion of current Year 4 pupils did not achieve well at the end of key stage 1. Good teaching and learning is enabling pupils to catch up quickly. However, in key stage 2, fewer boys are working at expected levels in their writing than girls.  Children in the early years get a good start in the school. The proportion of children reaching a good level of development has improved steadily each year since the last inspection. For the last two years, the proportion of children reaching expected levels has been above the national average and

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Inspection findings

current children’s outcomes are equally strong. The Reception Year classroom is a hive of purposeful activity. Children have a rich range of opportunities to be creative and apply their literacy knowledge in meaningful contexts. For example, the ‘silly songs’ that children had written to be sung by their puppets which highlighted how ‘Jagged George juggled jelly’.  Teaching in key stage 1 has improved through the action of leaders. Almost all pupils in Year 1 have met the expected levels in the phonics (letters and the sounds that they make) screening check.  The most able pupils make good progress across the school. Learning is planned to meet their needs and provide challenge. Teachers are skilled at questioning and helping pupils see misconceptions for themselves. Pupils respond well to teachers’ feedback and this leads to good progress.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good

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Inspection findings

progress. The extra support for pupils is carefully planned and the progress of pupils is clear in their books and in the reviews of their personalised targets.  You have improved levels of attendance for all groups of pupils after the slight increase in absence in 2015.  Behaviour in lessons and around the school is very good. Adults provide pupils with strong role models and relationships are built on mutual respect. The vast majority of pupils take pride in their work. However, some pupils do not always show this high level of care consistently.  Expectations are high across the curriculum. For example, in art work, the most able pupils are encouraged to use reflection and shades of colour to enhance their work further.  Leaders provide a rich range of opportunities for the most able pupils to develop their learning. Strong partnerships with a local secondary school ensure that pupils experience a broad range of enhanced teaching in

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Inspection findings

subjects such as poetry and information technology. Older pupils that are confident and able speakers recently took part in a debating event with other schools. The team were successful in changing the minds of others regarding the unhealthy nature of sweets. Pupils are rightly proud of their achievement.  Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the work of the school. Some parents feel that the wide range of extra-curricular activities that the school currently offers could be improved further.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 increasing proportions of key stage 2 boys are working at expected levels in writing  the quality of presentation in pupils’ books is of a consistently high standard  the new pupil progress tracking system is embedded so that governors can continue to systematically challenge leaders about pupils’ rates of progress.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Chichester and the director of children’s services for West Sussex. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I met with you, a group of governors and a representative of the local authority. I looked at 70 responses on Parent View (Ofsted’s online questionnaire), 33 responses to the pupil questionnaire and 15 responses to the staff survey. I accompanied you on visits to lessons. We looked at books and met the special educational needs coordinator to look at pupils’ progress over time. I evaluated your self-evaluation and pupil performance information. I checked the effectiveness of your safeguarding arrangements, including those relating to staff recruitment.

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