Hawley Primary School

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

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Mrs Veronica Galpin Headteacher Hawley Primary School Hawley Road Blackwater Camberley Surrey GU17 9BH

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Short inspection of Hawley Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 13 December 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 March 2012.

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Short inspection of Hawley Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your deputy headteacher lead staff effectively on a journey of sustained school improvement. You remain rightly focused on helping pupils to flourish in your safe and aspirational school. Staff, parents and governors have confidence in your leadership, trusting you to do the very best for your pupils.

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Short inspection of Hawley Primary School

Pupils feel safe and happy in your school. They attend regularly and work hard in lessons. They appreciate how teachers help them if they ‘get stuck’ with their learning or have any worries. Teachers show them how to be kind to one another and encourage them to take on responsibilities within the school. This prepares them well for future life as British citizens. Parents recognise the care and nurture that helps their children to gain in confidence as well as knowledge.

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Short inspection of Hawley Primary School

Since the last inspection, you have remained determined to make the school even better. You have acted on the areas that were identified for improvement to improve the quality of teaching and develop the roles of leaders. Teachers work effectively together to improve their teaching. As a result, teaching is consistently good. Staff know pupils well and plan lessons that support and develop their thinking and skills. This helps pupils to achieve consistently well and make increasingly good progress over time. Middle and senior leaders make regular checks to ensure that pupils are achieving well. They adapt the curriculum and support teachers in a timely way so that future teaching is effective. Leaders and governors check carefully and regularly the progress pupils make. When pupils’ progress is not good enough, they look for ways to make it better quickly.

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Short inspection of Hawley Primary School

You recognise that while pupils achieve well by the end of key stage 2, they do not always make good progress from their typically high starting points. Recent work to broaden and deepen the new curriculum is in its infancy. This remains a focus, so that all learners, including the most able, are challenged and a higher proportion achieves a greater depth of learning.

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Short inspection of Hawley Primary School

Pupils’ safety and care are central to the life of the school. As one parent described, ‘The headteacher and her staff have the children’s welfare in mind at all times.’ Leaders work closely with families to support sensitively any pupil whose circumstances make them vulnerable. They seek advice from experts beyond the school, and keep careful records of their work.

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Short inspection of Hawley Primary School

Leaders make sure safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Staff are trained regularly and are knowledgeable about how to keep children safe. This empowers them to remain vigilant and be effective in their roles. Governors check carefully to make sure safeguarding arrangements are effective and records are of high quality.

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Inspection findings

 Leaders know clearly the priorities for improvement in their school. They plan effectively to tackle them, supporting and challenging staff to play their part. As a result, pupils are happy, safe and achieve well.  Middle and senior leaders monitor pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching regularly. They use what they learn to support teachers and other adults effectively in refining their work. Consequently, pupils’ needs are met in a timely way and they achieve increasingly well.  Leaders and governors review regularly how the use of pupil premium funding helps disadvantaged pupils to achieve. They have redirected its use to focus on supporting pupils more effectively in the classroom. This is helping disadvantaged pupils to make rapid progress and achieve at least in line with others nationally.  The quality of teaching across the school is consistently good. Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and know where to get help if they need it.

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Inspection findings

Teachers encourage them to apply their learning to solve problems and develop their thinking.  Pupils read with fluency and comprehension that at least matches their ages. Most-able readers tackle sophisticated texts confidently. Less-able pupils persevere with their reading, using a range of strategies to help them work out unfamiliar words.  Teachers plan lessons that successfully support and challenge learners of different abilities. They are beginning to include opportunities to broaden and deepen pupils’ thinking. Leaders recognise this work is in its infancy, and does not sharply and consistently link to pupils’ individual starting points. As a result, the most able pupils do not make as rapid progress as they could.  Leaders use accurate and rigorous assessments to help teachers identify next steps in learning for the pupils in their class. They work closely with colleagues in other schools to validate their judgements. Leaders use assessment information

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Inspection findings

well to hold teachers to account for pupils’ achievement. Tracking of progress from starting points is developing effectively now the new assessment systems are beginning to be established.  Pupils attend school regularly, with absence rates below the national average. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and those from minority ethnic groups attend slightly less well than others in the school. Leaders monitor attendance carefully, and work effectively with families and support from beyond the school where extra help is needed to support improvements to attendance.  Pupils achieved well in reading, writing and mathematics in 2016. The proportion of pupils achieving age-related expectations by the end of Year 2 and Year 6 were in line with or above the national average. However, pupils’ progress from their typically high starting points was less strong, with a lower than average

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Inspection findings

percentage achieving a greater depth of learning in writing and mathematics.  Pupils currently in the school are making more rapid progress. The work in their books and teacher assessments show a higher proportion are on track to achieve beyond age-related expectations by the end of the year. Pupils in Year 3 started the year needing to catch up but targeted support is helping them to make the rapid progress that is needed.  The early years team works well together and provides pupils with an effective start to their learning journey in school. The stimulating and well-resourced environment supports a curriculum that adapts well to meet the changing needs and interests of the pupils. As a result, pupils settle quickly, are engaged in their learning and make good progress.  In the past, while in line with the national average, fewer boys than girls achieved a good level of development by the start of Year 1. In 2016, this was

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Inspection findings

not the case, with the proportion of all pupils achieving a good level of development being equally high for boys and girls and well above the national average. Both groups were therefore well prepared for their key stage 1 learning.

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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

 teaching more closely matches the starting points of individual pupils, so that the most able pupils make strong progress and more pupils achieve a greater depth of learning  teachers and leaders monitor pupils’ progress from different starting points more meticulously.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Hampshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I visited 10 classrooms with you and your deputy headteacher to look at learning. I talked to pupils about their work and looked at their books. I met with you and your deputy headteacher, the early years foundation stage leader, governors and pupils. I spoke to a representative from the local authority. I reviewed the school’s self- evaluation and development plans, policies, website, leaders’ checks on the quality of teaching and pupil progress information. I met parents at the start of the day and considered 80 responses to the Parent View online questionnaire. I took into account 24 responses to the staff survey. I checked safeguarding arrangements, including training and the school’s record of recruitment checks.

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Information about the inspection

During this inspection, my focus areas were:  how well leaders make sure that disadvantaged pupils make good progress  how effectively teaching stretches and challenges pupils to make good progress  how leaders make sure that attendance at school remains high and pupils are safe  whether pupils are on track to make better progress than they have in the past  how well the early years curriculum helps boys to be ready to start key stage 1.

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