Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School

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

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Margaret Lunnon Headteacher Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School Church Street Hampton Lucy Warwick Warwickshire CV35 8BE

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Short inspection of Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 1 February 2017, 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 October 2011.

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Short inspection of Hampton Lucy CofE 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 Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School

As headteacher, you have created a happy and caring culture within the school, where pupils achieve well and thrive socially. Staff morale is high. Staff are dedicated, hard-working and proud to be associated with Hampton Lucy. As one staff member put it, ‘We are a unique school, led by an inspirational headteacher. We are valued and are able to use our individual skills and knowledge to enrich the learning of all children.’ As a small school, you and your staff have an excellent knowledge and understanding of pupils’ individual needs. You provide a highly inclusive and supportive environment for all pupils, especially those who have high-level, and often complex, additional needs. You ensure that additional support, including that from specialist teachers from external agencies, is utilised effectively.

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Short inspection of Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School

Good-quality teaching ensures that pupils in all classes make good progress from their respective starting points. Teachers and adults cater well for the needs of pupils with different abilities, including those who are the most and least able. Pupils enjoy and benefit from the wide range of activities offered, including learning to play musical instruments, participating in sports clubs, and carrying out individual roles and responsibilities. As a result, pupils develop their wider talents and become mature and well-rounded learners. Parents and pupils have very positive views of the school. Parent comments include, ‘A fantastic school where children are well cared for and taught excellent life-skills.’ Pupil comments include, ‘Everyone in school is really friendly.’ Pupils behave well and have positive attitudes to learning.

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Short inspection of Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School

Actions taken to address the areas for improvement identified at the previous inspection have been successful. Attainment at the end of Year 6 has risen steadily and has been consistently above the national average. Effective assessment, marking and questioning are used well to challenge the most able pupils. You have increased the opportunities for all pupils to use their own ideas and have greater levels of independence. For example, each week, different pupils volunteer to plan and lead Wednesday worship for the whole school. In some classes, pupils select which activity suits them from the well-planned mathematics tasks available. You have also ensured that pupils have extended and deepened their understanding and appreciation of people from different cultures or with different religious beliefs. Pupils were keen to tell me that it is important to treat others with respect and adamant that everyone in their school

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Short inspection of Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School

Although pupils make good progress overall, there remains work to do in raising the achievement of boys in almost all year groups, including in the early years. The school’s own assessment information for current pupils and historic published information shows that girls outperform boys in key subjects, especially writing. This has not been picked up to date by you, your subject leaders or your governing body. While your learning improvement plan focuses appropriately on some of the school’s main priorities, areas identified do not contain sufficient interim, measurable milestones which enable leaders or governors to check the success of actions taken. Neither does it focus sufficiently on the achievement of different groups of pupils, for example boys and girls or the most able.

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Short inspection of Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of high quality. You have established a strong culture of safeguarding within the school. As the designated leader, you ensure that all staff are fully trained and know precisely what to do if they have any concerns about a child’s safety or well-being. You keep careful records about concerns raised and you ensure that these remain confidential and are stored securely. You make appropriate referrals, if needed, to external agencies. Where there are ongoing concerns, you ensure that additional support and help are provided for affected pupils. This support has a positive impact, as noted by the work seen in pupils’ books. Together with your governors, you carry out rigorous checks on staff before their appointment, to ensure that they are safe to work with children.

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Short inspection of Hampton Lucy CofE Primary School

Pupils feel safe in school. They have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. The regular reminders of ‘Who is on your hand to ask?’ displayed on posters around school, and taught regularly in assembly, serve as important prompts to encourage pupils to tell someone if they are worried about something. Each digit represents a listener who pupils should be able to name and talk to. Regular activities, including the ‘taking care’ project, anti-bullying week, and internet safety workshops for pupils and parents, reinforce the key message about keeping safe.

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Inspection findings

 You, your leadership team and governing body work together as a cohesive team. Regular checks are carried out to monitor the quality of teaching and identify pupils who are in need of additional support. You and your staff have a detailed knowledge of all pupils and their individual needs. These needs are successfully addressed through good-quality teaching and specialist or additional help. As a result, pupils make good progress as they move through the school and reach standards which are above average in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6. In 2016, the proportion achieving the level expected and working at greater depth was above the national average in all subjects.  Governors make an effective contribution to the leadership and management within the school. They are knowledgeable and committed to bringing about further improvement. You ensure that governors are kept well informed

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Inspection findings

through meetings and the reports you provide. Other senior leaders also report regularly to the governing body, demonstrating the school’s commitment to accountability. Governors have created their own ‘score card’ to assess their own performance and monitor the progress of the school. They are instrumental in formulating the school learning improvement plan. However, further work is needed to ensure that the plan covers the most pressing priorities for the school and contains measurable, interim milestones to enable governors to evaluate leaders’ actions on a regular basis.  Most children join the early years with skills and knowledge which are typical for their age. Mathematics is an area of strength while writing skills are slightly weaker on entry. Children settle quickly and enjoy the creative activities provided, for example filling cups with pretend snow or building rockets from construction kits. Adults provide good levels of support and

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Inspection findings

question children effectively to check their understanding and extend their language ability. As a result, children make good progress in the combined Nursery and Reception class. However, girls make more rapid progress than boys, especially in reading and writing. This is because adults do not always check that boys access as many opportunities to develop their fine motor skills or literacy activities as girls. Over time, girls have attained higher than boys in reading and writing.  Pupils’ writing ability is developing well. Children learn to form letters with flicks in the early years and cursive handwriting is introduced in Year 2. All pupils use ink by Year 3. Teachers pay good attention to pupils’ use of grammar, punctuation and spelling when marking pupils’ work and teach this systematically alongside regular phonics work. Good levels of challenge are provided, including for the most able, for example in the ‘100-word challenge’.

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Inspection findings

Accounts written must be exactly 100 words. This sharpens pupils’ ability to be precise and succinct in their work. However, progress in writing is slightly weaker than in reading and mathematics, especially for boys. This is because, on occasion, some boys copy out the same work and do not edit and improve their writing as frequently as girls. Additionally, opportunities for pupils to write at length and apply the skills learned are limited. This reduces pupils’ progress rates. The school’s own assessment information shows that boys attain less well than girls in most year groups, especially in writing. Progress rates in key stage 2 are also slower for boys in most subjects.  You have made good use of the additional funding you receive for disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Funding is used to access specialist teaching, sports coaching and peripatetic teaching. This enables all pupils to achieve as well as their peers

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Inspection findings

and other pupils nationally and be fully included in school life. While there are only a very small number of disadvantaged pupils in the school, they all make good progress and receive good-quality teaching and support, both in lessons and through one-to-one intervention sessions. You have a higher proportion of pupils with educational, health and care plans or statements than other schools nationally. These pupils often have complex additional needs. You and your staff have managed the transition of those transferring from special school to mainstream school successfully, so that pupils settle quickly. Their needs are carefully assessed and specialist teaching, equipment and support are provided. This enables these pupils to reach their potential and achieve well.  Attendance for the large majority of pupils is above average. However, there are a small number of pupils who have special educational needs and/or

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Inspection findings

disabilities who only attend school on a part-time basis. These pupils are known as ‘flexi-scholars’. Work is provided for these pupils by the local authority, who authorise the part-time timetable. However, because these pupils remain on the school register full time, their absence has a negative impact on whole-school attendance figures, and particularly the attendance of groups, such as disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. While published attendance figures appear below average, these figures are misleading due to the disproportionate effect the absence of these pupils have. Leaders and office staff are rigorous in checking attendance of all pupils and swift action is taken where pupils’ attendance becomes a concern.

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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 raises the achievement of boys across the school, including in the early years, especially in writing  the school improvement plan sets out precise and measurable targets focused on the achievement of key groups of pupils. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Coventry, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Warwickshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

Lines of enquiry pursued during this inspection focused on:

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Information about the inspection

 the quality of provision in the early years, especially for boys  the rates of progress in writing in key stage 2, especially for boys  how well leaders and governors use additional funding to support vulnerable pupils and whether school improvement plans are effective  how leaders monitor the attendance of pupil groups, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities  the effectiveness of safeguarding procedures.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, your assistant headteacher and subject leader and four members of the governing body. I discussed the work of the school with you, including the processes and procedures in place for safeguarding. You joined me on visits to all classrooms. I spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at the work in their books. I listened to pupils read and met with older pupils to gather their views about the school.

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Information about the inspection

I looked at a range of school documents, including the school’s information about pupils’ achievement and attendance. I also reviewed the school’s own evaluation of its work, together with the learning improvement plan. I took account of the 30 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. Additional information was collected from parents at the end of the school day, together with the governors’ own surveys of parents’ views. There were 12 responses to the staff questionnaire and 32 responses to the pupil questionnaire. Their views were fully considered.

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