Haresfield Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs Rachel Bacon Headteacher Haresfield Church of England Primary School Haresfield Stonehouse Gloucestershire GL10 3EF

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Short inspection of Haresfield Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 7 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 May 2013.

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Short inspection of Haresfield Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. As headteacher, you have created a welcoming and nurturing atmosphere where relationships are positive and pupils’ behaviour is good. Staff are proud to work at this school and fully support the new initiatives that have been put in place over the last year to strengthen teaching.

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Short inspection of Haresfield Church of England Primary School

The previous inspection recommended that teaching should be improved by sharing expertise and observing best practice to ensure that pupils are fully challenged in their learning. Through the recent partnership formed with four local schools, you have provided a range of training and professional development for staff. This has enabled them to work collaboratively and share best practice. For example, you have strengthened phonics teaching in the Reception year and key stage 1. As a result of effective teaching, pupils make faster progress in all classes and most pupils achieve the standards expected for their age.

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Short inspection of Haresfield Church of England Primary School

You have, through focused teaching each day, successfully improved pupils’ ability to reason and solve problems in mathematics. Teachers increasingly set work that stretches pupils’ mathematical thinking to the full, especially in key stage 2. This is not yet achieved as well in key stage 1. Nonetheless, standards in mathematics have risen across the school and a greater number of Year 6 pupils are on track to achieve the highest standards this year.

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Short inspection of Haresfield Church of England Primary School

Following a dip in pupils’ performance in 2016, you have also ensured that pupils’ writing and their handwriting in key stage 1 have improved. You recognise that there is still further work to do in this respect. Sometimes pupils’ writing is let down by spelling errors and inaccurate punctuation. However, pupils are producing imaginative writing of increasing length and complexity.

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Short inspection of Haresfield Church of England Primary School

A key strength of the school is the engagement that pupils show in their learning. You and your staff have a deep understanding of pupils’ capabilities. You use this knowledge well to create a varied and engaging curriculum that inspires them to work hard and develop a love of learning.

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Short inspection of Haresfield Church of England Primary School

You and your governors ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and that records are detailed and of good quality. Staff have been suitably trained in the most recent changes to safeguarding procedures. Governors check regularly that staff follow their policy and procedures. Leaders understand how to recruit staff safely and they make certain before appointments start that thorough checks are completed to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children.

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Short inspection of Haresfield Church of England Primary School

Pupils’ attendance is high and punctuality is good. Your team works effectively with other schools to ensure that pupils whose families travel to other parts of the country for work fit seamlessly back into school life at Haresfield after periods of absence. Pupils say that they feel safe in school. Your colleagues teach them how to stay safe, for example not to give out personal details online to strangers.

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Inspection findings

During the inspection I met with you to discuss the school’s progress since the previous inspection. We agreed the following lines of enquiry: how well leaders are ensuring appropriate levels of challenge for the most able pupils in mathematics, the quality of phonics teaching in the early years and key stage 1, the progress made by pupils in writing, especially in key stage 1, and how well the school keeps pupils safe.

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Inspection findings

 While the most able pupils achieved the expected standards in mathematics in 2016 in both key stages 1 and 2, few exceeded them. As a result of recent staff training, teachers plan learning effectively to develop pupils’ fluency in calculation skills and in understanding of mathematical concepts. This is having a positive impact on their mastery of number and place value. Increasingly, teachers make sure that the most able pupils are required to reason and think more deeply. For example, the most able Year 6 pupils have an in-depth knowledge of fractions and decimals which they use competently to explain how to solve problems. The work in pupils’ books shows that more pupils in Year 6 are on track to reach higher standards. However, leaders acknowledge that the new strategies are not sufficiently embedded in day-to-day teaching for key stage 1 pupils to deepen their knowledge and mastery of mathematics.

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Inspection findings

 You have ensured that phonics are taught well. Teachers organise learning of letters and their sounds very precisely to meet pupils’ needs. Pupils are moved on quickly to a greater level of challenge or helped to catch up where necessary. As a result, in key stage 1, almost all pupils are on track to exceed the threshold in next term’s Year 1 phonics screening check. Older pupils read fluently and with obvious enjoyment. They use a range of strategies, including deploying their knowledge of phonics, to ensure that they read accurately and with clear understanding. They talk confidently about the different authors they prefer and are enthused by the new books they helped to choose for the school library.  Leaders have invested extensively in staff training and moderation to improve the quality of pupils’ writing, especially at key stage 1. During my visit, we looked at a wide range of pupils’ books and agreed that increasingly, pupils write at greater

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Inspection findings

length with a sense of purpose and a more accomplished handwriting style. They use their imagination well to create characters and atmosphere in their writing. It is evident that standards are rising across the school. However, mistakes in spelling are not corrected consistently and insufficient attention is paid to the use of accurate punctuation. Consequently, too few are writing at greater depth.  Pupils like coming to school and say ‘it’s as perfect as school can be’. Engaging topics, such as ‘Funny Bones’ and the enrichment activities, such as the residential visit to Osmington Bay, reinforce this enjoyment and enhance their learning. Pupils live out the school’s aims, ‘do your best, encourage others and never give up’, in the way they listen attentively to teachers, help classmates with their work and apply themselves diligently to their tasks.

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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

 progress across key stage 1 continues to accelerate so more pupils go on to reach higher standards in mathematics by the end of Year 2  pupils’ writing continues to improve, particularly in their spelling and more accurate use of punctuation.

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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 Gloucester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Gloucestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you and discussed the school’s self-evaluation, information about pupils’ progress and improvements since the previous inspection. Together, we observed learning in classrooms and looked at a large number of pupils’ books. I heard several pupils of differing abilities read. I met with pupils from key stage 1 and key stage 2 to talk about their experience of school. Meetings were held with middle leaders, the designated leader for safeguarding and with two governors. I also spoke with a representative of the local authority. I looked at a range of written evidence, including documents relating to safeguarding and attendance information. I took account of the views expressed by 28 parents who completed the online questionnaire and their written comments, and the views of the ten staff who returned a questionnaire.

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