Hazlewood Community Primary School

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

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Mr Stephane Bommel Headteacher Hazlewood Community Primary School Canterbury Way Wideopen Newcastle-upon-Tyne Tyne and Wear NE13 6JJ

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Short inspection of Hazlewood Community Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 7 June 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 February 2013.

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Short inspection of Hazlewood Community Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Since your appointment as headteacher and arrival in the school last September, you have quickly provided a renewed sense of vision and purpose. Members of staff feel reinvigorated and are striving hard to achieve the best possible outcomes for pupils. Most parents are delighted with the quality of education being provided and with the genuine efforts being made to keep them informed and involved in their child’s learning and development.

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Short inspection of Hazlewood Community Primary School

The visioning day you led at the start of your tenure provided a much-needed sense of direction for all members of staff and the governors. Your philosophy is now firmly embedded in the school’s vision of ‘limitless potential’, ‘igniting passion’ and ‘embracing difference’. Since then you have accurately evaluated the school’s performance and put in place effective planning that is helping members of staff to focus on the most pressing areas for improvement. You, other leaders and the governors are making regular checks on the quality of pupils’ work and are providing teachers with helpful feedback to refine their practice. This is ensuring that all teaching, over time, is delivering consistently good outcomes for pupils. You have created a culture where teachers feel supported, able to take risks and keen to share their practice with one another.

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Short inspection of Hazlewood Community Primary School

Teachers are also benefiting from the more frequent professional development opportunities and initiatives you have introduced. For example, the focus on improving the quality of pupils’ writing is already bearing fruit. New approaches you have introduced are encouraging pupils, especially the boys, to write at greater length and with more expression and colour. Your most experienced teachers who are using these approaches successfully are providing support for less experienced teachers. Across the school, the vast majority of pupils take care to present their work well and take pride in the quality of their handwriting.

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Short inspection of Hazlewood Community Primary School

Pupils feel happy and safe at school. They conduct themselves well and cooperate effectively in lessons to support one another’s learning. Most attend regularly, and overall attendance for this year is in line with the national average. You have worked hard to engage the families who have allowed their children to miss school persistently in the past, and have successfully reduced the number of children who attend school less than 90% of the time.

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Short inspection of Hazlewood Community Primary School

As a new headteacher, you have prioritised the safeguarding and protection of pupils and attended all necessary training to develop your own understanding of statutory requirements and good practice. Together with the governors and your local authority development partner, you have audited the school’s safeguarding arrangements and made improvements. Policies have been sharpened and clear guidance has been provided for all members of staff via the school safeguarding handbook, regular training sessions and displays around the school. All members of staff are vigilant and know what to do if they have any concerns for a pupil’s safety.

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Short inspection of Hazlewood Community Primary School

You have good working relationships with local authority safeguarding teams in both North Tyneside and Newcastle. You and your team work closely with these agencies to coordinate the care for the most vulnerable pupils. You have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and detailed records of good quality are maintained.

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Inspection findings

 In recent years, pupils have entered the school with broadly typical levels of development and left at the end of Year 6 with levels of attainment above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. While this represents good progress overall, the proportion of pupils attaining the higher standard at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 has been variable. In this inspection I looked closely at the progress of pupils currently in the school to see if this was still the case. It is clear your focus on improving the quality of teaching has raised expectations and members of staff are doing more to challenge pupils’ thinking. In most year groups your assessment information and the work in books shows that pupils are making accelerated progress. However, there is still some variability and you are rightly providing pupils with additional support in those year groups where rates of progress are weaker.

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Inspection findings

 You have worked with the staff to agree some basic practices governing the planning and delivery of lessons and the use of assessment. These non- negotiables are being delivered consistently across the school. Good training has been provided to improve outcomes in writing. Classrooms are being redeveloped to include ‘learning walls’, with relevant displays to guide pupils towards quality outcomes. Reading areas have been introduced into every classroom, which are more overtly promoting the importance of reading for pleasure. Pupils of all ages are avid readers and are prepared to tackle challenging texts as soon as they feel capable. Teachers told me they are benefiting from the increased professional development opportunities and the regular feedback that they are receiving.  Most pupils make good progress in mathematics, although a below average proportion of pupils attained the higher standard last year. Teachers ensure that

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Inspection findings

basic skills are regularly revisited and practised to develop pupils’ confidence and fluency in calculation. While pupils do get some opportunities to apply their mathematical knowledge to problems, teachers do not consistently challenge pupils to explain their reasoning. You have recognised this and want to do more to increase the level of challenge in mathematics.  The governors share your ambition to become an outstanding school. They are providing good support to move the school forward. They are well informed about the school because your reports provide them with relevant information and they make regular visits to see the school at work for themselves. In addition, the school development partner has worked with them to highlight priorities and strengths. They have acted to improve the school website, which now meets government requirements, and strengthened the breakfast club and after-school provision for the benefit of the community. Governors do not,

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Inspection findings

however, scrutinise pupil progress information thoroughly enough. More robust and more regular scrutiny would enable them to hold you and other leaders more tightly to account for pupil outcomes.  Disadvantaged pupils make similar or better progress to their peers in the school. Teachers are quick to provide well-targeted support in the early years, and good additional support for reading ensures that disadvantaged pupils quickly secure strong phonics skills. You are currently reviewing your strategy for the use of the pupil premium and primary sports funding to ensure that disadvantaged pupils continue to make strong progress in all areas of their education. Currently, there are a few disadvantaged pupils whose progress is hampered by weaker attendance.

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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

 the proportion of pupils attaining the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics, particularly at the end of Year 2, increases to be consistently above the national average  the teaching of mathematics is enhanced by ensuring that pupils are consistently required to apply their knowledge by solving challenging mathematical problems  the governing body holds leaders to account for pupil outcomes through the robust scrutiny of pupil progress data at each assessment point across the year. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for North Tyneside. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During this one-day inspection I discussed the work of the school with you and other leaders. We visited classrooms together, spoke to pupils about their learning and sampled some of their books. I met with a group of pupils and listened to them read. I looked closely at a selection of books with the English and mathematics leaders. I also met with some teachers and six members of the governing body to discuss their work in the school. I met with a group of parents and looked at the 57 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) to gather parental views. I also looked at the nine responses to the online staff survey and the 65 responses to the online pupil survey. I looked at a range of documentation including the school’s self- evaluation and improvement planning, policies and other information available on the school website. I focused particularly on the progress of pupils currently in the

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Information about the inspection

school, how effectively teachers were being supported to develop their practice and the contribution of governors in supporting and challenging you as a new headteacher.

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