Hawkesley Church Primary Academy

Hawkesley Church Primary Academy 376 Shannon Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham, West Midlands B38 9TR

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a school that requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The quality of teaching is inconsistent. This means that pupils do not make the progress they are capable of.  Outcomes are not yet securely good in mathematics because the most able pupils are not taught harder skills sufficiently well.  Across a range of subjects, pupils do not apply their writing skills accurately and consistently.  Pupils who need to develop their reading skills more than their peers, do not use their secure phonics skills well when reading new texts.  Last year, pupils left the school having made very weak progress, particularly in reading. Pupils had also made weak progress in reading by the end of key stage 1.  Leaders at all levels do not check rigorously that pupils are making sufficient progress in order to attain the standards expected of them.  Pupils’ attendance has improved this year. The school has implemented a range of strategies designed to improve attendance. However, the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

overall rate remains below the national average.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher, has ensured that teaching and behaviour have improved since the last inspection.  Leadership of the early years and that for supporting pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, have improved over the past two years.  Disadvantaged pupils are making better progress this year than previously.  Pupils attained well last year in the Year 1 phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) screening check, and continue to do so this year.  Staff are effective in their work in supporting pupils to make the best behavioural choices. They provide time and strategies for pupils to think for themselves and make their own decisions.  The school’s work to keep pupils safe is effective.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen teaching, so that pupils make better progress through each year group, by: – teaching higher order skills effectively to the most able pupils – expecting pupils to accurately apply their grammar, punctuation and handwriting skills consistently in all forms of writing across a range of subjects and checking that they do this – checking that lower-attaining pupils apply their well-rehearsed phonic skills to decode unfamiliar words in order to read more fluently.  Continue to develop leaders at all levels to enable them to carry out more rigorous evaluation of the quality of teaching.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Senior and subject leaders do not check rigorously that teaching is consistently good. As a result, pupils do not make the progress they are capable of. Leaders monitor the quality of teaching better now than at the time of the previous inspection. They have a better understanding of strengths and weaknesses.  The impact of subject leaders’ work with individual teachers remains inconsistent. Leaders do not focus rigorously enough on how well teaching addresses the needs of pupils who have different prior attainment in reading, writing and mathematics. This means that there is variability in the effectiveness of teaching across different year groups and subjects.  Senior leaders have ensured that school performance has improved over the past two years. For example, they have ensured that pupil premium funding has led to disadvantaged pupils making stronger rates of progress. However, the quality of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

teaching and the outcomes for different groups of pupils are not yet consistently good.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher demonstrate strong ambition for the Hawkesley school community. They are passionate and committed to improving pupils’ opportunities, both during their time at the school and after they leave. They communicate the importance of education to pupils and parents well. Despite this, pupils’ attendance remains below the national average.  Leaders have ensured that their curriculum promotes school values effectively. Pupils’ daily activities, including breakfast and after-school clubs, support pupils’ understanding of responsibility and of being respectful. During the inspection, pupils talked to inspectors and showed that such values are embedded in the work of the school. For example, pupils valued how staff celebrate the achievements of all pupils and that classmates acknowledge the success of others.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 The curriculum, including extra-curricular activities, supports pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. Pupils adhere to fundamental British values in their day-to-day work. Pupils understand the importance of being tolerant and respectful of others and their views. The school is effective in tackling discrimination. The curriculum is effective in this regard.  Since the last inspection, leadership has been strengthened. The capacity for further improvement is in place. There is a broader leadership team, with more leaders empowered and given time to drive improvement. All leaders contribute to the professional development of individual staff. They reflect on advice provided by external consultants, including those from the diocese, and use this in their development work with staff. This has contributed well to improved teaching performance. However, there is still more work to do.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

 Leaders who have responsibility for provision in the early years, and for those pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are effective. This is because both leaders have checked rigorously that relevant staff support and challenge pupils well. This has led to pupils achieving desired outcomes. Leaders use special educational needs funding effectively.  The commitment of leaders in supporting pupils to make the right behavioural choices is evident. Pupils talk about how they can use different strategies to calm themselves down if they feel frustrated. This has led to a reduction in the number of significant behaviour incidents. Staff morale has increased as a result of such work.  The school uses its primary school physical education and sport funding well to meet the aim of getting pupils to be more physically active. Leaders evaluate this well, by monitoring which pupils are participating in different activities and encouraging those

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

who do not. Funding is spent on employing sports coaches who provide training for staff.

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Governance of the school

 Governance has improved over the past two years. It is more effective in holding leaders to account for school performance.  Governors have a better understanding of teaching performance and how well this relates to pupils’ progress. They reflect on written reports provided by school leaders and reports from their visits to school. This helps governors to make informed decisions about teachers’ salary progression.  A review of governance was conducted following a recommendation from the previous inspection. The review enabled governors to reflect on their committee structure and make informed changes. The current committee structure helps governors to hold the school more effectively to account. They do not yet have a secure understanding of how well pupils of different abilities are making progress.  Each governor has specific responsibilities. For example, one governor finds out about and reports to the governing body on the effectiveness of pupil premium funding.

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Governance of the school

Governors can now talk with confidence about how the funding is spent and the standards that disadvantaged pupils attain.  Governors have explored ways to engage parents more in the work of the school. Governors attend parents’ evenings and talk with parents in order to gain parental views about their school. As a result of such work, parents are more aware of the school’s work.

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Safeguarding

 The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  New staff to the school are inducted well. Leaders provide staff with important information and policies before they begin their roles. Staff are aware of the importance of following and using such guidance. Consequently, staff adhere to school safeguarding processes.  Pupils feel, and are, safe at Hawkesley. They understand what the school does to keep them safe. Staff supervise pupils well at all times of the school day, including at the breakfast club. Pupils know that they can talk to staff about any concerns they might have and that staff will take such concerns seriously. This is because pupils and staff have developed a culture of trust.  Leaders have implemented robust procedures for identifying and dealing with safeguarding concerns. Leaders listen and record any issues raised by pupils, staff and parents about pupils’ welfare. They make sure that any issues of concern are followed

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

 The quality of teaching is inconsistent. Typically, challenging work given to higher- ability pupils in mathematics is not effective. In reading and writing, expectations of what pupils can achieve are not embedded.  In mathematics, the tasks presented to the most able pupils do not challenge this group as well as they could. Tasks which require pupils to solve problems are delivered as part of sequences of lessons. However, the higher order skills which pupils need to tackle such work are not explicitly taught. For example, in one lesson pupils were presented with complex problems involving time. They struggled, as they were not taught the skills required to solve the problems well.  Teachers do not consistently make expectations clear to pupils when pupils write. When teachers read what the pupils have written, they do not check that pupils accurately use specific skills already taught and secured. These skills include

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

handwriting and grammar, punctuation and spelling. This is the case across a range of writing in different subjects. This means that pupils are not embedding key skills throughout the school day.  Pupils who need to develop their reading skills more quickly than their peers in order to reach age-related expectations do not make sufficient progress. These pupils have secured good phonic skills, owing to effective teaching. However, they do not use these skills to decode unfamiliar words in the books they are reading. This means that they do not read fluently. Teachers and teaching assistants are not as rigorous as they could be in checking that pupils consistently apply these skills when reading aloud.  Teaching has improved since the headteacher took up post. Teachers make more accurate judgements about pupils’ performance, and use this information to plan more effectively. Variability of the impact of teaching on the progress of different groups of

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

pupils prevents teaching from being securely good.  As a result of effective use of funding, disadvantaged pupils are taught better this year than previously. Much of the funding is spent on additional teaching assistant hours. Despite improvement, disadvantaged pupils do not make the progress required to attain the standards expected of them.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are taught well. Staff, most notably teaching assistants, understand the barriers individual pupils face in their learning. Intervention work is sharply focused on addressing these barriers. The school leader monitors the impact of this teaching well, making changes when necessary.  Teaching in the early years is good. Teachers and teaching assistants agree what is to be taught to different groups of pupils. Staff are skilled in asking children probing questions which require them to think deeply about their work. Staff challenge children

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

well in both the indoor and outdoor areas. For example, in a bridge-building activity, children had to think carefully and work collaboratively in order to span a gap using limited resources.  This year, teachers have more time to help pupils learn in lessons. This is because pupils’ behaviour in classrooms has improved and so less time is taken up by dealing with inappropriate behaviour. Where behavioural strategies are implemented most effectively, pupils step up to expectations of staff. They show this by demonstrating a strong commitment to their learning and pride in the way they present work in their books, for example using accurate and neat handwriting. However, variability remains.  School leaders have considered how homework can be used to engage parents more in their children’s learning. Activity choices are given to families; the activities encourage parents and pupils to develop and use their own skills in order to respond to

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

challenges. For example, some parents prefer to build models, while others explore cooking recipes. Homework is more effective this year. However, leaders acknowledge that more time is needed to embed this way of developing learning in the home.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is well promoted. Staff frequently talk with pupils, encouraging them to respect the views of their classmates and those from various cultures in Britain today. Pupils talk articulately about what they have learned.  Hawkesley is very inclusive. The headteacher warmly welcomes pupils who may have experienced behavioural difficulties in previous placements. Staff are effective in their work to support pupils who are more vulnerable in terms of behavioural and specific learning needs. There is a strong moral purpose at the school.  Pupils hold positive views about their school. Pupils talk about the effectiveness of the school’s work in helping them stay safe both in and out of school. For example, they are taught about how to stay safe when playing online. They know about homophobic

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Personal development and welfare

language and say that school staff deal with this well if it arises.  The school’s work in supporting pupils’ emotional and physical well-being is effective. All staff help pupils believe in their own abilities by encouraging them to be aspirational thinkers. As a result, pupils are confident learners.  Bullying is rare. This is because pupils respond well to the staff’s work in promoting school values. Staff provide effective care, guidance and support for pupils. As a result, pupils understand the damage that bullying can cause and look out for each other at breaktimes and lunchtimes.  The number of exclusions has reduced this year, but the proportion remains above the national average. When a pupil is permanently excluded, senior leaders ensure that the decision is fully merited and that all actions are fully documented. Fixed-term exclusions serve to support pupils in changing their behavioural choices. Repeated poor

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Behaviour has improved over the past two years. Pupils respond well to the school’s commitment to its values and expectations as opposed to rules. This helps pupils reflect on their own behaviour and make better choices as time moves on.  Pupils, parents and staff express positive views about behaviour. During discussions with inspectors and in relevant surveys, each group stated that incidents of poor behaviour were dealt with well by the school. They were very supportive of the headteacher.  Staff and leaders are vigilant in looking out for and recording all unwanted behaviour, including low-level incidents. This attention to detail enables leaders to reflect on where and when such behaviours occur. The variety of subsequent strategies used support pupils well in making the right choices.  Attendance remains stubbornly below average. Leaders have ensured that increasing

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Behaviour

absence rates have been halted this year. They have also been effective in reducing the number of pupils who are persistently absent and in improving punctuality. This is because leaders have implemented a variety of strategies designed to support parents in their understanding of the importance of their children attending school regularly. School leaders and governors are relentless in their pursuit of high attendance.  Pupils’ attitudes to learning, despite improving, are variable. This is owing to inconsistent challenge and expectations in lessons. Similarly, disruption around school is now increasingly rare. Pupils’ conduct around school is good, as pupils typically step up to the high expectations of staff.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 Last year, pupils with low prior starting points were not well prepared for their move into Year 7. Pupils did not achieve well in reading, writing or mathematics, most notably in reading. At the end of key stage 1, pupils’ attainment in reading and mathematics was lower than in writing.  Prior to this academic year, pupils’ progress rates were not rapid enough to enable pupils to make up lost ground owing to weaker teaching. Although pupils’ progress this year is better than that seen previously, the progress of different ability groups is not consistently good.  The large majority of pupils are disadvantaged. This means that pupils from different groups, including those who need to catch up and the most able, are mostly disadvantaged. More effective teaching this year is enabling these pupils to make better progress. However, the strengths and weaknesses identified in teaching correlate closely with the performance of this group.

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

 The most able pupils make better progress in reading and writing than in mathematics. This is because these pupils are not tackling harder work as well as they should in mathematics. As a result, progress rates are not what they need to be in order for pupils to exceed age-related expectations.  Standards of pupils’ writing are inconsistent between year groups. This is because pupils do not use their writing skills across different subjects accurately. This means that pupils are not demonstrating enough evidence that they are working securely at the required levels.  The proportion of pupils reading securely in key stages 1 and 2 is not as high as it could be. This is owing to the lower-ability pupils not applying their well-developed phonics skills in their reading tasks. These pupils do not read sufficiently fluently and so do not read the required amount of text in the time available.  This year, subject leaders are better able to evaluate how teaching is helping pupils to

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

make better progress. The school has been successful in addressing most gaps in progress rates between boys and girls.  Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve well. Effective leadership and teaching results in these pupils making good progress in relation to their specific needs and starting points. The leader of the provision for this group of pupils is ambitious for pupils to reach the standards they are capable of attaining.  Children’s achievement in the early years has been good since the time of the last inspection. This academic year, children are making better rates of progress than previously. Staff understand the importance of using the knowledge they have gleaned about children’s current performance and subsequently providing activities which challenge them further.  A greater proportion of pupils attained the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check last year than in previous years. This was similar to the national

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Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

average. This year the proportion is likely to rise. Over the past three years, girls have attained particularly well.  Pupils at Hawkesley have a wide range of experiences; this fulfils the requirements of the national curriculum. Leaders have been determined to improve progress in reading, writing and mathematics. It is less clear how well pupils are acquiring subject skills and understanding in different subjects.

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Early years provision Good

 Senior leaders and the early years leader have a good understanding of what an effective early years environment looks like. They use this understanding to work together to ensure that children receive good-quality teaching.  The early years leader is ambitious for the children and their families. She uses her substantial experience to work with her staff team to create and deliver an effective curriculum. All early years staff work well together on planning and evaluating teaching effectiveness.  Teaching is effective. Staff assessments of how well children acquire skills are accurate. This is owing to staff honing their assessment skills effectively during school-based and external meetings. This means they also have a good understanding of gaps in children’s learning and work well as a staff team to ensure that children have opportunities to address these.  Behaviour is good. Children are encouraged to explore their own interests. They are

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Early years provision Good

motivated in both the indoor and outdoor environments. There are very few examples of poor behaviour because children are engaged well in their learning. Staff expectations of good behaviour are embedded, most notably in the Nursery environment.  Parents contribute well to the early years provision. They share information about their child’s interests and abilities with staff. This detail is captured in the ‘all about me’ books, which the children are very proud of. Staff use this knowledge to modify the environment and provide activities which engage children well.  Over time, children enter the early years with language and number skills that are lower than is typical for their age. Staff consider and implement advice from external agencies. For example, speech and language advice has led to more language-rich activities designed to increase children’s range of vocabulary. Children made good progress last year, and are continuing to do so this year. As a result, children are well

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Early years provision Good

prepared for their learning in Year 1, especially in reading, writing and mathematics.  Since the time of the previous inspection, the early years leader has more time funded to work with colleagues to consider how to improve provision further. The leader, who teaches the Nursery children, has a good understanding of the effectiveness of the current provision. This year, all Reception staff are new to the school or to this year group. The leader has ensured that time is dedicated to working with these colleagues to ensure that effective practice is shared between both year groups. The leader is aware that in both Nursery and Reception, children need to be given more opportunities to demonstrate their higher-level skills across the full range of the curriculum.

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address enquiry@hawkesley.bham.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11–12 March 2015

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Information about this school

 The school is sponsored by the Diocese of Birmingham Education Trust.  Hawkesley is an average-sized primary school.  Children are taught in one part-time Nursery class and one full-time Reception class. In key stages 1 and 2, pupils are taught in single-age classes.  A breakfast club for pupils is provided by the governing body. It was observed as part of this inspection.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is well above the national average.  The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is similar to the national average. About three quarters of the pupils are White British.  Approximately 10% of pupils have a first language that is not English, which is below the national average.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is similar to the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum

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Information about this school

expectations for attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.  The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes and visited a number of small group intervention sessions. They visited 11 lessons, four of which were observed jointly with senior and other leaders.  Meetings were held with pupils, staff, governors and a representative from the diocesan school improvement service.  Inspectors talked to pupils about their reading and listened to both higher- and lower- ability pupils read.  Inspectors examined work in pupils’ books.  The school’s child protection and safeguarding procedures were scrutinised.  Inspectors observed the work of the school and looked at a range of documentation written to support school improvement, including minutes from meetings of the governing body.  Inspectors were unable to take account of Ofsted’s online Parent View questionnaire, owing to an insufficient number of responses. The school provided information from its own parental surveys and inspectors spoke with parents.

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Information about this inspection

 Staff expressed their views in discussion with inspectors and via an online survey.

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Inspection team

Jeremy Bird, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Devinder Riat Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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