Hazelwood Junior School

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

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Ms Nicky Ross Headteacher Hazelwood Junior School Hazelwood Lane London N13 5HE

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Short inspection of Hazelwood Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 24 April 2018, 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 July 2014.

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Short inspection of Hazelwood Junior School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You work diligently and effectively with a committed team of leaders who share your ambition for the pupils. Since the previous inspection, you have successfully set about raising expectations so that pupils make good progress and are well prepared for the next stage of their learning, when they leave Hazelwood Junior School. You have been particularly effective in identifying and developing leadership talent. This is coming to the fore where skilled leaders are working effectively with other staff to secure improvements in pupils’ social, emotional and academic outcomes. You and other leaders have high aspirations for the pupils and do not accept any excuses. As a result, pupils make strong progress, often from low starting points.

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Short inspection of Hazelwood Junior School

Governors and the local authority acknowledge your success in addressing challenges and any weaknesses in the school. The appointment of assistant headteachers has strengthened leadership further. You ensure that teaching, learning and assessment are of a high quality. You carefully evaluate the impact of your strategies on pupils’ outcomes. You and your leadership team hold regular meetings with teachers to ensure that pupils are set suitably demanding work, or receiving the most appropriate help to enable them to succeed. As a result, pupils are motivated and well supported to make good progress. You act swiftly when you identify any weaknesses in teaching. These are remedied speedily through focused support, delivered by senior and middle leaders through tailored professional development. Pupils enjoy coming to school and they feel that they are well taught. Similarly, most parents and carers are supportive of the school and views commonly

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Short inspection of Hazelwood Junior School

expressed through Ofsted’s survey (Parent View) included, ‘My child is thriving at this school’ and ‘The leaders and teachers are doing a great job.’

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Short inspection of Hazelwood Junior School

Since the previous inspection, you have worked well to tackle areas identified for development. Most significantly, to continue to raise achievement, you have raised the expectations of staff and pupils. As a result, in 2017 pupils’ progress in key stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. In addition, pupils’ basic skills are being developed well across a wide range of subjects.

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Short inspection of Hazelwood Junior School

We agreed that there are some areas for you and other leaders to improve. These include developing and strengthening pupils’ handwriting and language skills so as to improve the quality of writing further. In addition, we agreed that some disadvantaged pupils do not make average progress.

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Short inspection of Hazelwood Junior School

You ensure that pupils are kept safe through a strong culture for safeguarding and promote pupils’ emotional, physical and mental well-being. Staff said that the safety of the child is paramount at the school. This is an ethos and belief shared by all. You ensure that all safeguarding requirements are robust and effective, including vetting staff before you employ them and keeping all staff training up to date. As a result, staff know what to do to keep pupils safe and how to raise any concerns quickly. Staff are diligent in holding other professional agencies to account so that vulnerable pupils receive timely support and care, when needed.

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Short inspection of Hazelwood Junior School

Pupils said they feel safe and trust staff. They are happy and feel well supported in school. You work closely with a designated pastoral support team that, together with other staff, works hard to meet the needs of the pupils fully to help them succeed.

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Inspection findings

 My first key line of enquiry focused on pupils’ progress in Years 3 and 4.  I found that progress in some Year 3 classes is considerably weaker than in other year groups. This is because teaching does not routinely take into consideration pupils’ prior knowledge and work is not varied sufficiently to meet pupils’ needs.  Leaders have developed a plan of action focused on continuous development of teaching to improve pupils’ outcomes and diminish the differences that exist between these pupils and their peers.  Effective and timely interventions help pupils to read well, and to apply what they have learned in their written work. For example, some pupils in key stage 2 showed me where they have used powerful language such as ‘emotive’, ‘rhetorical’ and ‘exaggerated’ in their own work to add depth and meaning to their writing.  Teaching is precise and effective in identifying gaps and addressing any

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Inspection findings

weaknesses in pupils’ knowledge and understanding in Years 5 and 6. This is not generally the case in some classes in Years 3 and 4, where some pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities make weaker progress, compared to the others.  The quality and presentation of pupils’ handwriting is not routinely good. Pupils are not typically challenged or supported to write neatly, legibly and fluently. This holds back some disadvantaged pupils from achieving fluency in their writing.  The second key line of enquiry focused on how well leaders ensure that teaching provides challenge for the most able pupils and disadvantaged pupils. This is because the proportion of disadvantaged pupils that achieved the expected standard in reading and writing in 2017 was below that of others, nationally.  I found that teaching quality is variable and is not typically challenging in some year groups. As a result, some disadvantaged pupils do not produce the work

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Inspection findings

they are capable of. Equally, teaching in some year groups does not routinely challenge the most able pupils.  In Years 5 and 6, teaching helps pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding across most subjects. As a result, pupils understand and can explain what they are learning. For example, in Year 5 classes pupils confidently articulate their understanding of challenging texts and demonstrate excellent behaviour for learning.  Most teachers make good use of various resources to make learning interesting and to motivate pupils. In one science class, pupils enjoyed investigating organs in the body and linking their findings to the concepts of evolution.  My final key line of enquiry focused on the breadth and depth of the curriculum. I found that the school’s curriculum builds pupils’ skills, knowledge and understanding. It also focuses on developing their awareness of global issues.  Pupils enjoy learning a variety of diverse topics including learning about

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Inspection findings

evacuation during the Second World War and the preservation of rainforests. However, in science teaching does not routinely focus on encouraging scientific enquiry that deepens pupils’ experiences.

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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

 teachers challenge and improve the progress of disadvantaged pupils in writing, particularly in lower key stage 2, so that more pupils achieve average standards by the end of Year 6.

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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 Enfield. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

We agreed the timetable and activities for the inspection. I held meetings with you, senior and middle leaders. I sampled a range of pupils’ work and talked with pupils informally throughout the inspection. I scrutinised safeguarding records, and we discussed a wide range of related matters, including staff recruitment, training and vetting arrangements. I spoke to pupils about their views of safeguarding. I evaluated evidence that shows how you work with other agencies to keep children safe. I met with governors, including the chair of the governing body. I met with a representative of the local authority, and reviewed school documents, including the school’s self- evaluation summary and records of governors’ visits. I took account of the 67 responses to Parent View, as well as the 67 free-text responses received during the inspection, 17 responses from staff and 132 responses from pupils.

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