Hyde Church of England Primary School

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

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Mrs Julie Dalziell Headteacher Hyde Church of England Primary School Hyde Fordingbridge Hampshire SP6 2QL

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 5 July 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 December 2013.

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have capably led the school through a period of prolonged turbulence among both staff and governors. Year-group sizes and class organisation have also required careful strategic planning, owing to wide-ranging pupil numbers; for example, having two pupils in a year group up to a maximum of 10 in another. You have managed this well, placing what is best for pupils at the heart of decisions reached.

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

Pupils are enthusiastic about the school. They enjoy school and say that learning is ‘fun and the teachers are great’. When I asked a group of pupils what they would do to improve the school, they answered, ‘Nothing, it’s perfect already.’ Pupils behave extremely well in lessons and around the school. They are polite and welcoming and treat each other and adults with friendly respect. Pupils are keen to do well at your school and enjoy the full range of activities available, especially the music and drama productions in which all key stage 2 pupils participate. Despite all this, and the school’s work to improve attendance, persistent absence remains too high.

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

Parents are extremely happy with the school. The vast majority say that they would recommend it to another parent. They particularly value the school’s inclusive nature. One parent, reflecting the views of many, commented that, ‘Our children are lucky to go to this wonderful, caring, nurturing school. It really is so precious.’

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

You have effectively addressed the areas for improvement that inspectors identified in the previous inspection report. Spelling in key stage 2 is continuing to develop and improve. Evidence in books indicates that most pupils now readily apply their phonic knowledge to help them spell unfamiliar words. School data from standardised testing also shows that most pupils’ spelling has improved over the past few years. In key stage 1 and in early years, it is evident that pupils are keen to write, and that they effectively apply their phonic knowledge when using tricky words in their written work.

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

At the previous inspection, leaders were asked to ensure that there was a greater urgency in lessons to enable pupils to produce work of sufficient quality and quantity. Leaders and teaching staff have received timely support from the local authority to ensure that this area was addressed. As a result, pupils are now making at least good progress from their starting points. By the end of key stage 1, school information, work in books and moderation by external assessors indicate that pupils are making better progress than in the past. It also shows that more pupils are on course to achieve at a greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics than previously. Indications are that the rate of progress made by pupils by the end of key stage 2 will also improve this year.

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

The school has revamped its overall curriculum in an attempt to ensure that all subjects are covered appropriately. Until the new system is in place next year, and its impact has been monitored, leaders will not know how successful this has been.

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

Governors are now challenging leaders much more rigorously than in the past. Through regular monitoring visits, they have built a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They regularly challenge leaders, most recently about the effectiveness of the use of pupil premium funding and its impact. Governors are also passionate to ensure that the school has a viable future. Recently, they embarked on a successful campaign to attract more pupils to the school. This has resulted in all places in the Reception Year now being filled.

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

Pupils feel safe at school and parents are highly supportive of how the school cares for and nurtures their children. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. They can explain, in detail, the dangers of using chat rooms on the internet and the importance of keeping passwords safe. They are supervised well during break and lunchtimes, where they play enthusiastically and cooperatively. They understand the dangers of having open common land as a play area and the procedures they must follow if horses or donkeys come too close.

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Short inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School

Leaders and governors have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are secure and followed meticulously. Records are well maintained and up to date. All staff receive appropriate training in keeping pupils safe from all forms of abuse, including radicalisation. They know what actions to take should they have concerns about pupils’ welfare and, when necessary, have worked effectively with external agencies. The governor responsible for safeguarding regularly visits the school and checks that all records are maintained correctly and that both pupils and staff know the procedures for dealing with a variety of situations. All governors have received appropriate safeguarding training and two are trained in the safer recruitment of staff.

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Inspection findings

 During the inspection, we looked closely at specific aspects of the school’s provision: the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements; how effectively leaders ensure regular attendance for all pupils; the progress of disadvantaged pupils; the progress of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities; and the breadth, balance and accessibility of the curriculum provided.  Leaders have worked tirelessly to improve attendance figures. Advice from outside agencies has been sought and schemes have been introduced to encourage regular attendance. You have even picked pupils up in your car to ensure their attendance at school. You have had some success with these initiatives. Overall, attendance levels are now only slightly below the national average. However, the proportion of days lost through persistent absences is still above that found in other schools nationally. Meetings with parents to explain the

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Inspection findings

importance of good attendance, and intervention by outside agencies, have had only a limited impact. Leaders and governors are currently researching further strategies that will be implemented in the new academic year to reduce the number of persistent absentees.  There are a very small number of disadvantaged pupils at your school. As such, it is difficult to compare these with disadvantaged pupils nationally. You have used pupil premium funding effectively to enable some of these pupils to have pre- learning sessions which are having a positive impact on their progress. Some disadvantaged pupils also receive emotional support from your emotional support literacy assistant. One parent I spoke to was highly complimentary about the positive effect that this support has had on her child’s emotional development and learning behaviours, and subsequent academic progress. Work in books, interviews with pupils and school progress data show that those disadvantaged

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Inspection findings

pupils who do not have SEN and/or disabilities make similar or better progress to other pupils. Pupil premium funding is also used to ensure that these pupils play a full and active part in the school; for example, supporting their attendance on school trips and residential visits.  There are a small number of pupils who have been identified as having SEN and/or disabilities at your school. These pupils are carefully monitored, and work and interventions are tailored to their needs. As a result, work in books and school progress information show that these pupils are making good progress from their starting points.  Following a review of the curriculum during this academic year, you were concerned that some subject areas were not being covered sufficiently. You and another senior leader attended a national conference about curriculum development. As a result, with your staff, you have now completely revamped

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Inspection findings

the way the next academic year’s curriculum will be delivered to ensure that it is relevant to pupils at your school. For example, you have ensured that aspects of mathematics, design technology and science will be taught outside in your forest school, to fully utilise this resource on your doorstep. You have also recently invested in a system for tracking pupils’ progress across all subjects. This system has the potential, if properly monitored, to enable you and your staff to more readily identify pupils who are not making sufficient progress and to put interventions in place to address this.  The constraints of the school grounds, for example not having a hall or hard- standing area, have not detracted from the range of sports and physical education provided. By transporting pupils to the village hall for sports lessons and by making extensive use of the common for sporting activities, you have ensured that pupils have many opportunities to participate in physical activity.

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Inspection findings

You have recently been awarded the ‘Sports Mark’ gold award in recognition of this. You have also been creative in your use of the school’s sports funding, using it to support active learning and greater participation outdoors in your forest school.

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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

 rates of attendance match or exceed national averages for primary schools, with particular focus on those pupils who are persistently absent  the recently redesigned curriculum is carefully monitored to ensure that there is appropriate coverage of all subjects and pupils are achieving well in them.

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

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you on several occasions throughout the day to discuss the school’s effectiveness. Together, we observed learning in every year group and looked at pupils’ work. I met with five governors, including the chair of the governing body, and held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority. I met formally with a group of pupils and looked at a sample of their work. I reviewed a wide range of relevant information provided by the school or publicly available, including safeguarding documents and information about pupils’ attendance and performance. I considered 11 survey responses submitted by staff, 38 parental responses to Ofsted’s confidential online survey, Parent View, and 24 free-text responses. I spoke to several parents before school. I also considered 37 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.

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