Hanging Heaton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Hanging Heaton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School High Street, Hanging Heaton, Batley, West Yorkshire WF17 6DW

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Outcome

Hanging Heaton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior and Infant School continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that standards may be declining, as set out below.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers plan learning in a range of interesting topics. These include content from all the national curriculum subjects. Pupils enjoy taking part in activities that help bring learning to life. However, learning in subjects other than English is not well sequenced. As a result, pupils do not build on what they already know and can do well enough. The books that younger pupils read do not help them to become confident and fluent readers. This is particularly the case for those pupils who fall behind in reading.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults in school look after pupils very well. Pupils say that their teachers are kind and helpful. Pupils behave well most of the time and they say there is little bullying. Any incidents are sorted out quickly, especially when the headteacher helps. Most pupils try hard and are proud of their work.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy playing with friends of all ages. In the rainbow club they help each other to get better at sports. Pupils recently took part in a ‘vision day’. They worked together to learn about the school values. Pupils have many opportunities to learn about different faiths and cultures. They are very respectful towards people who are different to them.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Teachers plan learning to cover the objectives in the national curriculum for mathematics. However, some teachers do not plan what to teach and when in a logical order. Pupils do not learn essential mathematical knowledge well enough to help future learning. As a result, some pupils fall behind. Leaders make sure that these pupils are given help to catch up. However, this intervention is not enough to make sure that all pupils do as well as they should. 11 December 2019

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The school teaches foundation subjects through different topics. Recent work on the curriculum has ensured that pupils no longer repeat the same topics in the mixed-age classes. Work to improve the curriculum further is still at an early stage. Leaders do not yet have well sequenced plans in place. As a result, skills and knowledge are not taught in an order that helps pupils to build on prior learning.

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School leaders place a high value on reading for pleasure. Teachers read regularly to pupils. The books they read are carefully chosen. For example, children in the Reception class enjoy stories that include rhyme and repetition. Older pupils enjoyed a book called ‘Treason’ when they were learning about the Tudors. Pupils have reading challenges and look forward to the rewards they get for reading. For example, some pupils have made posters and shoe box scenes of their favourite books.

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Children begin to learn the sounds that letters represent (phonemes) as soon as they join the Reception class. Some children already know some of these before they start school. Staff teach children new phonemes accurately. However, reading books do not match the phonemes that children have already learned. As a result, children who fall behind do not get the practice they need to become fluent readers.

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Pupils enjoy the many interesting enrichment activities that teachers plan for them. For example, they remembered meeting the ‘herbwife’ on Tudor day. They learned how to make lavender posies. They knew that these were thought to help people to sleep and to make the laundry smell fresh. Pupils look forward to going on the residential visit to an outdoor activity centre.

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School leaders ensure that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well provided for. Leaders make sure that they are able to take part in everything the school has to offer.

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Most pupils behave very well, most of the time. Occasionally there is some silly behaviour in the classroom or in the playground. Pupils understand the rules about behaviour and say that they help them to do the right thing. Pupils say that there is little bullying in school. One pupil said how the headteacher had helped to sort things out when it did happen.

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Pupils are enthusiastic about the responsibilities they have in school. The school ambassadors talked about how they organise games at break times. Pupils care for each other and for others in the wider community. Some pupils had organised refreshments for the elderly people at the luncheon club. Pupils make friends with pupils of other faiths and cultures from partner schools. They enjoy meeting up and become penpals. Pupils were looking forward to raising money for a children’s charity on Christmas jumper day.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff and governors receive regular safeguarding training. Staff know each pupil very well. They know what to look out for and how to seek help if they are concerned. Leaders work 11 December 2019

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with outside agencies when necessary. They keep a close eye on things to make sure pupils remain safe.

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Leaders make sure that pupils know how to keep themselves safe online and in the wider world. Older pupils have watched a play about county lines. This helped them to understand how drug gangs target younger children. They recognise that this could happen in their own community.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have curriculum plans in place for mathematics that cover the national curriculum objectives for each year group. Although teachers use these plans to ensure that an appropriate range of objectives are taught, in some classes they do not sequence lessons, over time, in a way that helps pupils to embed, build on and use their prior learning. Leaders now need to make sure that curriculum plans for mathematics show a clear sequence of learning to guide teachers in teaching mathematical knowledge and skills more effectively.  Teachers and teaching assistants know how to model phonic sounds accurately and the activities which they plan to help pupils remember the sounds are appropriate. However, they are not aware of the high importance of matching reading books precisely to the phonics knowledge of children and pupils who need to develop early reading skills. Children in the Reception class who are just beginning to learn to read,

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

and those pupils in key stage 1 who need to catch up, get stuck on too many difficult words. Leaders must ensure that staff have up-to-date training in the teaching of phonics. Leaders should also make sure that reading books for all children and pupils who are learning to decode match the phonemes they already know, so they can have appropriate practice to become more confident and fluent readers.  Leaders have revisited curriculum plans for the foundation subjects to make sure that pupils in mixed-age classes are not repeating the same topics. However, the curriculum is not sequenced well enough for pupils to accumulate sufficient knowledge and skills to help with their future learning. Leaders should make sure that coherently sequenced curriculum plans are developed for all foundation subjects so that teachers know what to teach and when.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection 11 December 2019

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This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 16 June 2011.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you’re not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 11 December 2019

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School details

Inspection number 10110780 Type of school Infant and Junior

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Rebecca Beaumont

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9 February 2016

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average infant and junior school.  The school is a Church of England voluntary controlled school. The last section 48 inspection took place in May 2016.  The vast majority of pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils who are supported through the pupil premium grant is below the national average. The pupil premium grant is additional government funding to support those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and children who are looked after.  The proportion of pupils with SEND is below average.

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Information about this inspection

 We did deep dives in: reading, mathematics and science. This involved talking to subject leaders, visiting lessons, looking at pupils’ work, hearing pupils read and talking to children and teachers.  We met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher (who has responsibilty for leading English and SEND) and the subject leader for science. 11 December 2019

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 We checked the single central record and had discussions with the headteacher about safeguarding, attendance, behaviour and opportunities for pupils’ wider development.  The lead inspector met with the chair of the governing body and two other governors.  The lead inspector talked to a representative of the local authority and a representative of the Diocese of Leeds.  We talked to parents, pupils and staff. The responses to online questionnaires were also considered.  We observed the behaviour of pupils in lessons, around school and at morning breaktime.  We scrutinised a range of documents, including the school’s own evaluation and development plans.

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Inspection team

Janet Keefe, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Matthew Knox Ofsted Inspector 11 December 2019

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