Hessle Mount School

Inspection of Hessle Mount School Jenny Brough Lane, Hessle HU13 0JZ

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Inadequate

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love school. They like everything about school. Pupils feel safe. One said, ‘The teachers make us feel safe.’ Pupils said that school teaches them how to keep safe. They talked about road safety, how to respond to strangers and how to be safe using the internet. Pupils were unanimous in their view that there was no bullying in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The proprietor has high ambitions for the pupils. Her vision is to inspire pupils with a love of learning. Staff make learning fun and interesting. Pupils are curious and inquisitive. Pupils listen carefully to the teacher. They feel confident to ask questions. They know how to work in pairs and small groups with their friends. Pupils grow in confidence as they move through the school. They are keen to do things for themselves. Leaders are determined that pupils will have the skills and knowledge that they need to move on successfully when they leave Hessle Mount.

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What is it like to attend this school?

A culture of caring and kindness permeates the school. One pupil said, ‘Everybody is kind.’ Relationships between staff and pupils are respectful. As a result, pupils behave well. One parent commented, ‘The children are kind, happy and well rounded.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. Many said that they would recommend the school to others. One parent said, ‘The school goes the extra mile to ensure that pupils are cared for and their well-being is supported.’

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better?

Children get off to a good start from the get-go when they join pre-school. They are happy and cared for well. Staff pay careful attention to all aspects of children’s well- being. Children settle quickly and grow in confidence. Activities are planned to engage children’s interests. They learn about shapes and numbers, and letters and sounds. This provides a strong foundation for building their mathematical and reading skills further up the school.

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better?

The proprietor and the headteacher have made great strides in the development of the curriculum. They have designed a curriculum that offers a wide range of subjects. They set out what pupils should learn in each subject. Leaders have thought carefully about the sequencing of each subject. Pupils’ skills and knowledge build year on year. Teachers assess pupils’ progress during lessons. They use this information to adjust their plans to match pupils’ understanding. Important vocabulary has been woven into curriculum plans, so that pupils gain a better understanding of each subject. However, subject plans are complicated. They are made up of several layers of documents. This means that it is sometimes not clear exactly what knowledge or vocabulary should be taught.

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better?

Work by leaders and staff has improved the mathematics curriculum since the previous inspection. Teachers are well organised and well prepared. They make 9–11 June 2021

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ongoing checks on pupils’ work. Curriculum plans have been revised and are now better sequenced. Plans begin in early years, and there is a seamless transition to key stage 1. In some mathematics plans, the precise knowledge that should be taught is not clear enough. During the inspection, in a statistics lesson, two Year 2 classes were taught different terminology to describe their work on graph axes.

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In early years, children are immersed in letters and pictures. Phonics is taught daily across the school. This enables children to build systematically on the knowledge that they need to become fluent readers. Pupils read every day. They make good progress in reading. By the end of Year 1, most pupils are fluent and expressive readers. They can explain their strategies for reading tricky words.

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Teachers want pupils to have a love of reading. They provide a rich reading environment. There are interesting reading corners in every classroom, with books by many authors. Story time is an exciting part of the day. Teachers read well- chosen stories with enthusiasm and animation. Pupils hang onto their every word. Older pupils learn how to predict, explain and describe what is happening because teachers actively involve them in the story. Currently, early reading books are from different phonics programmes. Not all reading books contain the sounds that pupils have been taught. This could undermine the confidence of pupils who struggle to read.

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Trusting and respectful relationships between staff and pupils are a strength of the school. Parents praise the nurturing and caring environment that the school fosters. Adults are keen to positively affirm good behaviour and they reward it frequently with positive comments. Attendance figures are high, reflecting how much pupils enjoy being at school.

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The school promotes equality and diversity effectively. Pupils learn about one another’s cultural traditions. Every opportunity is taken to share experiences. Pupils and parents give presentations to classes about their cultural identity. The personal, social, health and economic curriculum covers health, relationships and living in the wider world. The statutory guidance relating to relationships and sex education has been fully integrated into the curriculum. Pupils grow in confidence as they move through the school. They leave Hessle Mount respectful and well rounded.

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Teachers know pupils well. They are quick to spot any pupil who is falling behind. Interventions are timely and get pupils back on track. Pupils with special education needs and/or disabilities have their needs well met. They are included in all aspects of school life.

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The proprietor and headteacher provide strong leadership to the school. They have great ambition for the pupils to love learning and achieve well. The proprietor has made significant improvements to safeguarding and the curriculum since the previous inspection. Leaders are now held to account by a recently established parent forum. The proprietor has ensured that the independent school standards are met. 9–11 June 2021

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The proprietor has put in place a plan to make access to the school as easy as possible for pupils with disabilities.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Significant improvements have been made in procedures and practice since the previous inspection. The proprietor and headteacher understand their safeguarding responsibilities. Leaders have established a culture to safeguard pupils. Staff are well trained to keep pupils safe. They know exactly what to do if they have any concerns about the welfare of a pupil.

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Safeguarding

Comprehensive checks on new staff are made to ensure that they are suitable to work with children. These checks are recorded on the school’s single central register.

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Safeguarding

Parents can access the safeguarding policy from the school’s website.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 Leaders have made good progress in developing the curriculum. However, there are several layers of curriculum plans. This can lead to teachers using different vocabulary within year groups. Plans should be streamlined and simplified to make sure that they are implemented more consistently.  Currently, the school uses early reading books from a range of different phonics programmes. The books children are given to read do not always match the phonics they have learned. This risks undermining their confidence as readers. Leaders need to make sure that reading books are closely matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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 are the provider and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 9–11 June 2021

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School details

Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £6,000 to £6,300

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School details

Email address info@hesslemountschool.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22–24 January 2019 9–11 June 2021

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Information about this school

 Hessle Mount is a co-educational independent preparatory school in East Yorkshire, a few miles to the west of Hull. The school caters for children aged three to eight years. The school was established in 1979.  Leadership at the school is provided by the proprietor, the headteacher and two directors, one of whom works in the school.  A parent forum has been established since the previous inspection.  The school’s last standard inspection was in January 2019, when it was judged to be inadequate. A progress monitoring inspection in December 2019 found that the standards checked were met.  The school does not use any alternative providers.  The school does not have any particular religious character.  An early morning club runs from 8am to 8.30am and an after-school club until 5.30pm each evening.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors held discussions with the proprietor, the headteacher, the chair of the parent forum and subject leaders. Discussions with staff focused on safeguarding and the curriculum.  An inspector met with a director of the school to look at the single central register of recruitment checks.  Members of the inspection team considered reading, mathematics, geography and art as part of this inspection. Inspection activities included discussions with leaders, visits to lessons, discussions with teachers, scrutiny of pupils’ work and discussions with pupils about their learning.  Several parents spoke to the inspectors. There were 27 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online survey for parents.  A wide range of documentation relating to safeguarding, the curriculum and the independent school standards was reviewed. 9–11 June 2021

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Inspection team

Suzette Garland-Grimes, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Chris Smith Her Majesty’s Inspector 9–11 June 2021

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to 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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