Hilderthorpe Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Hilderthorpe Primary School Shaftesbury Road, Bridlington, YO15 3PP

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Outcome

Hilderthorpe Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Hilderthorpe Primary School is an inclusive and nurturing place for pupils to attend. Leaders prioritise pupils’ mental health and well-being. Leaders have developed a nurture curriculum that supports pupils’ social and emotional needs. It has helped pupils to return to school in September. Leaders ensure that when pupils need extra help to manage their feelings they get it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Incidents of bullying are rare. Pupils know who to speak to if they are worried about something. Pupils say that adults sort problems out quickly. Pupils treat one another with respect and tolerance. One pupil told inspectors ‘the colour of your skin doesn’t make you different, it’s who you are that counts, not what you look like’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

High expectations of pupils’ behaviour mean that classrooms are calm and settled places where pupils can learn. Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning. They enjoy the challenging work that teachers give them. Pupils demonstrate the school motto of ‘aiming high and reaching higher’ in their attitudes to their work. Parents hold positive views of the school. All the parents inspectors spoke to praise the work of leaders. Parents have appreciated the work the school did to continue to provide education during the recent school closures.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders provide a wide range of clubs and activities for pupils to be involved in. Clubs, such as dancercise, provide pupils with an energetic start to the school day.

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

Leaders have a sharp focus on developing the curriculum. The COVID-19 pandemic has hindered leaders’ work in this area. However, in recent months, work on the curriculum has quickened. In a short space of time many improvements have been made. Staff speak highly of the training and development opportunities they get. Recent changes to leadership roles, for example in phonics, have been carefully managed. Curriculum leaders have the knowledge and skills they need to improve their subjects. 5 and 6 October 2021

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Leaders have prioritised reading. High-quality texts are the backbone of the curriculum. Pupils speak positively about the authors they know and the books they have read. Regular reading is encouraged. Prizes are awarded to pupils who read often. Leaders ensure that all teachers are highly trained. As a result, all staff teach phonics with accuracy and consistency. Leaders use assessment well to match books to the sounds that pupils already know. This is helping pupils to become fluent readers at an early age. Leaders’ careful analysis of pupils’ phonic knowledge has identified the extent to which repeated school closures have impacted on their progress. In response, leaders have increased the amount of support available to help pupils catch up. The ‘Reading Squad’ and extra phonics teaching are already having a positive impact.

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Pupils in Nursery and Reception get off to a strong start with their phonics and mathematics. Leaders provide regular opportunities for pupils to practise the sounds they are learning. Teachers are skilled in questioning pupils. Mathematics teaching is helping pupils to recognise shapes and grow in confidence with their counting.

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The mathematics curriculum is very new. Leaders have ensured that all staff have received the necessary training to teach it. It is being taught with consistency. The needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have been carefully considered. The newly introduced mathematics curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to revisit prior learning regularly. Resources are used well to support pupils’ understanding of mathematical concepts. Leaders have made careful use of assessments so that teaching fills the gaps in pupils’ knowledge. Pupils say that they like their mathematics lessons.

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In subjects such as history, leaders have carefully sequenced the skills they want pupils to master. However, the subject knowledge which leaders intend pupils to learn is not clearly identified. While pupils in key stage 2 are able to talk about their learning in history, their knowledge and understanding are not deep enough. Without clearly sequenced content, assessments are not sharp enough to determine what pupils can and cannot do.

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The support that leaders provide for pupils with SEND is a strength of the school. The recently developed inclusion team brings together experienced and highly trained staff. Pupils who need extra help are quickly identified. The barriers pupils face to learning are gradually removed. Spaces in school, such as ‘The Hub’, provide welcoming, calm places for pupils to learn and share their thoughts and feelings.

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The usual opportunities available to pupils have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, leaders have been creative in teaching pupils about different faith groups and religions. Places of worship have been visited virtually and visiting speakers have been used to share insights into the Islamic faith. Annual opportunities to elect school council representatives help shape pupils’ understanding of democracy. Leaders use weekly attendance awards to celebrate high attendance and pupils’ perseverance. Certificates are presented to classes who uphold the school values of respect and tolerance.

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Leaders and governors have taken steps to manage teachers’ workload. Teachers speak positively of the changes that have been made. Staff are well supported by a 5 and 6 October 2021

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compassionate leadership team. They are encouraged to develop professionally and, grow into leadership roles themselves.

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Governors have a clear view of the school’s strengths and areas for development. While they are a newly formed group of leaders, they have a wide set of skills which brings increased challenge to the decisions that leaders make.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have created a knowledgeable and skilled team who work together to tackle safeguarding issues. Time has been provided to enable these staff to carry out their roles. Relationships with parents are positive. The designated safeguarding lead has a high profile in school. Relationships with parents are strong. Absences are followed up quickly.

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Safeguarding

Staff receive regular safeguarding training and updates. The systems that leaders have in place to report safeguarding concerns ensure that pupils get the help they need.

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Safeguarding

All staff are aware of the issues that affect their school community, and they are vigilant of these.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum content in subjects such as history is not clearly sequenced. Teachers are not clear on exactly what should be taught and when. This means that pupils do not achieve the depth of understanding required. Leaders should ensure that the knowledge they want pupils to learn is clearly identified so that pupils’ understanding builds each year.  Approaches to assessing pupils’ learning in the wider curriculum do not identify what pupils can and cannot do with enough precision. This means that gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not always addressed and misconceptions are allowed to continue. Leaders should ensure that they have well-developed assessment systems in all curriculum areas that accurately capture pupils’ skills and knowledge.  The school’s curriculum is not sufficiently well planned and sequenced in subjects such as history. However, leaders have already taken action to begin to address this. For this

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied. 5 and 6 October 2021

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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 school and you are 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. 5 and 6 October 2021

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School details

Local authority East Riding of Yorkshire

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School details

Inspection number 10199993 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Rev Richard Hare

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School details

Website www.hilderthorpeprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13 – 14 September 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is a larger-than-average school.  A new headteacher joined the school in March 2020. The deputy headteacher joined the school in January 2021.  Since the previous inspection, the governing body has change significantly. Nine new governors have been appointed.  The proportion of pupils in receipt of additional support through the pupil premium funding is more than double the national average.  The school experiences high levels of pupil movement each year.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation.  The inspector met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher and other leaders, including the special educational needs coordinator. The inspector reviewed the support 5 and 6 October 2021

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plans which leaders have in place for their pupils and visited lessons to see these in action.  The inspector held meetings with the chair and vice-chair of governors and the local authority school improvement officer.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and history. He met with curriculum leaders, visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work and talked to pupils and teachers. Leaders were involved in the deep dive activities.  The inspector considered a range of documents. He looked at the school’s website, minutes of governing body meetings, policies and published information about the school’s performance.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at other points in the school day, such as breaktime.  The inspector spoke with parents informally at the start of the school day. He considered the 17 responses that were received through the Ofsted staff questionnaire

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and the five free-text responses received through the Ofsted Parent View questionnaire. The inspector also considered the views of 26 responses received through the pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Chris Pearce, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 5 and 6 October 2021

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regulates and inspects 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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