Hartlip Endowed Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Hartlip Endowed Church of England Primary School The Street, Hartlip, Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 7TL

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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 Previous inspection grade Good 20 and 21 April 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say that learning is fun, and that Hartlip is a happy and safe place to be. The school’s values of friendship, forgiveness, peace, trust and thankfulness are important to them. Pupils try hard to model these. They are delighted when their efforts are recognised in assembly or by being given a house point. Pupils cooperate well. They take pride in looking after each other, even in the youngest class. Playtimes are happy. Pupils play together well. Bullying is rare, and quickly addressed by staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers have high expectations. Pupils are expected to behave well and learn well too. Mostly, pupils respond well and try hard. On the odd occasion that pupils are too chatty or their attention drifts, they respond quickly to reminders from adults.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils form great friendships with each other right from Reception Year. Relationships across the school are warm and nurturing. This helps to build pupils’ confidence. Staff prioritise pupils’ mental and physical fitness. A wealth of activities enrich the curriculum and connect pupils with the community. Many pupils gain strong leadership skills through the school council and the worship council, which manage charity events.

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better?

Leaders and governors have a strong understanding of the school’s many strengths and areas that need further development. Governors work in close partnership with leaders. They hold leaders to account and ask challenging questions of them. Governors keep pupils’ welfare and the quality of education at the centre of their discussions. Everyone strives to help Hartlip to deliver on its vision of ‘Learning to live! Living to learn!’. Staff feel well supported by leaders. They say that everyone works well as a team.

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better?

Leaders have identified the essential knowledge and content that pupils should be taught in each subject. This helps to ensure that pupils in mixed-age classes receive sufficient depth and breadth in the curriculum. The curriculum has been carefully shaped to develop pupils’ understanding of their locality, the United Kingdom and then the wider world.

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better?

The core curriculum supports pupils to learn well. Pupils thrive in mathematics. Effective and consistent approaches to the teaching of mathematics right from the start ensure that pupils develop as competent and confident mathematicians. Leaders have taken the right steps to ensure that any gaps identified as result of the pandemic are being addressed so that pupils can keep up.

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better?

Staff are well trained and highly skilled in the teaching of reading. As a result, pupils quickly learn to read. The books that are sent home are well matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge. Children in Reception Year show a love of stories. Staff use their detailed knowledge of what every child can do in order to shape curriculum 20 and 21 April 2022

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experiences to encourage language development. Pupils across the school enjoy reading and being read to. They read well. Pupils who need a little extra input are given the help they need to catch up quickly.

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Teachers mostly have strong subject knowledge and an understanding of how the curriculum progresses year by year, particularly in English and mathematics. However, in other subjects, teaching is not precise enough. This is because the curriculum is not sequenced well enough to build the knowledge needed. As a result, pupils sometimes struggle to understand some concepts in depth or to remember things over time. Subject leaders do not have enough oversight of this.

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Staff know pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities very well. Strong, caring support enables most of these pupils to experience success and grow in confidence. They progress through the curriculum alongside others and are fully included in the wider life of the school.

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The school is calm and orderly. Most pupils behave well because they want to. They are keen to learn, and value the relationships they have with their teachers and each other. Occasionally, some pupils find it hard to manage their feelings or misbehave. Leaders have introduced systems that help all pupils to understand and manage their emotions well.

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Staff help pupils to be compassionate, and to reflect on their own beliefs and other faiths and cultures. They learn that everyone is equal. Pupils said that everyone is welcome at Hartlip and that, ‘Everyone is supported with their needs even though they might learn differently.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained in what signs to look out for if pupils are at risk. They know how to report concerns.

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Safeguarding

Leaders’ record-keeping is detailed. They have good knowledge of the pupils in their care. Appropriate links have been made with the various agencies that offer support to different pupils. Pupils get the help they need to help them to stay safe.

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Safeguarding

Pupils feel safe. The curriculum includes opportunities to teach pupils about healthy relationships and how to keep safe, including when online. Pupils trust adults to help keep them safe.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, teaching across the wider curriculum is not precise enough. Some teaching sequences miss important steps. This means that pupils do not achieve 20 and 21 April 2022

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as well as they could in the wider curriculum. Leaders should ensure that teachers’ design and implementation of the curriculum include all the necessary steps for pupils to build a depth of knowledge and achieve well.  Not all subject leaders have checked that pupils know more and are remembering more within the foundation curriculum. They have not identified where teaching is not fulfilling the curriculum aims. Leaders should provide training and support so that subject leaders are able to ensure that the curriculum is having the desired impact in building pupils’ knowledge.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 20 and 21 April 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Chair of governing body

Elizabeth Hadley and Dionne Coles (Co- chairs) Headteacher Tracey Jerome

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Date of previous inspection

16 November 2016, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection, the structuring of the classes within early years and key stage 1 has changed. The school now has a mixed Reception Year and Year 1 class, and a Year 2 class.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders, and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the lead inspector met regularly with senior leaders. The lead inspector met with a group of governors, including the co-chairs. The lead inspector also met with representatives from the local authority and the diocese. 20 and 21 April 2022

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 The inspectors conducted deep dives into reading, mathematics, history and art. For each deep dive, an inspector met with subject or senior leaders to discuss curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector listened to some pupils reading.  Records associated with safeguarding were reviewed, including the single central record and appointment procedures. The inspectors spoke to staff about their safeguarding training and spoke to pupils about the support they have in understanding how to keep safe.  Inspectors reviewed responses to Ofsted’s parent and carer, pupil and staff questionnaires. An inspector spoke to some parents at the school gates.  The inspectors met with groups of staff to discuss their views of the school, including on their workload and well-being. The inspectors met with several

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groups of pupils, as well as speaking to pupils during lessons, in the playground and around the school.

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Inspection team

Deborah Gordon, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Alice Early Ofsted Inspector 20 and 21 April 2022

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