Harmondsworth Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Harmondsworth Primary School School Road, Harmondsworth, West Drayton UB7 0AU

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Outcome

Harmondsworth Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this school to learn, and to be with their friends. They are happy and safe here. They show genuine interest in what they are learning and work very well with each other. There is a palpable buzz of learning across the school. A well-planned and sequenced curriculum supports pupils to produce work of good quality in different subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a welcoming school. Leaders and governors ensure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are fully included as part of the school community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Adults have high expectations. They expect pupils to show mutual respect and tolerance, including for those with different faiths and beliefs. Pupils are kind, polite and courteous. They are respectful towards adults. In rare cases where bullying occurs, adults deal with it promptly and effectively.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders aim to develop pupils into young leaders. They gain experience of democracy, for example, when they vote for their school council representatives. Pupils in the school council are proud of their achievements, such as helping to organise new equipment for the playground in early years.

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

Leaders are ambitious that pupils learn to read well. This begins in the Nursery where children develop their listening skills and start to recognise different sounds. This supports children’s readiness to begin the school’s phonics programme when they move to the Reception Year. Staff are well trained to teach phonics and use carefully chosen strategies to help pupils to remember their letter sounds.

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

Teachers assess how well pupils are learning phonics. This enables them to identify those who are falling behind at the earliest opportunity. These pupils receive extra help, and 8 and 9 June 2022

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they catch up quickly. As a result, pupils read with increasing accuracy. However, there are occasional inconsistencies in how some pupils are supported to practise blending the sounds that they have been taught. This sometimes affects how well pupils develop their reading fluency.

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Leaders have focused on improving the curriculum. They have taken effective steps to improve the curriculum and to strengthen pupils’ learning. Across different subjects, the curriculum is well organised. Pupils build on what they have learned previously when being introduced to new ideas. For example, in mathematics, pupils learn to add fractions successfully because they have a secure understanding of what fractions represent. Pupils’ mathematical vocabulary is well developed across the school.

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Teachers use assessments effectively in order to adjust the curriculum according to the needs of their pupils. They have considered the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions and identified gaps in pupils’ learning. To ensure these gaps are addressed quickly, they have prioritised aspects of the curriculum that pupils need to revisit. In mathematics, for example, this has meant an extra focus on the teaching of numbers and calculation methods.

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Teachers make regular use of the local area to enrich pupils’ learning. In Reception, for example, children enjoyed finding out about different countries and places by tracking aeroplanes flying in and out of Heathrow airport. Adults helped children to identify and locate these places on the globe. However, in some instances, teachers give pupils too much new information in one go. This makes it difficult for pupils to remember what they are learning.

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Pupils with SEND learn the curriculum well. This is because their needs are promptly and accurately identified. Home visits and links with local nurseries enable teachers to collect information about children before they start school. Through this, they identify children who might need additional support and plan how to put this in place. Leaders and teachers meet regularly to discuss how well pupils are learning. They work with specialists to make sure pupils who need extra support can access the full curriculum and achieve well.

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Leaders create many opportunities for pupils to develop beyond the formal curriculum. For example, they support pupils to understand the world of work. They invite people from different fields and professions to talk to pupils about their jobs. There is also a strong take up of the wide range of after-school activities on offer.

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Staff are happy working in this school. They appreciate that leaders are approachable and are always available to support them. Leaders have simplified some of the processes in school to ensure that the workload of staff is manageable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 8 and 9 June 2022

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Leaders and staff know their pupils and families well. They are quick to identify signs that a pupil might be in danger of abuse or neglect. Processes for recording concerns and making referrals are clear and effective.

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Arrangements for checking the suitability of staff are rigorous. Leaders ensure that new employees only start working once they have completed their safeguarding induction.

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Pupils know how to keep themselves safe at home, at school, or when online. As well as learning within the curriculum, leaders also invite the police, and various charities, to talk to pupils about internet safety, privacy and peer-on-peer abuse.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s phonics programme is well planned to help pupils develop into accurate and confident readers. However, in a few instances, when pupils are practising reading, staff do not encourage them to use their blending skills and this affects pupils’ fluency. Where this is the case, leaders should ensure that staff make the most of opportunities for pupils to practise blending sounds as they read.  Sometimes, teachers introduce pupils to a number of important ideas all at once. When this happens, pupils find it harder to fully understand and remember these ideas. Leaders should ensure that teachers are clear about the important subject content that pupils need to be taught so that pupils build their understanding securely over time.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2012.

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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. 8 and 9 June 2022

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

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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. 8 and 9 June 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10212358 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 1 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative providers.

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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 leaders and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector held discussions with the headteacher and other members of the senior leadership team.  The inspector also met with members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, geography and mathematics. For each deep dive, he spoke with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers and pupils and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Other subjects were considered as part of this inspection.  In inspecting safeguarding, the inspector carried out a scrutiny of the school’s single central record of pre-employment checks and other records. The inspector considered 8 and 9 June 2022

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the views of pupils, parents and carers, and staff through discussions and their responses to Ofsted’s surveys.

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Inspection team

Edison David, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 June 2022

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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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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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