Hepworth Junior and Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Hepworth Junior and Infant School Maingate, Hepworth, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire HD9 1TJ

p.1

Outcome

Hepworth Junior and Infant School continues to be a good school.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Hepworth Junior and Infant School is a delightful, welcoming community school. Pupils have great respect for each other. At playtime, pupils from all classes play well together.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and happy at school. Pupils told inspectors that hearing unkind comments at school is very rare. Many cannot remember seeing any incidents of poor behaviour at school. A few pupils say lessons in the afternoon can get noisy, but this never stops them from learning. Pupils attend school regularly.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers are very positive about the school. They feel fully involved in school life. They appreciate the availability of the headteacher at the start and end of the school day. Parents and pupils speak highly of the school’s commitment to the environment and the outdoor learning opportunities. Pupils enjoy looking after the school’s beehives.

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Lessons are well planned and delivered. In reading, writing and mathematics, teachers check precisely what pupils have remembered and use this information to help future learning. This does not happen as well in other subjects.

p.1

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

Leaders have established a suitable curriculum for pupils to follow. Pupils, including children in the early years setting, are well taught to read, write and think mathematically. Teachers have strong subject knowledge. They make sure their lessons are enjoyable and interesting. They ensure there is a sense of calmness in their lessons and throughout school.

p.1

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

Children learn to read almost as soon as they start in the Reception class. Throughout key stage 1, pupils are carefully grouped for reading sessions. Those who need extra support to read fluently receive appropriate help from teachers and support staff. The books pupils read in school and at home match the sounds they have been taught. 11 January 2023

p.1

2

In other subjects, such as science and design technology, leaders have teaching plans in place. These are clear about the order in which to teach topics. Leaders have outlined the skills that are covered in individual units of work. However, they have not fully considered what knowledge they want pupils to have grasped with confidence to prepare them for their subsequent learning. As such, some of the assessments teachers currently use are less helpful than they could be. In these subjects, teachers do not know precisely what pupils have remembered from what they have been taught.

p.2

2

Pupils are exposed to learning which goes beyond the national curriculum. The school has an exciting outdoor curriculum. Pupils regularly interact with nature. Pupils access facilities in the school’s forest. They grow plants and vegetables on school land. They act as beekeepers, looking after the school’s beehives. During the inspection, several pupils attended an after-school recycling club. Other groups of pupils were supporting a community coffee morning.

p.2

2

Children in the early years are happy and appropriately looked after. They are taught well. They play respectfully alongside pupils from older year groups. Pupils in Year 6 act as ‘buddies’ to children in the Reception class, playing with them at breaktime and lunch.

p.2

2

Pupils with special education needs and/or disabilities are supported in school. They are fully involved in lessons and school activities. These pupils have individual targets in place. However, occasionally, these targets are less precise than they could be. They do not consistently set out the smaller steps that pupils should be focusing on.

p.2

2

Governors closely monitor the work of the school. Recently, governors have been linked to individual subjects. They have met subject leaders and are reviewing the impact of teaching. However, this has not recently happened in music, as no one in school is currently leading this subject. Governors regularly attend school events. They monitor the school’s use of the pupil premium funding. They consider the workload and well-being of staff in strategic decision-making. All staff who completed Ofsted’s staff survey said they were proud to work at the school.

p.2

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.2

Safeguarding

The safety of pupils is a high priority for staff. They know how to keep pupils safe. Leaders keep thorough records of incidents and take appropriate actions when concerns arise. Leaders routinely seek advice and involve local services when necessary. Leaders also check the suitability of adults when appointing new staff.

p.2

Safeguarding

The school has a child protection policy in place. However, the policy is unclear about how staff should report concerns and who to involve within the school. This, and other policies, do not give full details on precisely who to speak to if staff have concerns about colleagues. Furthermore, sometimes leaders opt to email staff about any updates to their policies, rather than take the opportunity to do this face to face.

p.2

Safeguarding

Although the above points need addressing, the inspectors were satisfied that adults in 11 January 2023

p.2

3

school were fully aware of how to raise concerns. This weakness in administration has not left children at any risk of harm.

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some subject plans do not fully outline the most important knowledge that pupils are expected to grasp. This means that pupils are not as well prepared for future learning as they could be. Subject leaders should ensure that throughout each unit of work, the most important knowledge is clearly identified and that opportunities are built into teaching plans for teachers to revisit this fundamental knowledge.  In some subjects, assessments do not precisely check the knowledge that pupils have been taught. As such, teachers are not fully informed of any gaps in pupils’ learning. Subject leaders should ensure that the assessments used are more closely aligned with the most important knowledge from each unit of work.  Aspects of the administration of the school’s safeguarding procedures are not as well managed as they should be. When sharing updates with staff, leaders sometimes rely on emails, rather than taking the opportunity to talk to staff face-to-face. Furthermore,

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

the school’s safeguarding policy is unclear about precisely how staff should raise concerns. While these matters have not placed children at any risk of harm, leaders, including governors, should ensure that these points are addressed.

p.3

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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

p.3

Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2013.

p.3

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.

p.3

How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school. 11 January 2023

p.3

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.4

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 January 2023

p.4

School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

p.5

School details

Date of previous inspection 21 November 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

p.5

Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The headteacher currently works at the school on four days of the school week. Another member of staff assumes the role of head of school when the headteacher is not present. The arrangements that governors have put in place mean that the headteacher maintains full responsibility for the school at all times. They have done this to meet the requirements of the Education Act 2002 which requires maintained schools to have a headteacher at all times.  Although the headteacher has oversight of all subjects, at the time of this inspection there was no member of staff with responsibility for the development and implementation of the music curriculum.

p.5

Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school 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.  The inspectors met with the headteacher and other school leaders. The lead inspector 11 January 2023

p.5

6

met with four representatives from the governing body. An inspector spoke to a representative from the local authority.  To evaluate the quality of education, deep dives were carried out in reading, science and mathematics. These involved meeting subject leaders, reviewing curriculum plans, visiting lessons, speaking to teachers, talking to pupils about their learning and looking at samples of their work.  Aspects of the design and technology curriculum, including subject plans and samples of pupils’ work, were also reviewed.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in and out of lessons. They also spoke to pupils to gather their thoughts on behaviour. Behaviour, bullying and attendance records were reviewed.  As part of the evaluation of the effectiveness of safeguarding, the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures and other records were reviewed. The checks made when appointing new staff were scrutinised.

p.6

6

 The views of staff and parents who responded to Ofsted’s surveys were also considered. Several parents were also spoken to on the school site.

p.6

Inspection team

James Duncan, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

p.6

Inspection team

Matthew Harrington His Majesty’s Inspector 11 January 2023

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

7

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

7

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

7

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

p.7