Hall Green Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Hall Green Infant School Petersfield Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, West Midlands B28 0AR

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Outcome

Hall Green Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Hall Green Infants is a community that is ‘growing and learning together’. Parents, carers, staff and pupils come together to get the best outcomes. Pupils grow as confident learners who learn to believe in themselves.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Expectations are high. Pupils achieve their best and learn to respect and celebrate differences. Clubs such as cross stitch, gymnastics and construction develop a ‘healthy body’ and a ‘healthy mind’. Charity fundraising, local trips and community involvement broaden pupils’ understanding of the world.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are kind and work hard in lessons. This is because staff focus on spotting and celebrating good behaviour. Leaders expect that pupils attend well and are rightly relentless in this drive for strong attendance. Consequently, pupils attend often, behave respectfully and learn quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand what bullying is. They are regularly taught that bullying is wrong, and they have a right to feel safe. Leaders investigate all perceived bullying and act when needed.

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

Children get off to a great start at Hall Green Infant School. Staff are skilled at building on preschool experiences and teaching early learning skills. Home visits and regular stay- and-play sessions engage parents and carers in their children’s education. Consequently, children very quickly learn they are valued as learners and themselves.

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

Leaders have high expectations for what pupils should learn in every lesson. Consequently, most pupils are learning and remembering more from lots of lessons. However, at times, pupils cannot recall what they have learned from previous lessons. In some cases, teachers do not always spot when mistakes have happened, or pupils have 7 and 8 February 2023

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misunderstood. Regular training aims to ensure that teachers know what to teach and how to teach it.

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Reading is a top priority. Leaders have high expectations that all pupils will be able to ‘read to succeed’. Programmes to teach reading are clear and well resourced with engaging books that provide opportunities to practise phonics. Staff are well trained and regularly read to pupils to encourage a love of reading. When pupils need extra help, they get this swiftly, meaning they do not fall behind.

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Teachers work hard to ensure that every lesson builds on what the pupils already know and understand. For example, pupils learn such things as number facts and then how to use mathematics in real life. In many cases, pupils can recall what they learned in previous lessons. For example, in art and design, most pupils spoke confidently about how they recognised the work of artists such as LS Lowry, Karla Gerrard or Georgia O’Keefe.

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Leaders identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) quickly. As a result, staff understand pupils’ needs and put appropriate support into place. In most cases, this support aims to overcome the underlying reasons for the pupils’ difficulties, such as difficulties with remembering instructions or fine motor skills. In these cases, the pupils learn to apply these new skills in many different lessons. However, in some cases, there is too much focus on what a pupil cannot do in specific lessons rather than on overcoming the underlying reasons for those difficulties.

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Pupils are eager to learn and enthusiastically join in lessons. Staff are keen and quick to notice positive behaviour. Learning behaviours are encouraged and celebrated through the school ‘learning dinosaurs’. For example, pupils are rewarded when they TRY-o-dactyl or IMAGINE-o-saurus.

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Regular trips out of school and visitors to the school enthuse pupils and enrich the curriculum. The annual ‘sparkle and shine’ week encourages pupils to be emotionally healthy ‘sparkle learners’. Pupils are proud members of the friendship squad, eco-warriors or other groups. An impressive range of school clubs, such as dance, taekwondo, art, and reading, provide valuable opportunities to develop personal interests and hobbies.

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Governors are passionate about the school and are proud of what has been achieved over the last few years. However, they have not assured themselves of the quality of education for all pupils. While the information they receive from leaders is helpful, they are too over- reliant on what they have been told rather than gathering evidence themselves.

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Staff are positive about the school. They feel well supported and well trained. They say that leaders value the difference they can make to pupils. They are proud to be members of the staff at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 7 and 8 February 2023

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Leaders have created a culture that is designed to make sure pupils feel safe and are safe. The staff know their safeguarding responsibilities well. This is because training is regular and appropriate. Staff and leaders act when there is even the suggestion a child might not be safe. Leaders investigate any concerns swiftly. They work with services such as the local authority to ensure pupils get the support they need. Leaders and governors work hard to ensure that processes for safer recruitment are precisely followed.

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Teachers ensure that pupils clearly understand keeping safe and what is unhealthy or unsafe. Lessons enrich their knowledge about risk in their local community and the wider world.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some teachers do not ensure that all pupils have learned and remembered the key intended knowledge from each lesson. This means that the lessons that follow are difficult for some pupils because they cannot recall what they have learned in the past to help them understand new learning. Leaders should make sure that for all pupils, particularly those who might have difficulties remembering key learning, the curriculum is always appropriately adapted to ensure that they learn and remember the key knowledge from each lesson.  For some pupils with SEND, the identified provision to meet their additional needs is not always based on addressing the pupil’s underlying SEND. As a result, the actions taken are not always closely focused on the reasons why a pupil cannot currently do something. Leaders need to ensure that all intended provision for children with SEND is based on careful analysis of what is needed and as a result, is precisely focused.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Governors have not assured themselves of the quality of education for the pupils at the school. While they have been provided with information about the quality of education, they have not assured themselves that this information is accurate. Governors need to identify and implement systems to assure themselves of the quality of education for pupils so they can accurately hold leaders to account for further developments.

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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 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.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2017. 7 and 8 February 2023

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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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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. 7 and 8 February 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22 and 23 November 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school operates a Nursery provision for two groups of children: one in the morning and one in the afternoon. This offers a provision for 26 full-time equivalent children of ages three to four years.  Since the last inspection, a new deputy headteacher took up post in September 2022.  A new chair of governors was appointed in December 2022.  Since the last inspection, many parts of the outdoor learning spaces have been refurbished and updated, such as outdoor learning spaces for the foundation stage and the well-being garden.  The school does not use any form of alternative provisions.

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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 their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspector completed deep dives in reading, mathematics and 7 and 8 February 2023

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art and design. In these subjects, the inspector visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work, examined teachers’ plans and talked with pupils and staff about how these subjects were taught.  The inspector spoke to a group of pupils about their understanding of keeping safe in the world around them and what opportunities they experience at school.  The inspector asked pupils, staff, leaders and governors about safeguarding arrangements. The inspector examined the record of employment checks on school staff and other school records and also found out about safety procedures and routines.  The inspector observed informal times of the day to evaluate safeguarding and pupils’ behaviour.  The inspector also spoke with the early years leader about how the school met the welfare requirements and worked with parents and preschool services.  During the inspection, the inspector had formal meetings with the headteacher, the

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deputy headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders, governors, teachers and pupils. The inspector also talked informally with parents, carers, pupils and staff to gather general information about school life.  The inspector spoke to a representative from the local authority and the school’s own school improvement partner.

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Inspection team

Chris Pollitt, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 7 and 8 February 2023

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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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