Hareside Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Hareside Primary School Hareside Primary School, Hareside, Whitelea Glade, Cramlington, Northumberland NE23 6BL

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Outcome

Hareside Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff at Hareside Primary School provide a nurturing environment where pupils thrive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and feel safe coming to school. Behaviour is good, and pupils can learn without distraction. They say that bullying is rare. Any concerns can be reported online or directly to a trusted adult. Pupils are confident that any issues of concern will be dealt with swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have worked hard to provide an ambitious curriculum that is accessible to all pupils. There is a culture of high aspiration, and pupils are motivated to succeed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents value the wraparound childcare and the variety of after-school clubs that leaders provide. These include the cookery club, the first aid club and the choir. Communication is good, and relationships with families are strong. Leaders provide workshops on topics such as phonics and mathematics for parents and carers to support learning at home.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff give pupils a number of special roles to promote their independence. Pupils have responsibilities such as being eco-warriors, mini-police and play leaders. They enjoy visits and having visitors in school. Year 6 pupils recently visited Ford Castle, where they developed team-building and problem-solving skills.

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

Leaders at all levels work together to secure ongoing improvement. They are supported by governors, who visit the school regularly to talk to pupils and check on the quality of education that they receive.

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

Leaders have continued to develop the curriculum since the previous inspection. Leaders have designed a curriculum that is carefully sequenced to build on what pupils already know. Important concepts and ideas are revisited to secure pupils’ knowledge and 8 and 9 March 2023

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understanding. For example, in mathematics, children gain a firm knowledge of numbers up to 10 in the early years. This provides a secure foundation to learn addition, subtraction, multiplication and division in key stage 1. By Year 6, pupils confidently explain how they can apply the four operations of number when solving algebraic equations.

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Teachers use assessment well in subjects such as English and mathematics to check pupils’ understanding of the curriculum. Any gaps in knowledge are quickly identified, and pupils receive the additional help that they need. However, in some foundation subjects, such as history, pupils sometimes struggle to recall what they have learned in the past. This is because their knowledge is not secure and systems to check their understanding are not in place.

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Leaders have prioritised the development of reading. All staff are well trained to deliver the phonics programme. From Nursery, children develop an understanding of letters and the sounds they represent. This ensures that they get off to a flying start in Reception. Reading books are well matched to the sounds pupils are learning. Pupils can use the phonics skills that they have been taught to read unfamiliar words. Teachers make timely checks to identify pupils who are at risk of falling behind. These pupils receive support to help them keep up with their classmates.

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Pupils love to read at Hareside Primary School. Library areas have been refurbished, and pupils can select books to take home and enjoy with an adult. Leaders ensure that pupils experience a variety of high-quality texts throughout their time in school. Leaders provide disadvantaged pupils with their own copies of class books to create a library at home.

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This is an inclusive school. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Leaders work closely with specialists, such as speech and language therapists and educational psychologists. This ensures that pupils receive the support that they need to access the curriculum. For example, by providing visual timetables, ear defenders or additional adult support, pupils with SEND are given the help that they need. A small number of pupils access the ‘hop in’ classroom, where they follow a bespoke curriculum, carefully tailored to meet their needs.

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Leaders promote equality and diversity throughout the curriculum. For example, teachers use quality texts to represent cultural diversity in modern Britain. In personal, social and health education, pupils learn to value all differences, such as race and gender. Pupils learn about different types of families.

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Staff are proud to work at Hareside Primary School. They feel that they are treated as valued team members. They appreciate the changes introduced by leaders to support their workload and well-being, such as having their planning, preparation and assessment time at home.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 8 and 9 March 2023

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All pre-employment checks are in place to ensure the suitability of adults working in school.

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Staff receive regular safeguarding training and updates relevant to the context of the school, such as the threats caused by county lines. Leaders have effective systems in place to report any concerns over pupils’ safety.

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Leaders make timely referrals when they have concerns over a pupil’s safety. They work well with external agencies to secure help for vulnerable pupils and families. Leaders are not afraid to challenge authorities if they feel families are not receiving the support that they need.

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The curriculum helps pupils to stay safe. For example, pupils learn about online safety and are aware of their digital footprint and the impact this can have in later life.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils do not remember important subject knowledge well in some foundation subjects. This is because the curriculum is less embedded in some of these subjects, and teachers do not check pupils’ understanding well enough. Leaders should work with staff to help pupils learn the most important knowledge in these subjects and to develop better ways of checking pupils’ understanding.

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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 December 2017.

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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 March 2023

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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. 8 and 9 March 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 7 and 8 December 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Wraparound childcare is available before and after school, for a charge.  The school does not access 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 met with the headteacher, senior leaders and the special educational needs coordinator. He met six governors, including the chair of governors, and met with a representative from Northumberland local authority. Discussions were also held with some teachers and support staff.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, he discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 8 and 9 March 2023

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 The inspector considered the views of parents via responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey.  The inspector listened to pupils read to a familiar adult, observed their behaviour moving around school and at lunchtime, met with pupils formally to gather their opinions and held informal discussions across both days of the inspection.  A wide variety of safeguarding information and documentation was scrutinised, including referrals to external agencies and other records.

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Inspection team

Andy Jones, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 March 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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