Hyde Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Hyde Church of England Primary School Hyde, Fordingbridge, Hampshire SP6 2QL

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 November 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good 28 and 29 November 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a small school with big ambitions for its pupils. Without a doubt, pupils gain a great deal from Hyde being one of three schools in Forest Edge Learning Federation. The collective and collaborative thinking about the curriculum builds their learning systematically from Reception onwards, giving them a strong start in life. Pupils benefit from opportunities to learn and socialise with others of the same age, including by taking part in residential and sporting events. As one parent commented, the school ‘provides a positive and nurturing environment’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils flourish socially and emotionally. The ‘Roots’ curriculum does indeed give them ‘strong roots to grow tall’. They learn and revisit their understanding about boundaries, respect, self-regulation, resilience, focus and independence as they move up the school. Leaders promise that every pupil will have ‘50 special experiences’, ranging from singing round a campfire to visiting an art gallery, and from stargazing to making a film.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has, though, maintained its own distinct identity. The simple school rules of ‘be safe, be kind, be ready’ underpin daily life. Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe in their rural setting. They learn, care for and play happily alongside friends of different ages.

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better?

A commitment to everyone’s learning is the golden thread running through the school’s strengths. Governors have a comprehensive programme of training and visits to school to ensure that they understand their role and the school’s work. The federation makes effective use of national and local training programmes and networks for leaders. Ongoing professional development for all staff at Hyde is linked closely to the school’s current priorities, ensuring that teaching is knowledgeable and pupils’ learning and development are at the heart of everything. No wonder that staff say, ‘Everything we do feels like it has a purpose.’ The school’s strong stance on punctuality and attendance means that most pupils are in school and on time to make the most of the day ahead.

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better?

The attention given to pupils’ wider development is something special. Leaders have meticulously designed a programme that nurtures pupils’ social and emotional attributes and attitudes in a deliberate manner. It is both explicitly taught and part and parcel of everyday expectations. Pupils acquire a mature understanding of concepts such as justice, power, diversity and sustainability, and are not afraid to offer a well-founded opinion. They develop confidence and character as they present their learning outcomes to an audience or pitch their ideas to the business world.

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better?

The curriculum is well designed from early years onwards to build pupils’ knowledge and skills systematically. Early reading skills are taught accurately and methodically from the beginning of Reception. Staff are skilled at noticing any pupil who is faltering and quickly picking them up for extra input. Additional teaching successfully 28 and 29 November 2023

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helps those who need more support. Reading beyond the phonics programme is well structured to expose pupils to a range of fiction, fact and poetry. Leaders have carefully considered why mathematics and writing outcomes were not as good as they might be last year. Their work with staff to improve pupils’ recall of mathematical facts and the systematic development of writing skills is already having a notable impact.

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The project-based approach to teaching some subjects is more than the sum of its parts. Overarching philosophical questions such as ‘Who drives change, designers or consumers?’ and ‘How do our beliefs drive our actions?’ encourage deeper thinking. The ‘50 special experiences’ incorporate visits and visitors that enhance learning and bring the curriculum to life. Leaders ensure that all pupils benefit from the same curriculum. Any additional needs are carefully considered. Training for staff is helping them to hone their skills in adapting teaching to help pupils overcome barriers.

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The federation has carefully identified what learning pupils need to retain in order to make links with what comes next in each subject. Training ensures that staff are up to date with thinking about how pupils remember and recall what they have been taught. They check pupils’ learning as they go along and adapt teaching day to day accordingly. Activities have been designed to keep pupils’ learning in different subjects ‘on the boil’ between projects, but have only recently been introduced. Thus, although pupils know what subjects they learn in each project, they tend to remember the big ideas ahead of the subject-specific detail.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The potential of the project-based approach to the curriculum is not fully realised. Pupils do not readily recall key learning from subjects they have not studied for a while. The school needs to continue its work on retrieval strategies to ensure that pupils routinely revisit and embed their subject-specific learning.  Over the past couple of years, the focus has been on the development of a broad curriculum rather than the core subjects. Staff have not benefited from the same level of professional development to enhance their teaching of writing and mathematics until recently. The school needs to ensure that nothing distracts from its well-considered plans to further improve pupils’ learning in these areas. 28 and 29 November 2023

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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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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 28 and 29 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 5 July 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school joined Forest Edge Learning Federation in July 2020. This is a formal collaboration with two other local schools, sharing the same senior leadership team and governing body.  The interim executive headteacher and deputy headteacher stepped up into their roles in September 2023, while governors go through the process of recruiting a new executive headteacher. All teachers at Hyde have joined the school since the previous inspection.  Around a third of pupils in school have joined since Reception, mostly during key stage 2.  The school’s religious character is inspected separately. Its most recent section 48 inspection for schools of a religious character took place in 2017. The next one is due by 2025.  The federation runs its own before- and after-school provision. The breakfast club is located at Hyde and was considered as part of this inspection.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Meetings were held with the interim executive headteacher, the interim executive deputy headteacher and the federation’s special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator. The inspectors also met with the early years lead, members of the governing body and representatives from the local authority and the diocese.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited lessons in all three classes, spoke to teachers, talked to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. They also listened to some pupils

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Information about this inspection

reading to a familiar adult. The team considered the school’s curriculum in some other subjects through discussions with leaders and pupils and looking at samples of pupils’ work.  The views of staff and of parents and carers were gathered using Ofsted’s surveys. There were no responses to the pupil survey, but inspectors met with pupils as well as staff during the inspection. They also talked to pupils around school and outside at breaktime and with staff as they went about their work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the team: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Alison Bradley, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Christine Bulmer Ofsted Inspector 28 and 29 November 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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