Lift Hall Road

Inspection of Hall Road Academy Hall Road, Hull HU6 8PP

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

The principal of this school is Luke Pinder. This school is part of Academies Enterprise Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Rebecca Boomer- Clark, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by David Hall. 5 and 6 March 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Hall Road Academy is inclusive and welcoming. A strong sense of community is at the heart of decision-making. This means that pupils and families get any support they need. Pupils value the staff, particularly the pastoral team. They call them ‘superheroes’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know and follow the ‘3Bs’: be ready, be respectful and be safe. They value the certificates they earn for good behaviour. Pupils say this encourages them to behave well. They want to avoid getting yellow or red cards. Some pupils get extra help from staff to support their behaviour. This helps them to regulate their behaviour and emotions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders at all levels have a clear vision for what the school should be for its pupils. They have recently changed the curriculum to make it more ambitious for all. Pupils enjoy learning and achieve well. Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Pupils feel safe. They are not afraid to ask for help. Bullying is rare, but if it does happen, pupils say staff would sort it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand the need to attend school. They look forward to visiting Buzz’s store to spend their attendance tokens. Older pupils look forward to the school trips to Edinburgh and London. Pupils have the chance to get involved in school life, such as being assembly monitors or part of the eco-council.

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better?

The school has recently introduced a new curriculum in nearly all subjects. This curriculum is ambitious and has high expectations for all, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The curriculum is sequenced from Year 1 to Year 6. Staff break learning into small steps to help pupils remember important information. Pupils use this model to explain their answers. This strategy is helping them to remember more over time. Teachers know the important information that pupils need to know. Pupils are now remembering this information and applying it in their future learning. For example, in Year 4 art, pupils were successfully applying their drawing and shading skills to a new area of learning.

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better?

Reading is a school priority. Hearing and retelling stories starts in early years. Children learn phonics as soon as they begin school. Skilled staff expertly deliver the phonics programme. Any pupils that need extra help get this from trained staff. This helps them to catch up. Books match the sounds pupils know. Staff encourage daily reading. After 50 reads, pupils visit the book vending machine to choose a free book. They access books from different authors. The new reading curriculum provides the chance for pupils and staff to read together. This helps to foster a love for reading and supports pupils to achieve well.

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better?

Staff have high expectations for all pupils. Pupils listen well in learning and follow instructions. Staff use assessment well to decide on next steps. They adapt the 5 and 6 March 2024

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curriculum well for pupils with SEND. As a result, they make effective progress from their different starting points.

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The curriculum for personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is a strength. It helps pupils to understand how to stay safe and prepares them for the future. Community links within the PSHE curriculum are strong. Leaders have enhanced the planned curriculum through their community. For example, this includes working with the local police or Hull Children’s University. However, in some foundation subjects, new curriculums are still being embedded. As yet, the school does not yet make full use of the locality to enhance the curriculum offer. Trips, visits and local community links, for example, are still developing.

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Across the school, developing pupils’ oracy skills and vocabulary are areas of focus. Typically, staff model vocabulary pupils need to know well. Older pupils, in particular, use the vocabulary they hear with confidence when talking about their learning. The school has worked hard on developing the early years curriculum. In some areas of learning, children learn and can remember important vocabulary. For example, in Nursery, children can remember words such as `seeds’, `light’ and `oxygen’ when talking about germination. However, this is not consistently the case across all areas of learning. Some key vocabulary that children need to learn during the early years to support their continued development in key stage 1 has not yet been clearly mapped out. For example, it is not sufficiently clear that children need to understand the terms `past’ and `present’ to be successful in their learning in history.

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There is a determination from trust and school staff to improve attendance. In the last year, attendance has improved. The number of pupils who are persistently absent from school has reduced. Leaders carefully track absences and provide support. Some pupils have a staff buddy. This has helped them to be in school more often and earn reward points to spend in Buzz’s store.

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Pupils have a deep understanding of what it means to be different. This understanding comes from the curriculum and the books they read. Pupils have a strong sense of equality and fairness. They know about different faiths and cultures. Pupils are taught how to keep safe on the internet. They learn how to stay safe in the local area, such as learning how to ride their bikes safely.

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The trust has worked closely with the school to support and drive improvements. Those responsible for governance and leaders provide effective challenge. Staff value the ongoing coaching and training they receive. They say this helps to make their workload manageable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 5 and 6 March 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Much of the work on the school’s curriculum has been recent. In a few foundation subjects, the school has not yet had sufficient opportunity to fully evaluate how these plans reflect their local community. This means that opportunities to enhance the curriculum to reflect the local area are yet to happen. The school should develop a strategic programme of opportunities for all pupils to enrich and develop the curriculum through their local community.  In some areas of learning in the early years, the curriculum does not make clear the most important vocabulary that children should know and remember by the end of Reception. This means that as pupils move on into key stage 1, they are not as well prepared for learning as they could be. The school should ensure that the most important vocabulary that children need to learn in all areas of learning in the early years is clearly identified and followed to better support pupils’

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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). 5 and 6 March 2024

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School details

Local authority Kingston Upon Hull City Council

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 October 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This is an average-size primary school.  The school runs a breakfast club for pupils.  The school does not use 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 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.  The lead inspector held a meeting with a representative of the board of trustees and the primary director of education for the trust. 5 and 6 March 2024

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 The inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, art, history and geography. For each deep dive, the inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Pupils’ behaviour was observed during lesson visits and at breaktimes. Pupils shared their views on behaviour during discussions.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors 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.  The views of parents were sought face-to-face, and the inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View.  The inspectors considered the views of staff from meeting with them and from

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their responses to Ofsted’s staff questionnaire.  The inspectors met with the special educational needs coordinator to consider the curriculum for pupils with SEND.

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Inspection team

Ian Clennan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Jonathan Sharp Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 March 2024

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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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