Lightwater Village Junior School

Inspection of a good school: Hammond School Badger Drive, Lightwater, Surrey GU18 5TS

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 February 2024

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Outcome

Hammond School continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The executive headteacher of this school is Lee Parsons and she is responsible for 3 other schools. This school is part of The GLF Schools multi academy trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Julian Drinkall, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Lynne O’Reilly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Hammond school. The broad and balanced education stretches beyond learning in the classroom. Pupils learn the ‘Pride’ values and why they matter both in the school and in the wider world. As a result, they are keen to live up to these and win the coveted ‘pride points’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. They are proud of their school. Adults’ high expectations are evident in lessons and pupils rise to these. Pupils show high levels of consideration for their peers. They are polite and courteous to all. In lessons, they are attentive to adults and keen to share their thoughts and ideas. They work hard and produce high quality outcomes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s rich offer of activities allows pupils to develop new interests and talents. Pupils relish the range of sports, computer programming and gardening clubs available and these are well attended. Older pupils use the dedicated recording studio to produce monthly podcasts on topics important to them, such as online safety, for the school community. Pupils delight at the growing number of enrichment activities linked to the curriculum including the recent trip to Butser Ancient Farm.

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

The school’s curriculum is well planned and ambitious. Leaders have identified the essential knowledge pupils are to learn. This has been carefully sequenced to ensure pupils remember key concepts and make strong links between subjects. Much of the curriculum is well established. For a small number of subjects, changes have recently been made to the curriculum and how it is delivered. Some parents and carers are unclear 21–22 February 2024

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and concerned about the changes made and the rationale behind them. Leaders are taking appropriate actions to address these concerns.

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Leaders have clear oversight of all subjects and have provided teachers with effective support and guidance to introduce newer aspects of the curriculum. In turn, staff feel well supported and value the opportunities to work with partner schools in the trust.

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In lessons, staff use their secure subject knowledge to break down complex ideas into small chunks. This helps pupils link new learning to what they already understand. For example, in mathematics, pupils describe how their knowledge ‘adds together’ to help them learn more. In most subjects, pupils are provided with useful opportunities to recap on important prior knowledge. Assessment in English and mathematics is well embedded, with information about pupils’ knowledge used well to adapt subsequent activities. Most teachers use questioning precisely during lessons to check pupils’ understanding and adapt their instructions. However, assessment information in some subjects is not yet used consistently well to identify gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

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Leaders and teachers work well together to ensure pupils’ additional needs are accurately identified and to ensure that support is provided in a timely way. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well in lessons to ensure they are able to learn successfully alongside their peers.

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Pupils love to read. They have multiple opportunities to read throughout the day. The reading curriculum and extra help for phonics are well planned to ensure all pupils read with confidence and fluency. Pupil librarians, acting as role models, share books with younger pupils and recommend their favourite authors to their peers. The school’s reading spine is varied and diverse. It immerses pupils in high quality literature.

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The curriculum goes beyond the academic with a comprehensive personal development programme. Pupils develop an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships and staying safe. They are proud of the many leadership roles and are keen to represent their peers in the pupils’ parliament or as eco warriors and digital leaders. They are eager to help others and their school. The school ensures that pupils are taught about being inclusive and valuing difference. This builds a harmonious environment where everyone feels welcome.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Assessment routines are less well developed in a small number of subjects than across the rest of the curriculum. As a result, gaps in pupils’ knowledge and understanding are not identified quickly enough. The school should ensure that assessment is used 21–22 February 2024

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consistently well across the school to identify where future teaching needs adapting to address weaknesses in prior learning.  The rationale behind some of the recent curriculum changes is unclear to some parents. This has led to some having negative views about the school's work. The school should continue working to rebuild meaningful relationships with parents and carers, for the benefit of pupils

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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 October 2018.

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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' 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). 21–22 February 2024

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School details

Website http://www.hammondjuniorschool.org

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4 October 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Hammond School is part of a federation with Lightwater Village School.  The school’s before- and after-school childcare provision is managed by an external provider.  The school currently uses one registered alternative provider.

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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. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher and other senior leaders. She also met with trustees, members of the governing body and representatives of the trust. 21–22 February 2024

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history.  For each deep dive, the inspector 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.  During the inspection, the inspector met with a range of pupils to discuss their views about the school and talked to them informally during social times.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector scrutinised a wide range of information, including a selection of the school’s records. The inspector spoke to staff and pupils about safeguarding and looked at how pupils learn to keep themselves safe. The inspector spoke to the safeguarding leader about the recording and reporting of safeguarding incidents.  The inspector met some parents to gain their views of the school. She reviewed the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. The inspector also took account of

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staff responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Laura James, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 21–22 February 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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