The Hathaway Academy

Inspection of a good school: The Hathaway Academy Hathaway Road, Grays, Essex RM17 5LL

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Outcome

The Hathaway Academy continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The principal of this school is Fatima Rodrigues. This school is part of Academy Transformation Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Sir Nick Weller, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Pat Beanland OBE.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel happy, safe and secure at school. They respond well to the expectations set in the school’s ‘pride drives’. These include good manners and strong discipline.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Reflecting these attributes, pupils show pride in their work. They are keen to do their best, but sometimes their work is too easy. This means that pupils do not always achieve as highly as they could.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit significantly from the school’s character and resilience programme. They develop skills and behaviours that prepare them to become responsible citizens. Pupils learn to lead healthy and safe lives. They also learn first aid so they can help others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils can adopt leadership roles where they take active responsibility for the learning and behaviour of their peers. This includes the role of head boy and girl, as prefects and also as apprentices who mentor younger pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

A wide range of clubs are open to all pupils. These include sports, music, drama and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). All pupils also have the opportunity to take part in drama, media, art and music productions. Local, national and international trips are available to all pupils and serve to enhance classroom learning.

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

The school has devised a curriculum with the ambition of ‘making dreams a reality’. The curriculum is at least as broad as the national curriculum. Its intention is to develop pupils’ global capital and promote aspirations. 25 and 26 June 2024

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To underpin these aspirations, the school prioritises pupils’ reading skills. The school identifies weaker readers as soon as they join the school. These pupils then receive effective reading interventions to enable them to quickly access the full curriculum.

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In lessons, teachers’ subject expertise helps pupils build on their previous knowledge. Teachers carefully select relevant and meaningful content to engage pupils’ interest. This helps make learning memorable.

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Teachers regularly check pupils’ progress in all subjects. However, this information is not always used effectively to plan tasks for pupils. Therefore, lessons can sometimes be too easy, as pupils spend too long working on similarly challenging tasks. Pupils do not routinely practise more complex skills, for example applying a sophisticated range of conventions in writing. As a result, some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could.

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The school accurately identifies pupils who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders swiftly put the right support and extra help in place. Parents are fully involved in planning and reviewing this support. Staff ensure that lessons are carefully adapted to accommodate individual needs. Pupils with SEND can access the same learning as their peers. Accordingly, they achieve well.

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Pupils take pride in their attitudes to school. They behave well, and many attend school regularly. The school closely monitors the attendance of pupils. It has a clear understanding of the reasons behind poor attendance for the few pupils missing too much time in school. It is working effectively with families and external agencies to bring about improvements in attendance for these pupils.

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The school is proud of its celebration of diversity. Pupils participate in Black History Month and different festivals, such as Diwali. Pupils also join in with international days celebrating tolerance and democracy. The school develops pupils’ social awareness through encouraging them to work with local charities and to lead fundraising events.

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The school enables all pupils to explore the world of work. Pupils take part in national apprentice and careers weeks. They also visit universities and higher education colleges. As a result, pupils are well prepared for their next steps in education or employment.

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Trust leaders hold the school to account effectively. They regularly check the standards and systems in place. Trust leaders provide a bespoke range of professional development for staff. Staff appreciate the regard by leaders for their workload and well-being. As a result of this support, the school has established a stable team whose members feel valued and respected.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 25 and 26 June 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers sometimes do not use assessment effectively to establish what content pupils have mastered and when they are ready to move on to new learning. Some lessons are too easy for some pupils, because they repeat the same content for too long. Pupils do not always get the practice they need to develop higher-order skills. As a result, some pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, do not achieve as highly as they could. Leaders must ensure that teachers provide sufficient opportunities for all pupils to regularly practise and develop their higher-order skills.

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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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2015.

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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). 25 and 26 June 2024

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CEO of the trust

Website http://hathawayacademy.attrust.org.uk/

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CEO of the trust

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

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Information about this school

 The school converted to academy status on 1 July 2013 to be part of the Academy Transformation Trust.  The school does not use any alternative providers of education.

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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.  Inspectors held meetings with the principal, other senior leaders, staff, pupils and representatives of the board of trustees.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in English, mathematics, geography and art. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of 25 and 26 June 2024

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lessons, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also considered the curriculum in other subjects.  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.  Inspectors reviewed the school’s records of pupil movement.  Inspectors spoke to staff, including early career teachers, about pupils’ behaviour and their workload in school.  Inspectors were aware during this inspection that serious allegations of a child protection nature were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate allegations of this kind, actions taken by the school in response to the allegations were considered alongside the other evidence

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available at the time of the inspection to inform inspectors’ judgements.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey. They took account of the 26 responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the 22 free-text comments.  Inspectors considered the views of pupils shared through Ofsted’s online survey for pupils and through discussions held with pupils during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Rowena Simmons, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Sally Nutman Ofsted Inspector 25 and 26 June 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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