Hillside Community Primary School

Inspection of Hillside Community Primary School Egerton, Tanhouse, Skelmersdale, Lancashire WN8 6DE

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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 Outstanding 9 and 10 July 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy, content and caring at this school. They enjoy discovering new learning, as well as socialising and engaging in activities with their friends. The strong and trusting bonds that pupils form with their peers and with staff are the foundations upon which the success of the school is built.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school expects pupils to become high achieving, diligent and conscientious citizens. Pupils respond positively to these ambitious expectations, which help to make sure that they learn well across the curriculum. They typically behave well during lessons. Classrooms are calm and purposeful.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are encouraged to develop their sports and musical interests. They look forward to the school’s annual ‘Hillside's got talent’ event, where they demonstrate their dancing, singing and gymnastic prowess. Staff also encourage pupils to share their talents during special assemblies, for example in Morris dancing and in martial arts.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ horizons are broadened in different ways. For instance, Year 6 pupils look forward to their annual residential, where they engage in outdoor and orienteering activities. Pupils enjoy visiting museums, galleries and local places of interest, which are linked to different aspects of the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand fundamental British values. They know that they should treat people from different religious and cultural backgrounds with dignity and respect.

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better?

The school has devised an interesting and exciting curriculum that matches the ambitions of the national curriculum. It has ordered subject content so that pupils’ knowledge and skills build securely and effectively over time. Children in the early years achieve especially well. They become cooperative and confident communicators from the start of their learning journey through the school.

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better?

Teachers benefit from a wide range of targeted support and training, which helps them to deliver the curriculum consistently well in most subjects. Typically, teachers employ a range of assessment strategies, which help them to successfully identify how well pupils are learning. However, in a few subjects, the school has not ensured that teachers routinely revisit and reinforce pupils’ prior learning. This means that some pupils do not commit previous learning to their long-term memory.

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better?

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum. Pupils enjoy reading books by a range of different children’s authors and they are developing their appreciation of poetry. Staff broaden pupils’ appreciation of a diverse range of authors and writing styles.

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better?

The school has revised and improved its approach to teaching phonics. Staff deliver the phonics programme and early reading curriculum effectively. Children start to 9 and 10 July 2024

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learn phonics as soon as they join the Reception class. Staff support pupils who find reading more difficult to help them to keep up with their peers. This helps pupils to develop their reading fluency and comprehension skills quickly.

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The school identifies pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) quickly. Staff work with external professionals, including speech and language therapists, and with parents and carers, to make certain that pupils with SEND receive the expert help that they need. Teachers modify learning materials to help pupils with SEND to follow the school’s full curriculum. The school’s careful organisation of the curriculum helps to ensure that pupils with SEND develop their knowledge and skills well over time.

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Pupils respond positively to the school’s new behaviour policy. Even the youngest children in the early years follow instructions closely. Those in the Nursery class enjoy learning plentiful songs and rhymes.

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Many initiatives are in place to improve pupils’ attendance. Nonetheless, some pupils’ absence remains too high. From time to time, this limits how well these pupils achieve.

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Pupils are mature and responsible. They demonstrate this in their many leadership roles, including as school councillors, members of the pupil parliament and mental health ambassadors. Pupils regularly attend extra-curricular clubs, including in cricket, rugby, cross country and football. They care about their community. For example, pupils participate in litter-picking campaigns and they make greetings cards for residents of a local care home. Pupils know how to keep themselves fit and healthy. They understand the dangers associated with gang affiliation and they learn how to maintain appropriate personal relationships.

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Governors understand the school’s strengths and they provide appropriate challenge and support to help the school to continually improve. Staff know that the school is mindful of their workload and well-being. They are appreciative of the opportunities that the school provides for them to prepare teaching activities and to modify curriculum materials.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, staff do not revisit and reinforce pupils’ previous learning sufficiently enough to make sure that it is committed to their long-term memory. This hinders the progress that some pupils make through the curriculum. The school should ensure that, in these subjects, staff routinely check that pupils have 9 and 10 July 2024

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learned and remembered the intended curriculum so that they can deepen their learning over time.  The initiatives to improve pupils’ rates of attendance are not having the rapid impact that the school would like. Some pupils' low attendance means that they miss out on important learning and other aspects of personal development. The school should the strengthen the effectiveness of its current strategies, including working closely with parents, to improve these pupils' attendance.

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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). 9 and 10 July 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 22 and 23 February 2023, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher, deputy head teacher and some other staff and the governing body are shared between the school and one other local school.  The school provides part-time places for two-year-old children in a dedicated classroom. At the time of this inspection, there were no two-year-old children on roll.  The school does not make use of 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.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher. Inspectors also held meetings with other school leaders, including those 9 and 10 July 2024

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responsible for attendance, pupils’ behaviour, welfare and personal development, the early years provision and SEND.  The lead inspector met with members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body.  The lead inspector held telephone conversations with a representative of the local authority and with the school’s education consultant.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors met with pupils to discuss their learning in some other subjects.  Inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and well-being.  The lead inspector reviewed the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. He took account of responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for

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staff and for pupils.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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.

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Inspection team

Lenford White, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Louise Atkin Ofsted Inspector 9 and 10 July 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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