Harlands Community Primary & Nursery School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Harlands Primary School Mallard Drive, Uckfield, East Sussex TN22 5PW

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Outcome

Harlands Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive at this school. Staff in early years carefully support children to settle at school. Pupils across the school are safe and happy as a result of the care provided by staff. Pupils live up to the school’s expectations of them. This starts in the early years, where children follow clear routines. Pupils are taught to listen attentively to adults and to each other. The school has introduced a ‘restorative’ approach to address any behaviours that do not meet the school’s expectations. Pupils appreciate having opportunities to reflect and focus on how they can do better next time.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides pupils with a broad and enriching curriculum that ensures pupils achieve well academically. It also provides extensive opportunities for personal growth and development. The curriculum is, for example, supported by an exceptionally broad range of trips, visits and experiences.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ health and well-being are a top priority within the school. In addition to physical education (PE), pupils have ongoing opportunities for physical movement and physical development within each school day. The school offers a wide range of effective help for those pupils who need more support with their well-being. Staff make the school a place that pupils want to be. Most pupils attend well.

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

The school has re-developed their curriculum offer, and the way it is delivered, to ensure that pupils learn well across the academic curriculum. Pupils are enthused and engaged in learning. The school has a clear approach to the teaching of early reading. Children in Nursery are supported to develop their awareness of sounds, both in the environment and, when they are ready, within words. They hear a wide range of stories to ignite their 8 and 9 October 2024

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love of reading. This helps them to prepare for Reception, when they start to learn the sounds that letters represent. The school has ensured that teachers across the school are trained to teach reading effectively. As children begin to learn to read, they have ongoing opportunities to read books that match the sounds they have learned. The school identifies any pupils who need more help with reading. Staff provide these pupils with effective support so that, over time, they develop reading fluency and confidence.

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Teachers have secure knowledge of the subjects that they teach. Staff develop pupils’ knowledge and skills, building on what pupils have learned before. As a result, pupils achieve very well, including in national assessments. The school has, however, identified that over time, pupils have not achieved as well in writing as they have in other subjects. To address this, the school has introduced a new approach to further strengthen the teaching of writing. This work is at an early stage, but initial indicators suggest that the new approach is having a positive impact on pupils’ achievement in writing.

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The school has effective systems for identifying pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers, however, do not consistently adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. This means that these pupils are sometimes moved on to work that is too complex too soon. This results in some pupils with SEND becoming overly reliant on adult support to access learning.

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Pupils relish the wider opportunities that the school provide. Activities such as regular cookery lessons and forest school enrich the academic curriculum. The school engages very effectively with the local community. Pupils have recently, for example, produced artwork which will be displayed in local allotments. Sporting competitions are a regular fixture of the school’s calendar. Pupils and parents appreciate that these opportunities are inclusive of all. The school reviews the wider curriculum offer regularly to ensure that all pupils can benefit

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School leaders and governors work together to ensure that all pupils receive a high- quality education. Staff feel extremely well supported in their roles. They are treated as trusted professionals, who work alongside leaders in the best interests of pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 At times, the school does not ensure that the curriculum is adapted sufficiently well, particularly for pupils with SEND. This can result in some pupils being moved on to new learning before they have embedded their knowledge and understanding fully. The school should ensure that the planned curriculum meets the needs of all pupils, including those with SEND, consistently well. 8 and 9 October 2024

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 for overall effectiveness in April 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). 8 and 9 October 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Co-chairs of governing body Maggie Carroll and Michelle Warner

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School details

Date of previous inspection 25 April 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in September 2019.  The co-chairs of the governing board were appointed in September 2022.  The school has nursery provision for children from the age of two. The school operates before- and after-school care.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 the school and has taken that into account in her evaluation of the school. 8 and 9 October 2024

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 During the inspection, the inspector met with the headteacher and the deputy headteacher. She met with the co-chairs of the governing board and a representative of the local authority.  The inspector focused inspection activity on the following groups of subjects: early English and mathematics, and science, art and design and history. For each group of subjects, the inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector 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’ interest first.  Throughout the inspection, the inspector met with groups of staff. She also considered the opinions expressed through the staff survey.

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 The inspector met some parents at the start of day two and had regard to the views expressed through Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Alice Roberts, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 October 2024

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