Hillside Junior School

Inspection of Hillside Junior School Northwood Way, Northwood HA6 1RX

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 November 2024

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement

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Previous inspection grade Good 19 and 20 November 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Hillside Junior School feel happy and safe. They enjoy their school community, show respect for each other, and are kind. Pupils get along well with their peers. They know how to raise any concerns they might have, such as by speaking to trusted adults or using their class ‘worry boxes’. This helps to ensure pupils are kept safe at school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from the school’s wider offer. They take part in a range of additional activities, including fencing, rock band and Spanish. Pupils develop their leadership skills by taking on additional responsibilities, such as school council members or well-being ambassadors. ‘Team leaders’ contribute to the running of the school and take pride in these roles.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The curriculum pupils learn is ambitious. This enables many pupils to do well, including in national assessments where outcomes are in line with what is achieved nationally. However, the school’s ambitions for some pupils are not high enough. For example, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or who are at the earlier stages of learning English are not sufficiently supported. As a result, some of these pupils are not securely prepared for the next stage of their education.

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

The curriculum matches the breadth and ambition of what is expected nationally. Across subjects, leaders have set out precisely what they expect pupils to learn. This is sequenced so that pupils revisit and embed their understanding over time. For example, in geography, pupils learn simple map skills, before moving on to learn about environmental features. Older pupils draw on this knowledge to compare both local, European, and global contexts and how these have changed over time.

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

The curriculum is not consistently implemented. Assessment is not used systematically to check that pupils understand key ideas and vocabulary before moving on. As a result, misconceptions are not routinely identified or swiftly addressed so that learning builds successfully. This means that some pupils, including those with SEND and who speak English as an additional language, do not develop sufficient knowledge and skills to achieve the aims of the curriculum and be well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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

Pupils enjoy reading and read each day. Careful consideration has been given to how chosen texts enhance what is learned in the broader curriculum. The school has an established phonics curriculum for pupils at the early stages of reading. Books are matched to the sounds they know. However, gaps in pupils’ reading knowledge are not addressed quickly and effectively enough. This means that these pupils are not sufficiently supported to read accurately or fluently and are not fully prepared for their next stage in education.

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

The school has processes in place for identifying pupils with SEND. Staff are provided with information and guidance about pupils’ needs. However, the expectations for pupils with 19 and 20 November 2024

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SEND are not sufficiently high. Staff are not adequately trained to ensure that teaching and resources are adapted appropriately. This means, at times, the support that pupils receive limits what they can achieve independently.

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Pupils’ wider personal development is well considered. For example, pupils are taught to stay safe, including when online and learn about the importance of democracy in lessons and assemblies. Pupils visit culturally important landmarks, such as the Houses of Parliament, to deepen their learning.

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Pupils display respectful behaviour towards one another in lessons and during informal times. Bullying is rare and pupils know that adults address it if it does occur. Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning and lessons are rarely disrupted. Weekly ‘achievement assemblies’ celebrate pupils who have demonstrated the school values. Pupils attend well and arrive on time.

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Staff feel supported by leaders and know that their well-being is considered. Parents and carers are supported with resources, in a range of home languages, to support their children with homework. Governors review aspects of the school’s work. However, leadership oversight has not been as strategic and precise in relation to the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ learning, including for pupils with SEND and those who speak English as an additional language.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some pupils, including those with SEND, who speak English as an additional language, and those at the early stages of reading, are not sufficiently supported to achieve the aims of the intended curriculum. As result, they do not secure requisite knowledge or understanding and are not suitably prepared for the next stage of their education. The school, including those responsible for governance, should ensure their oversight of school effectiveness is more sharply focused on how well the curriculum is implemented and its impact on pupils’ learning, especially for those who are more vulnerable.  Assessment information is not used consistently to adapt teaching. As a result, the support given to some pupils is not sharply focused on addressing the misconceptions or gaps in knowledge they have. The school should ensure that assessment information is used consistently to help pupils to develop knowledge and skills across the

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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). 19 and 20 November 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 18 June 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Hillside Junior School shares its site with Hillside Infant School.  The school currently does not use any alternative provision.  The school runs its own after-school clubs.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement. Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 19 and 20 November 2024

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 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 inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders, teachers and support staff.  The lead inspector met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body. She also spoke with the local authority school improvement partner.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, geography and mathematics. For each deep dive, the inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of their work. The inspectors also considered the curriculum in other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central

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record of pre-employment checks; 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 inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation provided by leaders, including their priorities for improvement.  The inspectors considered the views of parents, pupils and staff through discussions and their responses to Ofsted’s online surveys.

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Inspection team

Matea Marcinko, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Laurie O’Brien Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 November 2024

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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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