Hartland Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Hartland Primary School North Road, Hartland, Bideford, Devon EX39 6BP

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Outcome

Hartland 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?

Staff at Hartland care deeply about the education and well-being of all pupils. The school wants every child to listen, learn, enjoy and achieve. A great deal of thought and effort goes in to ensuring that every pupil gets the help and support they need to do well. As a result, the school has an ambitious curriculum that successfully supports pupils’ academic and personal development. Parents recognise this, valuing the caring staff and the positive environment they provide for their children.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school. They understand the behaviour values of ‘Ready, Respectful and Safe’ and use these to guide their behaviour in lessons and during social times. As a result, pupils are attentive in lessons and considerate of staff, visitors and each other. Pupils say that bullying is rare. They are rightly confident that staff always take their concerns seriously and deal with them quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has carefully considered the emotional and pastoral support it offers to pupils. Consequently, pupils report that they feel well cared for and helped in dealing with big emotions. For example, many pupils value ‘Calm Club’, the optional lunchtime club where pupils can go if they want some peace and quiet.

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

All pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) learn well. The school has carefully thought through what pupils learn to ensure their knowledge builds over time. Often, lessons provide opportunities for pupils to revisit and practise what they have already learned. As a result, pupils can remember previous work and draw on this knowledge when encountering new challenges. Staff have a good 21 January 2025

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understanding of the needs of pupils with SEND. This enables staff to provide these pupils with useful and accessible activities.

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The school regularly looks for ways to improve the way that they teach. Recently, leaders have supported staff to understand how to adapt their teaching so that all pupils are able to access learning. This is helping pupils to understand the purpose of activities and get the right level of support. This is leading to more pupils being able to complete set tasks independently.

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Early reading is taught well. Most pupils learn to read fluently and with enjoyment. Children in the early years, including two-year-olds in the pre-school class, are well supported in their early language development. This prepares them well for their later learning in reading and writing. In Reception and key stage 1, staff have a clear focus on the most important knowledge to be gained when teaching phonics. The school rightly emphasises the importance of accuracy. This helps pupils to quickly learn the sounds that letters make. Staff frequently check pupils’ understanding to make sure that all pupils have understood what is being taught. Pupils learn to write at the same time as they learn to read. However, the key knowledge pupils need to gain is not as clearly identified for early writing as it is for reading. This means that teachers are not consistently prioritising the most important knowledge and do not check how well this has been

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Pupils’ personal development is carefully designed. This helps them develop their understanding of what it means to be a good friend and a good citizen. Pupils learn about important ideas and develop a working understanding of concepts such as democracy. As a result, pupils learn the importance of valuing everyone and respecting difference. Expectations of behaviour are clear and well understood by pupils. Consequences and rewards are used effectively and consistently by staff. Consequently, lessons are calm and purposeful, and pupils behave well across the school.

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The school prioritises good attendance and keeps a close eye on pupil absences. Leaders act swiftly to support pupils and their families if school attendance becomes a problem. This is leading to improvements in attendance over time and a reduction in the number of pupils who are persistently missing school.

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Governors are committed to the school and value the hard work of staff. They are aspirational for pupils and want to do the best for the school. Governors and school leaders are considerate of staff well-being and workload. They make sure staff have the time and support they need to complete the tasks assigned to them. The school has a wide range of procedures to monitor pupils’ learning. The most effective of these take place in lessons, when staff use their subject knowledge to check pupils’ understanding. Some other processes, although useful when initially introduced, now have little impact on pupils’ learning.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 21 January 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The key knowledge pupils need to learn in their early writing has not been clearly identified. As a result, staff do not routinely prioritise the most important knowledge, and some pupils do not quickly learn how to write simple sentences and spell words accurately. The school needs to ensure that staff are supported to know and prioritise the most important knowledge to support pupils in becoming fluent writers.  Assessment procedures for some subjects are time-consuming and do not provide sufficiently useful information. Consequently, time is being used to complete activities that have little impact on pupils’ learning. The school should ensure that, as far as possible, staff only complete assessment activities that directly support pupil learning.

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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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in June 2019.

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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. 21 January 2025

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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 January 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 4 and 5 June 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Since the last inspection, the school has extended its pre-school class to include provision for two-year-old children.  The school currently uses one registered alternative provision.  A breakfast club and after-school provision are operated by the school.

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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. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  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. 21 January 2025

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 Inspectors visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and senior teachers. Inspectors also spoke to members of the governing body and a representative from the local authority.

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Inspection team

Phil Minns, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jayne Keller Ofsted Inspector 21 January 2025

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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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