Hart Plain Junior School

Inspection of Hart Plain Junior School Hart Plain Avenue, Cowplain, Waterlooville, Hampshire PO8 8SA

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Inspection dates: 17, 18 and 25 June 2025

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 17, 18 and 25 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils value the strong pastoral support they receive at this school. Keeping pupils safe is a high priority. Pupils learn how to keep safe when online and important road safety skills they need when out in the community. Pupils also benefit from an enhanced swimming programme through which they learn about water safety.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is ambitious for pupils to achieve well. In recent years though, too many pupils have not acquired the reading and mathematics knowledge they need to be ready for secondary school. The school is beginning to make positive changes. For example, improvements to the mathematics curriculum now enable most pupils to achieve well in this subject. However, there are still too many pupils, including some disadvantaged pupils, who cannot read sufficiently well for their age.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Generally, pupils behave well. The school is calm and purposeful. Pupils appreciate the consistent and thoughtful approach to managing behaviour. Pupils understand that the school wants them to become the very best version of themselves.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils relish making a difference to the school. This includes helping to decide on changes to school meals and improving football safety at playtimes. Through this, pupils feel valued and that their voices are heard.

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

The school truly wants all pupils to learn a broad curriculum. In a few subjects, such as mathematics and science, pupils achieve well. This is because the curriculum in these subjects ensures that teachers know what knowledge pupils must remember and when they should learn it. In mathematics and science, teachers routinely identify precise gaps in pupils’ understanding and address these before they introduce new content. This means that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), receive suitable work that develops and deepens their understanding over time.

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

However, in most other subjects the curriculum content is not defined or sequenced effectively. This means that teachers are not clear about the important knowledge they need to teach and when to teach it. Furthermore, in some subjects, staff lack the necessary expertise to plan work that helps pupils build their knowledge and skills. As a result, pupils do not develop the secure understanding needed to achieve as well as they should across the full curriculum.

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

The school is beginning to take action to improve how well pupils learn to read. For example, through studying a broad range of carefully considered texts, pupils learn new vocabulary effectively. However, pupils at the early stages of learning to read, including several pupils with SEND, do not learn to read quickly enough. While the school has introduced a well-planned and sequenced phonics programme, this is not delivered effectively. Often, those readers who struggle the most do not receive effective support, including when practising their reading aloud. Furthermore, pupils are given additional 17, 18 and 25 June 2025

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reading books that do not closely match the sounds they know. This does not help those pupils who have not yet mastered basic reading skills to catch up quickly with their peers.

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Most pupils work hard and attend well. They have positive attitudes to learning and are motivated to do well. Pupils behave with respect towards staff and towards each other. Pupils who require additional support, including those with SEND, have their needs thoughtfully identified and met.

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Support for pupils’ personal development is a strength. Pupils learn knowledge and skills they need for life in modern Britain. They learn to value difference, learning about the range of cultures and beliefs that make up today’s society. Planned visits to local places of interest, such as an ancient farm, a fort and an environmental centre enrich the curriculum. In addition, the school ensures that pupils learn important life skills, such as how to use public transport and how to stay physically and mentally fit.

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Governors ensure that they fulfil their statutory responsibilities. The school knows that it is currently not as effective as it needs to be. Everyone is determined to ensure that this improves. However, further improvement is needed to ensure that all pupils achieve well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s approach to teaching early reading is not as effective as it needs to be. This means that too many pupils, including some disadvantaged pupils, do not receive the support they need to catch up quickly with their peers. The school must ensure that all staff are expertly trained to teach early reading effectively.  In many subjects, the curriculum is not yet effectively sequenced and lacks clarity about exactly what should be taught and when. This means that pupils do not securely learn the important knowledge they need to be ready for their next steps. The school must ensure it has a coherently sequenced curriculum with clearly identified component knowledge from Year 3 to Year 6 in all subjects.  The school has not ensured that teachers’ subject and pedagogical knowledge are consistently strong. Too often the work given to pupils does not enable them to develop a detailed understanding of the curriculum and demonstrate what they know

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

and can do. The school must strengthen teachers’ subject and pedagogical knowledge in all subjects, so that all pupils achieve as well as they should. 17, 18 and 25 June 2025

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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). 17, 18 and 25 June 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Pauline Warnants

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 11 and 12 February 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 This school is an average sized junior school.  The school currently uses one registered provider 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. 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 (early years and/or sixth form provision). 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. 17, 18 and 25 June 2025

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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 inspection started on 17 June 2025. It was paused in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: Deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy. Inspectors returned on 25 June 2025 to complete the inspection.  During the inspection, the inspectors met with the headteacher and senior leaders. The lead inspector also met with representatives from the governing body, including the chair of governors and met with representatives from the local authority.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, science and religious education. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some

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pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspectors also considered the curriculum in some 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 considered the views of parents and carers through their responses to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors gathered the views of pupils and staff through the online staff and pupil surveys, as well as discussions conducted throughout the inspection.  The inspectors reviewed a range of the school’s documents, including self-evaluation reports, minutes of governing body meetings and behaviour incident logs.

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Inspection team

Sue Keeling, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Radhika Woodruff Ofsted Inspector 17, 18 and 25 June 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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