Hargate Primary School

HARGATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dates of inspection: 14 th – 16 th October 2002

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HARGATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Full inspection carried out under section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996 This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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HARGATE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report and/or its summary free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Hargate Primary School - 3

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School address: Hargate Lane West Bromwich West Midlands

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Appropriate authority: The governing body

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Name of chair of governors: Mrs M Dickens

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Date of previous inspection: November 1997 Hargate Primary School - 4

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Team members Subject responsibilities Aspect responsibilities 21750 Mrs S E Hall Registered inspector Science Design and technology The school’s results and pupils’ achievements How well is the school led and managed? What could the school do to improve further? 13762 Mr N Shelley Lay inspector Pupils’ attitudes and values. How well does the school care for its pupils or students? How well does the school work in partnership with parents? 7593 Mr J Collier Team inspector English Music Religious education How well are pupils taught?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

3751 Mrs T Cotton Team inspector The Foundation Stage curriculum Special educational needs Equal opportunities English as an additional language Art and design Geography History 19897 Mr A. Evans Team inspector Mathematics Information and communication technology Physical education How good are the curricular and other opportunities offered to pupils?

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

11642 Mrs B Parkinson Team inspector Provision for hearing- impaired pupils

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Schools Inspection Unit School of Education Birmingham University Birmingham, B15 2TT

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Any concerns or complaints about the inspection or the report should be raised with the inspection contractor. Complaints that are not satisfactorily resolved by the contractor should be raised with OFSTED by writing to:

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

The Complaints Manager Inspection Quality Division

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE INSPECTION TEAM

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Hargate Primary School - 5

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PART A: SUMMARY OF THE REPORT 6

Information about the school How good the school is What the school does well What could be improved How the school has improved since its last inspection Standards Pupils’ attitudes and values Teaching and learning Other aspects of the school How well the school is led and managed Parents’ and carers’ views of the school

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HOW HIGH ARE STANDARDS? 10

The school’s results and pupils’ achievements Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

Hargate Primary School is a community school in an urban area of West Bromwich. The local economic circumstances are below average. There are 227 pupils aged from three to eleven in this average sized school, with slightly more boys than girls and with only a small number of pupils moving in and out of the school. The level of the children’s skills on entry to nursery is slightly below average in several areas, including the key skills of communication, language and literacy. Approximately 26 per cent of pupils are currently eligible for free school meals, which is broadly average. The majority of pupils are of white ethnic heritage. There are 66 pupils from ethnic minority groups of mainly Asian heritage, with three pupils receiving additional language support. There are 48 pupils on the school’s special educational needs (SEN) register which is an average proportion. There are 15 pupils with statements of SEN. The school is the centre for Sandwell’s provision for deaf children of nursery and

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE SCHOOL

primary school age, and eleven of the twelve places are used at present. Pupils from the centre attend mainstream classes where they have full-time support from specialist learning support assistants and additional part-time teaching support from a teacher of the deaf. Seven of the eleven pupils have cochlea implants and this means that they, as well as the other deaf children, require and receive specialist auditory training to help them to raise their listening skills. The school uses both sign and speech to help pupils to learn and understand English and to communicate. Some hearing-impaired pupils come from homes where English is an additional language.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

The school provides a satisfactory standard of education and very good pastoral care for all pupils, including those with hearing impairments. The effective leadership of the headteacher enables the school to move forward and improve. Current standards are largely average except in mathematics where they are above average and in English where they are below average. The quality of teaching is satisfactory overall, with some good features. The school provides satisfactory value for money.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What the school does well  Standards in mathematics are above average throughout the school.  The school makes good provision for the full inclusion, involvement and support of pupils with hearing impairment in all activities.  The pastoral care of pupils is very good and their attitudes and behaviour are good.  Provision for children in the Foundation Stage is good and particularly effective in the nursery.  There is good teaching in the Foundation Stage and for the infants.  Provision for pupils’ social development is very good and that for spiritual, moral and cultural development is good.  The quality of leadership and management provided by the headteacher is good.

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HOW GOOD THE SCHOOL IS

What could be improved  The speaking skills of the pupils throughout the school and writing in the juniors.  The consistency and quality of teaching in the juniors.  The monitoring of teaching and of pupils’ learning.  Assessment of pupils’ progress in subjects other than in English, mathematics and science. The areas for improvement will form the basis of the governors’ action plan.

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

There has been satisfactory improvement overall since the previous inspection in November 1997. The school has partially addressed the areas identified as the four key issues for improvement although more remains to be done in each area. Staff have improved the quality and use of day-to-day assessment to inform short-term planning in English, mathematics and science but less effectively in other subjects. There is now a closer match between written policies and everyday practice, in the marking of work and within the teaching of English, but as yet this has not had sufficient impact in the juniors. The governing body has developed its understanding of the curriculum but governors are overly dependent upon the headteacher for information. There is now slightly better coverage of the Hargate Primary School - 7 National Curriculum programme of study for music. There has also been satisfactory improvement in

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HOW THE SCHOOL HAS IMPROVED SINCE ITS LAST INSPECTION

the overall quality of teaching, and good improvement in the leadership of the school.

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STANDARDS

The table shows the standards achieved by pupils at the end of Year 6 based on average point scores in National Curriculum tests. compared with

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STANDARDS

Performance in: all schools similar schools Key

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STANDARDS

English E C E D well above average above average A B Mathematics E C B A average below average C D Science E D E D well below average E

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STANDARDS

The overall attainment of most of the children when they start in the nursery is slightly below the national average. While the children have good personal and social skills, the development of speaking skills, which affects their achievement in all subjects, is below average. The National Curriculum test results in 2001 show that, at the age of seven, standards in reading were average, in writing were above average and in mathematics were well above average. Results in 2002 tests indicate similar standards in reading and mathematics, but a dip in writing. Inspection findings are that standards of speaking are below average, those in reading and writing are currently average, and those in mathematics are above average.

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STANDARDS

The 2001 National Curriculum test results showed the attainment of pupils aged eleven to be well below average in English and science and above average in mathematics. The 2002 national tests show an improvement in the proportion of pupils achieving the expected levels in national tests but with relatively few pupils achieving the higher levels. Inspection findings indicate that Year 6 standards are currently above average in mathematics, average in science, but below average in English. Despite a greater number achieving the expected levels, the school’s targets were not met. In the last two years pupils have done considerably better in mathematics than in English. However, speaking skills are below average as is writing in the juniors and pupils do not make enough progress in these areas.

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STANDARDS

Standards in almost all other subjects are broadly average. However, there was very little evidence of pupils’ work over a period of time and it was not possible to make judgements in music. Pupils’ learning and achievement are satisfactory overall. Pupils from ethnic minority groups, including those speaking English as an additional language, often achieve well. Pupils, including those whose hearing is impaired and those with SEN, make similar progress to their classmates especially when additional teaching support is available. Children in the Foundation Stage 1 and the infants often make better progress than in the juniors because more is expected of them.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attitudes to the school Good. Most pupils are very enthusiastic about school and enjoy it. Pupils whose hearing is impaired particularly value the support they receive.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Behaviour, in and out of classrooms Good. Pupils almost always behave well. There have been no exclusions and there is no significant anti-social behaviour.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

1 The nursery and reception classes. Hargate Primary School - 8 Personal development and relationships Good. Pupils make good progress in becoming mature and responsible, despite having limited opportunities for taking responsibility. Relationships are very good.

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PUPILS’ ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attendance Satisfactory. Attendance has improved recently although families taking holidays in term time cause a significant amount of absence. A few pupils arrive late for the start of school.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Teaching of pupils in: Nursery and reception Years 1 – 2 Years 3 – 6

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

Quality of teaching Good Good Satisfactory Inspectors make judgements about teaching in the range: excellent; very good; good; satisfactory; unsatisfactory; poor; very poor. ‘Satisfactory’ means that the teaching is adequate and strengths outweigh weaknesses.

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

The overall quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory. Strengths are in the good quality of teaching in the Foundation Stage and the infants, and consistently good and sometimes very good in the nursery and Year 2. This has a positive impact upon the progress that the younger pupils make. The quality of teaching in the juniors is satisfactory, but is sometimes uninspiring and lacks impact, and sometimes not enough is expected of pupils. The teaching of mathematics is good throughout the school and that in English is satisfactory. Numeracy skills are taught well and, whilst literacy skills are taught satisfactorily, pupils do not always develop their speaking and writing skills well enough. Strengths in teaching are in the good management of pupils that ensures lessons are conducted in a calm and orderly environment. Support staff, and especially those helping pupils with hearing impairments, are skilled and make a valuable contribution to learning. The teaching of pupils with SEN

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TEACHING AND LEARNING

and those speaking English as an additional language is satisfactory and enables these pupils to make similar progress to their classmates.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

The quality and range of the curriculum Satisfactory overall. There are strengths in the planning of activities for children in the Foundation Stage. Some literacy and numeracy lessons are too long and this restricts the time available for other subjects and affects the progress made by pupils.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with special educational needs The school responds satisfactorily to the pupils’ diverse needs. Provision for pupils whose hearing is impaired is good and they make satisfactory progress towards their learning targets.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils with English as an additional language Satisfactory. The large majority of pupils from ethnic minorities speak English fluently. There is a small amount of additional teaching for those at the early stages of learning English.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

Provision for pupils’ personal, including spiritual, moral, social and cultural, development Good overall. Provision for social development is very good with many opportunities to develop social skills in formal and informal activities. Provision for spiritual, moral and cultural development is good.

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OTHER ASPECTS OF THE SCHOOL

How well the school cares for its pupils Good overall. The pastoral care of pupils is very good. Procedures for health, safety and welfare of pupils are satisfactory. Assessment procedures are satisfactory. Information is used to inform teaching in English, mathematics and science, but not regularly in other subjects. Hargate Primary School - 9 The school works effectively with parents, welcomes them and tries hard to involve them more in school activities and supporting their children’s’ learning.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

Leadership and management by the headteacher and other key staff Good overall. The leadership of the headteacher is good and has been effective in helping the school move forward and accurately identify areas for further improvement. Other senior staff are seeking to develop their roles further.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

How well the governors fulfil their responsibilities Satisfactory. The governing body is appropriately led and governors are working to develop their knowledge of day-to-day activities and school development by increasing their contact with the school although they are often very dependent upon staff for information.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The school’s evaluation of its performance Satisfactory. The school makes effective use of an appropriate range of information to track the progress in some subjects, but less so in others. The monitoring of planning, teaching and learning lacks rigour and is not fully effective in informing areas for development.

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HOW WELL THE SCHOOL IS LED AND MANAGED

The strategic use of resources Good overall. The school appropriately applies the principles of best value to purchases. Funding for the support of pupils with hearing impairments is used well although there are not enough trained teachers to support the number of pupils. Staffing, accommodation and resources are all satisfactory. Good use is made of new technology to support school management and pupils’ learning.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

What pleases parents most What parents would like to see improved  Behaviour in school is good.  The school expects pupils to work hard and achieve their best.  The quality of teaching is good.  A more systematic use of homework.  Additional activities outside lessons.  The quality of leadership and the school working more closely with parents.  The information parents receive about how their children are getting on.

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PARENTS’ AND CARERS’ VIEWS OF THE SCHOOL

Inspectors generally agree with the positive views of the parents whilst noting the quality of teaching is better for younger than older pupils. The use of homework is satisfactory, as is the quality of information to parents. Activities outside lessons and the leadership of the headteacher are good. Hargate Primary School - 10

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

1 School assessment information indicates that children’s skills on entry to the nursery have improved slightly since the previous inspection. The majority of the children have personal and social skills that are slightly above the average. However, the skills of many are slightly below what is expected at this age in the key skills of communication, language and literacy. Whilst children listen and respond reasonably well to what is said to them, speaking skills are often limited. Children from ethnic minority groups often enter school with skills slightly above those of other children. All groups of children, including those whose hearing is impaired, make good and sometimes very good progress in the nursery and the majority enter Year 1 with skills that are average for their age. Children generally attain the early learning goals (the nationally recognised targets) in all areas of development, although

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

the speaking skills of several remain below average.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

2 National test data show that until 2000 the attainment of pupils aged seven was very low, but then standards started to rise and have been maintained at largely similar levels since. For instance, in the 2001 National Curriculum tests for pupils at the end of Year 2, attainment in reading was average, writing was above average and mathematics was well above the national average. When attainment is compared to that of pupils in schools with similar numbers entitled to free school meals, standards in reading were above average, in writing were well above average and in mathematics were amongst the highest five per cent. In 2002 the numbers of pupils achieving the expected Level 2 rose slightly in writing and mathematics, although less reached the higher levels in the tests. However, a greater proportion of pupils achieved Level 3 in reading than previously.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

3 A similar picture was also seen in national test results for pupils aged eleven until 2000 when they rose substantially, but then dipped the following year in English and science. In the 2001 National Curriculum tests for pupils at the end of Year 6 attainment in English and science was well below the national average but was above average in mathematics. When compared to schools with similar features, standards in English and science were below average whilst those in mathematics were well above average. In 2002 the proportion attaining the expected Level 4 rose in English, mathematics and science but the proportion achieving the higher Level 5 dipped in English and mathematics. However, whilst attainment overall rose and 91 per cent of pupils reached at least Level 4 in science, the school did not achieve the quite demanding targets set at 79 per cent of pupils to achieve this level in English and mathematics.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

4 Over several years pupils throughout the school have often achieved better standards in mathematics tests than in English and to a large extent this is still the position. Girls have often done better than boys and girls tend to talk more and contribute to class discussions in English. However, there appear no specific reasons why this should be. The school now tracks the progress made by different groups of pupils in order to explore the differences.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

5 Inspection findings are that at the age of seven standards are average in English and science and standards in mathematics are above average. However, there is more variability in standards at the age of eleven; whilst standards are above average in mathematics, they are average in science, but below average in English. These findings largely reflect national test results and any minor variations reflect those of the natural abilities of different groups of pupils. Hargate Primary School - 11 6 Pupil’s skills in speaking are below average throughout the school. The majority of the pupils are able to answer questions with reasonable confidence but often do so in short sentences or phrases and with a restricted vocabulary. This limits the progress pupils make in many areas. Pupils have average skills in reading and a small number of higher attaining pupils throughout the school read well. Whilst writing skills are satisfactory in the infants,

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

they are below average in the juniors. Here the restricted vocabulary and limited technical skills in spelling and handwriting are not fully addressed in teaching and this affects the depth and quality of writing.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

7 Pupils, including those with higher attainment, achieve well in mathematics. The majority of pupils handle numbers confidently and they improve the speed of mental and written calculations well. Many pupils have good understanding of shapes, space and measures and of how to handle and represent a variety of data in graphs and charts. ‘Booster’ activities have been particularly successful in supporting pupils’ achievement in end of year national tests in Year 6. Pupils achieve well in science in the infants and satisfactorily in the juniors. Pupils have a reasonable grasp of life processes and living things and of materials and their properties, although some older pupils do not make enough progress in carrying out experimental and investigative activities because teaching does not develop these skills effectively enough.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

8 On the limited evidence available in some subjects, inspection findings are that standards in all other subjects across the school are average, except in music where there was insufficient evidence upon which to make a judgement. There has been a satisfactory overall improvement in standards since the previous inspection and good improvement in mathematics.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

9 The majority of pupils make satisfactory progress overall as they move through the school, although not enough progress is made in English in the junior classes. Progress is often better in the infants than the juniors, which reflects the national test data. This is largely because teaching is slightly better in the infants than the juniors. Most pupils achieve at least satisfactorily, although at times more could be expected of older pupils. The vast majority of pupils from minority ethnic groups speak English well. These pupils often achieve well because of their natural ability and because they are well supported in their learning by their families. Pupils with hearing impairment achieve well in relation to their learning targets because of good quality classroom support that enables them to develop their signing and oral skills. Pupils with SEN achieve satisfactorily, although the limited amount of support

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

available to some pupils affects the rate of progress made. Pupils with higher attainment generally achieve satisfactorily although sometimes in the juniors more could be expected of them.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

10 Pupils with SEN make satisfactory progress overall. The vast majority of pupils with SEN, other than those with hearing impairment, have difficulties with reading, writing and numeracy. The main pattern for provision is through teachers planning work that reflects the different ability levels found within their classes. This planning is clearer in literacy and numeracy than in other subjects, such as geography and religious education. Whilst teachers know their pupils well and have information about pupils with SEN at their finger- tips, individual targets for learning are not used well enough yet to guide planning. The monitoring of the progress made by pupils with SEN without statements is an area for improvement. This means that, overall, in everyday lessons pupils make satisfactory progress.

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The school’s results and pupils’ achievements

11 Standards achieved by pupils with hearing impairment are well below those expected at the end of Key Stage 1, and below those expected at the end of Key Stage 2. They make Hargate Primary School - 12 satisfactory progress because they benefit from the increase in access to sign-supported English, specialist teaching, working with hearing pupils and the stimulus of the curriculum. Pupils who are deaf, whilst not attaining average levels for the National Curriculum, achieve well in relation to their prior attainment. To a large extent this is due to an appropriate assessment of their learning needs. Although these pupils’ rates of progress are satisfactory, they could be better if more time was available with the teacher of the deaf.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

12 Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development are good. Attendance is satisfactory. Standards of behaviour and attendance have improved since the previous inspection. Most parents feel that behaviour and personal development are good. Pupils have positive attitudes towards their studies and try to do their best. They are right to be enthusiastic about almost all of their experiences in school and to enjoy them. Pupils say that their teachers are friendly and helpful. They particularly enjoy, and many take part in, the various activities, sports and visits that are arranged.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

13 The vast majority of pupils with SEN are keen to learn and work hard. They are encouraged to do their best because their contributions are valued in class. Pupils with hearing impairment are included fully in all aspects of school life. The school encourages all school groups to communicate and respect each other’s differences. An inspiring example is when all pupils sing and sign (British Sign Language) the Lord’s Prayer together in assembly.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

14 Pupils whose hearing is impaired have good attitudes to learning because their needs are recognised by all staff. They are happy to learn with hearing pupils and are well accepted by them because of the highly inclusive practices of the school, demonstrated in all aspects of school life. For example, deaf children in the playground play happily and with others and make their needs known to adults and other children. The headteacher is firmly committed to giving hearing-impaired pupils the very best start in life, as is demonstrated by her visits to a centre of excellence in order to improve existing provision for deaf pupils at the school. The school is actively pursuing the direct involvement of a deaf adult in school as a role model and support to pupils. The behaviour of deaf pupils is good and there have been no exclusions. Their personal development is good because they feel safe and secure

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

in taking the initiative and they know they will be effectively supported through the good provision for social and moral development in the school.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

15 The large majority of pupils behave well in lessons and during break times. Most are considerate and tolerant, and conduct themselves in an orderly manner. They are polite and observe the rules. They respect and co-operate with their teachers. In the few lessons where behaviour is less than acceptable it is often because teaching and activities are not sufficiently stimulating. In some instances it is because pupils with behavioural difficulties are not adequately supported.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

16 Relationships between all pupils are particularly strong. Pupils from different social and ethnic backgrounds mix very well and those with hearing impairment are fully integrated into the community. Pupils co-operate very well with each other and are mutually supportive and respectful. Anti-social behaviour is almost non-existent. The school had not found the need to exclude any pupils during the previous year. Pupils develop well their understanding of moral and social issues and responsibilities. They respect the feelings of others and, for example, are very sympathetic towards those of their friends who have hearing difficulties. They adopt appropriate interest in the beliefs and lifestyles of other peoples. Although pupils make good progress overall in their personal development, older pupils have too few Hargate Primary School - 13 opportunities to initiate activities, become more independent in their studies and research

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

and take on challenging and responsible tasks such as representing others.

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Pupils’ attitudes, values and personal development

17 Attendance has improved since the previous inspection and the previous year. It is now close to the average for primary schools. Unauthorised absence is much lower than the average. Pupils are well motivated to attend. A substantial amount of absence is attributable to family holidays that are taken during term time. The large majority of pupils arrive on time for the start of the school day.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

18 Teaching and learning in the school are satisfactory overall, as at the last inspection. However, there is far less unsatisfactory teaching now. Only one unsatisfactory lesson was observed, representing two per cent of those seen, compared with 13 per cent in 1997. The proportion of very good teaching has risen from one per cent last time to 13 per cent now. This represents a significant improvement. Nevertheless, the proportion of teaching that is good or very good (55 per cent) is still below that found nationally.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

19 Teaching in the Foundation Stage is good overall with some very good teaching, particularly in the nursery. This promotes very good learning for the children. Overall, 53 per cent of the lessons in the Foundation Stage were good and a further 33 per cent were very good. Teaching is also strong in the infants, leading to good learning overall. Fifty-five per cent of the lessons here were good with a further 18 per cent being very good. The very good teaching occurred in Year 2. By contrast, in the juniors there were no very good lessons and only one in four was good (25 per cent). The unsatisfactory lesson occurred in the juniors and the rest of the lessons (71 per cent) were satisfactory. Pupils’ overall learning is therefore sound.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

20 After the last inspection the school was required to improve the standards of teaching and learning in music. As only one lesson was scheduled during this inspection, it is not possible to judge whether or not this aspect of the school’s provision has improved.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

21 A strength of teaching throughout the school is in the quality of planning. Lesson plans clearly state the learning that is to take place and these intentions are shared with the pupils at the start of lessons and at various points during activities, so that they focus on the task in hand. In a Year 6 English lesson, for example, the teacher began by stating that the pupils were going to find out the fundamental differences between the structure of a novel and a play-script, both of which tell the same story. The task was clear and pupils quickly began work. Planning also outlines tasks that meet the different needs of pupils. This is particularly noticeable in mathematics, a subject in which good teaching occurs throughout the school. In Year 4, pupils work at sorting two-dimensional shapes, giving reasons for their answers. Each ability group has a worksheet that is based on their current level of

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

understanding, but enables them to take their learning forward and make good progress.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

22 Satisfactory provision is made for the higher attaining pupils, particularly in English and mathematics, because teachers are aware that they need more challenging work. The school has a large number of pupils from ethnic minority groups but few have difficulties in using and understanding English, even though for many it is not their first language. On the whole they are well motivated and their learning is good. They form a significant proportion of the higher attainers and a gifted pupil in Year 6 is well supported in mathematics by attending additional activities outside school.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

23 Teachers generally manage their classes well. There are occasional examples of unacceptable behaviour from a very small number of pupils, chiefly in the juniors, but Hargate Primary School - 14 teachers control this effectively and, on the whole, lessons are not disrupted. However, there are various strategies that teachers employ and some are more successful than others. There is a natural warmth in most classes and teachers use positive reinforcements to praise good behaviour and effort. In a Year 2 lesson, for example, the teacher noticed one boy not paying attention and drew him back into the discussion by saying how much he valued his opinions. He also regularly encourages pupils to ‘have a go’, and uses rewards, such as stickers, to praise good efforts. This all helps to raise pupils’ self-esteem and contrasts with the methods used in two junior classes, where warmth is lacking, teachers do

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

not smile much and there is sometimes a confrontational style and remarks such as, “This is absolutely disgraceful”. Occasionally, where teaching is unsatisfactory in Year 3 and in some broadly satisfactory lessons in Year 4, the organisation of lessons is weak and scientific investigations are not organised effectively enough.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

24 Teachers have secure understanding of the subjects that they teach, but the unsatisfactory lesson occurred in the juniors because of the unscientific organisation of activities. This led to pupils being unsure what they had to do and what they were trying to find out. Their understanding of a fair test was not promoted effectively when carrying out an experiment and the teacher was unaware that this was happening.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

25 There is sufficient emphasis given to the teaching of basic skills. This is particularly noticeable in the Foundation Stage and in the infants where teaching of these skills is good. In the reception class, for example, the correct way of holding a pencil is taught and all staff support the teacher in ensuring that children follow the rules. In Year 1, phonics are a regular feature of English lessons and most pupils confidently write three-letter words with the correct vowel in the middle, although ‘u’ causes problems for some in ‘hut’ and ‘bug’. In the juniors too, teachers consciously know the importance of introducing new vocabulary that is often specific to a subject area. Mathematical terms associated with shapes, such as ‘vertex’, ‘edge’ and ‘face’, are introduced by the Year 3 teacher so that the pupils eventually learn to use them naturally.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

26 Teachers’ expectations for good behaviour, effort and neat work are most clearly expressed in the Foundation Stage and in the infants. Those children who have recently joined already understand the routines in the nursery and they happily choose a partner, for example, to take to the drinks table during the afternoon break. In the reception class the teacher correctly insists that children put their hands up to answer a question rather than call out and in Years 1 and 2, teachers regularly encourage neat work. “We always do our best,” says the Year 2 teacher in a mathematics lesson. In the juniors this same insistence on ‘best work’ is not always borne out by the results in the books, where presentation is sometimes untidy. Occasionally expectations are too low as when the teacher in a music lesson says that a performance by a group of pupils is excellent, when they have not met the requirement for a composition in ternary form. 2

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

27 Teachers throughout the school impressively promote the inclusion of all pupils in activities, particularly those with a hearing impairment. However, in the juniors, some are not as adept at creating and maintaining an enthusiasm for work as those in the rest of the school. Sometimes teachers talk for too long and do not allow time for the pupils to fully express their ideas. This happened in a Year 3 information and communication technology (ICT) lesson when exploring sounds that can be produced with an electronic keyboard. In a Year 6 English lesson the girls are allowed to dominate the discussion and the boys largely remain passive. In contrast, in the nursery the children all energetically perform in movement the story of Goldilocks and in a Year 1 religious education lesson the pupils are keen to enter into role-play that effectively reinforces what happens at a Christening. Such

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

2 A rhythmic pattern followed by a contrasting pattern and then by a repetition of the first. Hargate Primary School - 15 lessons proceed at a brisk pace and pupils are actively involved, leading to good learning. The staff’s approach to curbing inappropriate behaviour in the younger junior classes sometimes halts the flow of lessons and affects the pace.

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HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

28 The quality of teaching for pupils with SEN is satisfactory. The main pattern of support is through work which is planned to meet the broad ability groups found within each class. Teachers manage groups well, and have information about pupils with SEN at their fingertips. However, targets identified in pupils’ individual education plans are not used well enough yet to provide specific help in lessons. On occasions, learning support assistants working with pupils with hearing impairment also include other pupils with SEN in small groups for tuition. Whilst the needs of the hearing-impaired pupils are being met successfully, provision for other pupils with SEN and the monitoring of their progress is not as specific as it could be. This in turn affects the headway these pupils make.

p.15

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

29 The quality of teaching for deaf pupils is satisfactory overall, but it is good when pupils have individual support from a teacher of the deaf. She focuses on their individual needs, for example when working with a pupil being assessed prior to having a cochlea implant and analysing the likelihood of being able to consciously distinguish different sounds and use that information.

p.15

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

30 Because of the very restricted time available for the specialist teaching of the deaf, pupils often have to wait too long between teaching sessions and this affects their progress. This is an area that the school plans to address when funds allow so that pupils receive more regular and frequent contact with a teacher of the deaf than they do at present. Overall, teachers have adequate expectations of deaf pupils and include them in all aspects of school life so that pupils’ learning is generally satisfactory over time, and several examples of good teaching and learning were seen during the inspection. However, some staff are still at an early stage of developing their insights and understanding of deafness and its effects.

p.15

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

31 Support staff are employed very effectively to help pupils with a hearing impairment and sometimes to help those with SEN. However, there are many lessons in which extra help for the pupils with SEN is not available and their progress over time is affected. Each class contains a wide range of ability and teachers have to balance the help that they give so that one group does not take up all their time. Where support staff can spread their expertise, they make a particularly valuable contribution. In a Year 1 physical education lesson, where pupils were learning to balance on different parts of their body, the teaching assistant joined in enthusiastically and offered good advice. In Year 6, the assistant helped a group of lower ability pupils to write a story about a hero and one boy from the group was particularly proud when his story was read out and praised for its exciting vocabulary. Learning is well promoted in this way.

p.15

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

32 Resources are used effectively and the practical nature of many lessons promotes learning well. In Year 1 science, different toys are lined up and pupils have to predict what method they will employ to make each move. When they have the chance to test out their theories, they are amazed to see how the Jack-in-the-box pops out when the button is pressed. The Year 2 teacher also conjures up amazement at the wonder of nature by looking at a sunflower and considering the miracle by which seeds are produced. This takes learning beyond the acquisition of factual knowledge into a wider, spiritual dimension and is a feature of good teaching.

p.15

HOW WELL ARE PUPILS TAUGHT?

33 Many teachers have good questioning skills that help them to assess the pupils’ level of understanding. Occasionally, they ask closed questions that only require a “Yes” or “No” answer but usually they frame open questions that encourage pupils to think, as in a Year 2 Hargate Primary School - 16 geography lesson where the features of an island community were being studied. “What’s a holiday home?” asked the teacher. This instigates an informative discussion. In the nursery, each member of staff has a target group and children are monitored regularly to identify learning in a variety of activities. Marking of work throughout the school is satisfactory, but is generally good in English where teachers refer to the lesson’s learning objective, writing whether it has been met and sometimes suggesting what pupils have to do to improve. Teachers use homework satisfactorily to support work in school and reinforce learning.

p.15

PUPILS?

34 The curriculum for the infants and juniors is broad and reasonably balanced. It offers the pupils a sound range of worthwhile learning opportunities and prepares them well for secondary school. The school meets statutory requirements for all subjects of the National Curriculum and for religious education. It meets its obligations to provide a daily act of collective worship. There is an appropriate emphasis on the teaching of English and mathematics. However, some of these sessions are rather long. The school is aware of, and is actively considering, recent national guidance on how the timing of morning lessons might be altered, in order to allow more time for other subjects. Teachers’ planning indicates that the school has satisfactorily addressed a key issue of the previous inspection, which was to ensure complete coverage of the National Curriculum requirements for music. A strength of the curriculum is the very effective planning for children in the Foundation Stage and

p.16

PUPILS?

particularly the nursery where there is a high level of awareness of the learning needs of young children. The provision for pupils in Year 6 of extra classes before and after school is also a strength. These sessions are having a positive impact on standards in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. Currently, about 20 pupils take advantage of opportunities for brass and violin tuition.

p.16

PUPILS?

35 Curricular planning is satisfactory. There are clear policies and schemes of work for all subjects. The National Strategies for Literacy and Numeracy are well established. A ‘curriculum map‘ gives a clear picture of the topics to be covered in science and other subjects over the course of the school year. Planning in these subjects is soundly based on national guidelines, which have sometimes been adapted to meet the specific needs of the school. The teachers plan carefully for the work which the pupils will do each half term and each week, bearing in mind the differing needs of the pupils. On the whole, the school responds well to the diverse range of needs.

p.16

PUPILS?

36 Very few pupils miss out on lessons, because work with pupils with SEN is carried out within the classroom. However, the school has identified the need to monitor the organisation of group activities for pupils with SEN and the time teachers spend focusing on different groups, to fully ensure that all school groups have equality of provision. Some effective links are made with work in literacy and numeracy, ensuring that these pupils follow a similar curriculum to their peers. As yet, there are fewer targets set to improve pupils’ understanding and learning in numeracy.

p.16

PUPILS?

37 The learning opportunities provided for deaf pupils are satisfactory, with some effective features. To make them good, members of staff plan to increase their understanding of the way deafness alters the way pupils interpret auditory information and how to present new information in a comprehensible way. They plan to make better use of present technologies, which grip pupils’ interest, stimulate their senses and make it easier for pupils to learn rather than relying on signing support alone. For example, staff plan to include a greater emphasis on using well-presented pictorial and printed information as well as sign support and good use of computer software. Hearing-impaired pupils enjoy educational visits, and learn from visitors to the school and this has a positive effect on their Hargate Primary School - 17 good attitudes and personal development. Wherever possible they participate in extra-

p.16

PUPILS?

curricular activities and this has a positive effect on their learning.

p.17

PUPILS?

38 A number of parents feel that there are insufficient activities on offer outside lessons. In fact, provision for extra-curricular activities is good, though the school is keen to expand the range of activities on offer. There is a school choir of about 30 juniors. About 20 infants and juniors attend a recorder club. There are clubs for football and cross-country running. In the summer term, there are gardening, rounders, athletics and cricket clubs. Currently, the school participates very successfully in Sandwell schools’ cross-country running league. The curriculum is enriched through visits to places of interest and a residential visit for older pupils. Visitors to the school enhance learning further. These have included storytellers, artists, sculptors, musicians, the ‘animal man‘, dramatists and sports coaches.

p.17

PUPILS?

39 The school makes good use of the community in order to enhance pupils’ learning. Staff from the local professional football club offer coaching and, for under-achieving pupils in Year 5, there are support links in literacy, numeracy and ICT. Good links with the local Learning and Enterprise Council have provided funds for instrumental music tuition. Close links with a local centre have provided staff training on cochlea implants for hearing- impaired pupils. Some parents who are training to be learning support practitioners at a local college have work experience in the school. There are good links with the emergency services and with the local church. Clergy sometimes lead assemblies and pupils visit the church as part of their religious education work. The pupils have entertained community groups by singing and dancing and they help senior citizens at harvest and Christmas time.

p.17

PUPILS?

40 There are satisfactory links with the various secondary schools to which the pupils transfer at the age of eleven. Academic and personal records are passed on to the high schools. The pupils in Year 6 have the opportunity to spend one or two days at their chosen school during the summer term. There are specialist links with one school, which is a hearing-impaired resource base for secondary pupils. High school students gain valuable work experience at Hargate.

p.17

PUPILS?

41 There is a clear policy for the pupils’ personal, social and health education (PSHE) and citizenship, and provision is sound. The school tries hard to ensure that the pupils grow up to be responsible citizens. In most of the classes, there are no lessons specifically timetabled for PSHE, but other lessons make a sound contribution to this. There is a clear policy for sex education and relationships, which offers useful guidance on teaching. The school nurse talks to the older boys and girls separately about adolescence, but the school’s policy is not to teach human reproduction. There is a sound policy on drugs education and a healthy lifestyle. In all year groups, the teachers ensure that the pupils know that medicines are drugs and must be taken with care. Pupils in Year 6 are made aware of the dangers of drug misuse. The infants participate in the National Fruit Scheme.

p.17

PUPILS?

42 Provision for the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good, which reflects the findings of the previous inspection. There is good provision for spiritual development. The school celebrates effort and achievement. The pupils are given opportunities in assemblies and in lessons to reflect on and to talk about relevant issues and this is having a positive impact on their personal development. In a Year 5 history lesson, the pupils thought about why the Ancient Egyptians needed a god and this led on to a stimulating discussion about who was the first member of the human family. In one assembly the pupils sang the Lord’s Prayer with great feeling and with signing, so that hearing-impaired pupils were fully included in worship. They reflected on the fact that millions of people in the world lack fresh water. Younger pupils write about people’s feelings and they write simple, but effective, prayers thanking God for the gift of light. The teachers

p.17

PUPILS?

try to instil a sense of awe and wonder into learning. In a Year 1 lesson, for example, the Hargate Primary School - 18 pupils gasped when they saw work, which they had saved on the computer, reappear on the monitor.

p.17

PUPILS?

43 There is good provision for the pupils’ moral development and this is reflected in good attitudes and behaviour and very good relationships among the pupils. A clear discipline policy offers useful guidance on maintaining good order and on encouraging pride in the school. The teachers set good role models for the pupils and ensure that they recognise right from wrong. Codes of conduct are clearly displayed in classrooms and in the playground. These were referred to in one assembly and in a Year 2 lesson, where the teacher emphasised the rule about ‘always doing our best’.

p.18

PUPILS?

44 Provision for the pupils’ social development is very good. Most parents feel that the school helps their children to mature and to become responsible. The pupils carry out classroom tasks and older pupils have some additional responsibilities, such as helping the youngest pupils at lunchtime, helping with lunch boxes, in assemblies, in the library and with registers. There are opportunities for the older pupils to have safety awareness training and to participate in a Heart-Start resuscitation project and in a cycling proficiency course. The pupils gain social skills through taking part in extra-curricular activities, school visits and school productions. Older pupils can develop social skills on an annual residential visit. The pupils support a number of local and national charities. The integration of hearing-impaired pupils into daily school life enriches the social development of all the pupils. So too does the

p.18

PUPILS?

link with a small village school in Worcestershire, which involves pupils visiting each other’s schools.

p.18

PUPILS?

45 There is good provision for the pupils’ cultural development. Older pupils participate in local schools’ music and dance festivals. They have visited the theatre in Stratford-upon- Avon and they visit the town’s library. They are familiar with the work of some famous artists, although these tend to be mostly Western European. The teachers ensure that the pupils develop respect for cultural diversity locally and nationally. In one assembly, the pupils listened to the Australian aborigines’ version of the Creation story. In religious education, the pupils learn about the customs and beliefs of some of the world’s major religions. The pupils celebrate diverse religious festivals and they perform traditional dances in assemblies. In a nursery session observed during the inspection, some parents spoke about a recent Hindu wedding and they gave the children the opportunity to play Indian drums and to look at henna patterns.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

46 Pastoral care is very good. The arrangements for the general safety and welfare of pupils are satisfactory. The procedures for monitoring and supporting attendance and behaviour are good, and for personal development are satisfactory. Some improvements have been achieved since the previous inspection when support and guidance for pupils were satisfactory. Parents are pleased with the quality of care but some are rightly concerned that behaviour is not managed well enough in some lessons.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

47 The school has been very successful in creating a socially inclusive community. Relationships between adults in the school and pupils are very caring, constructive and respectful. Pupils feel part of a friendly and safe environment where they feel valued and supported and there is little evidence of bullying. The procedures for child protection are in place, but the person designated as responsible has yet to undertake relevant training. The arrangements for health and safety are satisfactory.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

48 Pupils with hearing impairments are well looked after and benefit from the close relationships with specialist support staff. However, the limited teacher time has a negative Hargate Primary School - 19 effect on the rigorous monitoring of pupils’ academic achievement. As a result, the use of assessment to guide curriculum planning and checking of comprehension and progress is reduced. Valuable opportunities are missed for support staff to develop their knowledge of the steps required for these pupils to learn faster and more effectively because limited time is available for both assistants and pupils to spend with a teacher of the deaf. The brief weekly meetings for support assistants and other staff is used well to address day-to-day problems and share information and check records.

p.18

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

49 Attendance is closely monitored. Pupils are well motivated to attend because they enjoy school but efforts to reduce absence owing to family holidays have not been effective.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

50 Pupils understand the behavioural standards that are expected of them and reminders are well displayed in classrooms. The majority of teachers consistently and effectively apply the school’s discipline policy, but in a few lessons, often in the lower juniors, behaviour is not managed well enough and learning time is often lost for the whole class. Teaching methods and activities in some of these lessons are not sufficiently stimulating and some pupils, particularly those who have difficulty exercising self-control, lose interest. In some lessons, there is inadequate support for pupils who have behavioural difficulties.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

51 Parents of pupils with SEN are invited to participate in the assessment and review process and most do so. The system of recognition and rewards works well for the majority of pupils. The school promotes pupils’ awareness and understanding of the effects of their actions on others and appropriate social and moral responsibility well. The very good relationships that pervade the school help to eliminate instances of anti-social behaviour.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

52 Opportunities for pupils to exercise initiative and take on responsibility are satisfactory, but could be developed further. The school does not provide enough opportunities for older pupils to become independent. The roles of responsibility that are offered are routine and pupils have too few opportunities to initiate activities, make decisions and take some responsibility for their own community. Extra-curricular activities, visiting specialists and visits out of school contribute well to pupils’ personal development.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

53 Procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment and progress and their personal development are satisfactory. Pupils’ attainment in English, mathematics and science, is assessed in the national tests at eleven years of age, with results providing a broad picture of achievement in relation to National Curriculum levels. The use of optional tests in English and mathematics in Years 3, 4 and 5 also helps track pupils’ attainment and progress over time.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

54 The use of assessment information to guide curricular planning is satisfactory. The school has worked hard to improve the day-to-day assessment of individual pupils’ achievement, an issue identified in the previous report. Under the guidance of the effective assessment co-ordinator, the analysis of a wide range of information now provides a clearer picture of what pupils understand and can do, in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science. This analysis is providing teachers with targets for improving pupils’ learning, and helping them to plan more specifically in lessons. At present, teachers are providing a better match of work to meet the needs of average attaining pupils in their classes, than for pupils capable of working at higher levels. However, there is room to extend the monitoring of the progress made by pupils with SEN without statements.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

55 There is, however, a lack of a consistent, whole school approach, to assessing and recording pupils’ attainment in the non-core subjects, where much of the assessment undertaken is informal. Teachers follow the recommendations of national guidelines when planning lessons in these subjects, but, as yet, do not use the related assessment Hargate Primary School - 20 procedures to make judgements about pupils’ attainment. In subjects such as ICT, art, music and design and technology, where skills are built up progressively year on year, it is difficult to move forward without clearer assessment.

p.19

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

56 Simple checks at the start of nursery, and baseline assessment in the reception year, give a broad indication of attainment on entry to the school. Teachers in the Foundation Stage make good use of ongoing assessment of children’s achievement in the six areas of experience, to guide the next steps in learning. The easy flow of this information between the separate nursery and reception class provides continuity in planning and learning across the Foundation Stage as a whole.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL CARE FOR ITS PUPILS?

57 Assessment of pupils with SEN is satisfactory overall, although some targets set in individual plans are too broad. Ongoing assessment, undertaken when pupils work independently in class lessons, or with support in small groups, is not yet fully in place. On occasions, when pupils are taught in groups with a wide range of needs, those with reading and writing difficulties can miss out on the specific support needed to improve their learning.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

58 Parents are generally satisfied with the quality of education and care that are provided. The partnership between school and parents is satisfactory. These are similar findings to those of the previous inspection.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

59 The majority of parents are satisfied with the school, but a significant minority have some concerns. Most are pleased with the standard of pupils’ behaviour, the quality of teaching and teachers’ expectations of pupils. Inspectors agree with these views except that some teaching and teachers’ expectations are satisfactory rather than good. Some parents are unhappy about homework but inspectors judge that it satisfactorily supports work in lessons. Some believe there should be more extra-curricular activities but these are judged to be good. Inspectors support the views of those who would like to be better informed about pupils’ progress. Whilst there are more than adequate opportunities to consult with teachers about pupils’ progress, the annual school reports do not make it sufficiently clear how pupils achieve with relation to expectations for age, except in Years 2 and 6. Some of the language used in the reports is not easy for parents to understand.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

60 Some parents are not convinced that the school works closely enough with them and this is mainly because of a lack of communication about supply teachers and some concern about how behaviour is managed by some teachers. The school dealt with its recent staffing problems as well as could be expected, but more frequent communication with parents would have helped relationships between all concerned. Inspectors agree that the management of behaviour in a minority of lessons is insufficiently effective.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

61 The school has forged good links with parents of pupils with SEN. Targets are shared and reviewed appropriately.

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

62 The partnership links with parents of children with hearing impairment are very good. The school uses detailed home/school notebooks very effectively to ensure that parents and carers are kept fully involved and informed of their children’s school life and the progress they make. Good, informative reports enable parents to become fully involved in their children’s learning and to communicate with staff about any difficulties that arise with their children’s progress. Reviews are well managed and there are useful discussion opportunities for the team involved in providing for these children. Parents are seen as true partners in their children’s learning and are kept well informed of all aspects of school life. Hargate Primary School - 21 63 The information provided for parents overall is satisfactory. Good features include termly curricular information and the ‘Activity Book’ that is very well used by the nursery staff

p.20

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

and parents for two-way communication. The governors’ annual report and the prospectus omit information about the number of pupils on roll, absence data and school targets. A monthly newsletter provides parents with information about current developments in school.

p.21

HOW WELL DOES THE SCHOOL WORK IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS?

64 Parents support pupils’ public performances well. Their attendance is good at parents’ evenings. However, the school has not been able to sustain a parents’ association because of lack of support. When the school organises events, such as summer and Christmas fairs, parents support well and contribute generously. Very few parents are actively involved in the life and work of the school. The school invites parents to special meetings, for example about literacy, but attendance is usually low. The school welcomes the involvement of parents, but has not devised innovative ways that effectively attract them.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

65 The leadership provided by the headteacher is good overall and there are some very good aspects of this work, which have been vital in moving the school forward and improving the quality of leadership since the previous inspection. Since her appointment four years ago the headteacher has worked with commitment to all the pupils. With calm determination she has brought about improvements and fully integrated the pupils with hearing impairment into the main school. This has not been an easy process to manage but the successes achieved are due in no small part to the headteacher’s role in these matters. This work has been very effective and a pivotal influence upon the welcoming and fully inclusive ethos of the school and the progress these pupils make. The head has also worked conscientiously to address the key issues for improvement, previously identified, although more remains to be achieved in each of the areas.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

66 Overall the headteacher has been satisfactorily supported by other key staff, with some areas of strength. Two senior teachers both offer effective day-to-day management and support in leadership matters, and this ensures a clear educational direction has been established. The assistant headteacher, as assessment co-ordinator, has worked effectively to improve assessment in core subjects and, together with the infants co-ordinator, has contributed well to school development planning. However, the role of the deputy headteacher is under-developed and there is a need to raise the profile of the post in leading the school forward.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

67 The leadership and management to secure inclusive education for deaf pupils are very good. The headteacher has a clear vision of the kind of educational setting the school wishes to make for deaf pupils and works purposefully towards achieving it. She is well supported by the teacher of the deaf. This motivates the staff towards a common goal of providing the best education possible for deaf pupils. The headteacher recognises that the school is at the early stages of developing its practice, but ensures that advice is sought from centres of excellence in this field. The school has worked hard to clarify issues of financial planning and long-term provision for these pupils and has made clear strides in developing inclusive practices. The school has managed its liaison with external agencies well, but planning to provide precise cost analysis when judging the effectiveness of spending in relation to standards these children attain has been difficult to achieve. For

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

example, in the school improvement plan, the success criteria for resources necessary for deaf pupils are vague and need to be more specific in relation to how the school will measure the degree of the success in providing for these pupils.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

68 The management of provision for pupils with SEN is good. The school has responded appropriately to the new Code of Practice. The special educational needs co- Hargate Primary School - 22 ordinator (SENCO) is new to the post this year and has a clear action plan for the way forward. The planning and monitoring for including pupils with hearing impairment has been a recent focus of the school. The SENCO is developing expertise with teaching deaf pupils and undertaking a year’s course, including British Sign Language. Further monitoring of the provision and progress of other pupils with SEN within the school is planned for.

p.21

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

69 The governing body carries out its statutory duties satisfactorily and there have been some improvements in such work since the previous inspection when this was a key issue for improvement. Committees are firmly established, which helps extend governors’ understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. Governors now have a better overall grasp of their responsibilities, but struggle with continual changes of personnel and to fully develop their role in shaping the direction of the school. Relatively few governors visit the school on a regular basis and many are very dependent upon the headteacher and staff for information, which places an additional burden upon them.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

70 The school has established satisfactory procedures to monitor and evaluate the quality of its work. Planning is monitored satisfactorily and the school has established reasonable procedures to evaluate the quality of teaching, appropriately linked to performance management procedures. Senior staff have undertaken training and, with local education authority support, criteria have been established for monitoring activities. There are also some opportunities to evaluate the quality of the pupils’ work, although the subject co-ordinators’ role in such activities is under-developed. Much of the work undertaken in this area has been relatively recent, lacks rigour and has been descriptive rather than evaluative. This has not always been as effective as desired in identifying and helping the school to address issues, including weaker teaching in the lower junior years. This is a key issue for further improvement.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

71 School development planning and the appropriateness of the school’s priorities for development are good. There are particular strengths in how the school has prioritised the inclusion of the pupils with hearing impairment and how this has been managed. The school has a good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses and most senior staff are critically astute. The school has also identified several of the areas identified in the inspection for improvement. The school has taken satisfactory action to meet the targets set for improvement although the pace of improvement has not always been as fast as intended. The school is in the process of finalising a policy on race equality.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

72 Financial planning is good and the school makes effective use of the local education authority expertise in budget preparation and organisation. The school manages its budget carefully, and specific grants for the education of pupils with hearing impairment are used well. Day-to-day administration is efficient. The school makes good use of new technology to support both administration and pupils’ learning. The school has established the principles of best value appropriately for purchases and has clear guidelines and responsibilities in such matters.

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

73 The school is adequately staffed with appropriately qualified teachers and learning support assistants. Each teacher is responsible for co-ordinating an area of the curriculum. There are teachers with responsibility for co-ordinating SEN provision, and provision for hearing-impaired pupils. Whilst there is good support for the latter, there is less classroom support for other pupils with SEN. There are appropriate arrangements for the induction, appraisal and professional development of staff. There has been recent whole school training in ICT, target setting and curriculum development in music. All staff have been involved in deaf-awareness training. Administrative and premises staff, together with the midday supervisors, contribute well to the running of the school. Hargate Primary School - 23 74 Since the previous inspection, the number of teachers of the deaf has been reduced from four to one, although the number of learning support assistants has been increased

p.22

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

from two to six. This has increased the managerial role of the teacher of the deaf significantly. The school has been unable to fill the post for a second teacher of the deaf, and as a result has decided to train one of its own teachers. This training should be completed in a year’s time and it is likely that this additional expertise will improve the quality of teaching because of the increase in the amount of teaching. Other members of staff are beginning to see how these pupils learn and staff work hard to ensure equality of opportunity. This is an effective start and is an example of the staff’s commitment to provide the best for these pupils.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

75 There is adequate accommodation to support teaching, although storage space is limited. There is satisfactory access for pupils with severe mobility problems. A small resource and photocopying room doubles as a medical room although this is not ideal for sick pupils. All the classrooms and corridors have been carpeted and they provide a welcoming environment. The building is in good decorative order. There is a good sized hall for physical education, assemblies and dining. Part of the building has recently been remodelled to provide good accommodation for the nursery children. Reception children are soon to move into a different part of the building, adjoining the nursery. A small library occupies the school foyer. It is reasonably stocked with reference books but it is underused by the pupils. There is an adequate sized playground, marked out for netball and some creative games, and there are places for the pupils to sit. There is a separate play area for

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

the nursery children. The school benefits from having a large playing field, and a nature area is an additional resource for learning. However, some litter was apparent during the inspection. One of the mobile classrooms criticised in the previous inspection is now not used as a class base. The remaining one has a sink, but no toilet. There are inadequate toilets for the school’s large number of female staff and visitors.

p.23

HOW WELL IS THE SCHOOL LED AND MANAGED?

76 There is a good range of fixed and moveable apparatus and other equipment for physical education. For all other subjects, there are adequate resources to support teaching and learning. The school has increased the range of resources necessary to keep up with developments in ICT. Good use was made during the inspection of a recently purchased interactive whiteboard and a digital camera to support learning. Hargate Primary School - 24

p.23

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

77 In order to improve the quality of pupils’ learning further, the headteacher, staff and governors should:

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

1. Improve the speaking skills of the pupils throughout the school and writing in the juniors by:  planning opportunities to improve speaking skills across the school in all subjects of the curriculum, and particularly in English, to encourage a more accurate use of language and a wider and more descriptive vocabulary (paragraphs 1, 6, 82, 97, 98);  further developing the opportunities to write at length, in depth and in different styles to encourage greater accuracy (paragraphs 2, 6, 12, 97, 99, 105-107, 146, 152, 153);  taking every opportunity to promote the development of literacy skills in other subjects of the curriculum besides English (paragraphs 82, 148, 153, 175).

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

2. Raise the consistency and quality of teaching in the juniors by:  identifying the features of the best teaching in the Foundation Stage and in the infants and share them with teachers in the juniors (paragraph 9, 19, 25, 26, 33);  expecting more of what pupils can achieve (paragraphs 26, 59, 148, 153).

p.24

WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

3. Improve the monitoring of teaching and of pupils’ learning by:  carrying out regular and rigorous evaluations of the quality of planning, teaching and learning, using recognised criteria (paragraphs 48, 70, 129, 135, 139);  extending the role of the subject co-ordinators in monitoring and evaluation procedures (paragraph 70);  monitoring more closely the progress made by pupils with SEN without statements to more closely inform individual education plans (paragraphs 10, 28, 54).

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WHAT SHOULD THE SCHOOL DO TO IMPROVE FURTHER?

4. Improve the assessment of pupils’ progress in subjects other than in English, mathematics and science by:  extending the opportunities to assess pupils’ progress in a more formalised and regular manner (paragraphs 48, 55, 57, 123, 135, 139, 147, 154, 171);  using this data to inform planning to provide the highest possible level of challenge in the full range of activities (paragraph 54). Hargate Primary School - 25

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Summary of the sources of evidence for the inspection

Number of discussions with staff, governors, other adults and pupils 35

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Excellent Very good Good Satisfactory Unsatisfactory Poor Very Poor

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Summary of teaching observed during the inspection

Percentage 0 13 42 42 2 0 0 The table gives the number and percentage of lessons observed in each of the seven categories used to make judgements about teaching. Care should be taken when interpreting these percentages as each lesson represents almost two percentage points.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils on the school’s roll Nursery YR– Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s roll (FTE for part-time pupils) 20 207

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of full-time pupils known to be eligible for free school meals 0 43 FTE means full-time equivalent.

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Information about the school’s pupils

Special educational needs Nursery YR – Y6

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with statements of special educational needs 3 12

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils on the school’s special educational needs register 0 46

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Information about the school’s pupils

English as an additional language No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Number of pupils with English as an additional language 3

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupil mobility in the last school year No of pupils

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who joined the school other than at the usual time of first admission 5

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Information about the school’s pupils

Pupils who left the school other than at the usual time of leaving 8

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Attendance

National comparative data 5.6 National comparative data 0.5 Both tables give the percentage of half days (sessions) missed through absence for the latest complete reporting year. Hargate Primary School - 26

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 1 for the latest reporting year 2001 21 10 31

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results Reading Writing Mathematics

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Total 26 25 27

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 84 (86) 81 (82) 87 (89) at NC level 2 or above National 84 (83) 86 (84) 91 (90)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Numbers of pupils at NC level 2 and above Total 26 28 27

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentage of pupils School 84 (86) 90 (89) 87 (71) at NC level 2 or above National 85 (84) 89 (88) 89 (88)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year.

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 1 (Year 2)

Gender breakdown is omitted where the numbers of either boys or girls in the year group totals ten or fewer

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Year Boys Girls Total Number of registered pupils in final year of Key Stage 2 for the latest reporting year 2001 15 15 30

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

National Curriculum Test/Task Results English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 7 9 11 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 11 13 14

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 60 (74) 73 (81) 83 (84) at NC level 4 or above National 75 (75) 71 (72) 87 (85)

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Teachers’ Assessments English Mathematics Science

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Boys 8 10 12 Numbers of pupils at NC level 4 and above Girls 12 13 13

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Percentage of pupils School 67 (84) 77 (84) 83 (81) at NC level 4 or above National 72 (70) 74 (72) 82 (79) Percentages in brackets refer to the year before the latest reporting year. Hargate Primary School - 27 Ethnic background of pupils Exclusions in the last school year

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Categories used in the Annual School Census No of pupils on roll Number of fixed period exclusions Number of permanent exclusions

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

White – any other White background 0 0 0

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Mixed – any other mixed background 0 0 0

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Asian or Asian British - Pakistani 10 0 0

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Asian or Asian British – Bangladeshi 4 0 0

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Asian or Asian British – any other Asian background 0 0 0

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Black or Black British – Caribbean 10 0 0

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

Black or Black British – any other Black background 0 0 0

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Attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 (Year 6)

The table refers to pupils of compulsory school age only. It gives the number of exclusions, which may be different from the number of pupils excluded.

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 12 Financial year 2001/02

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 30

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Education support staff: YR– Y6 Total income 603,545

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 7 Total expenditure 575,285

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 228 Expenditure per pupil 2,407

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Qualified teachers and support staff: nursery Balance brought forward from previous year 11,158

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of qualified teachers (FTE) 1 Balance carried forward to next year 39,418

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per qualified teacher 20

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total number of education support staff 2

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Total aggregate hours worked per week 65

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Teachers and classes Financial information

Number of pupils per FTE adult 6 FTE means full-time equivalent. Hargate Primary School - 28

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers who left the school during the last two years 2

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of teachers appointed to the school during the last two years 2

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Recruitment of teachers

Total number of vacant teaching posts (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of a term or more (FTE) 0

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Recruitment of teachers

Number of unfilled vacancies or vacancies filled by teachers on temporary contract of less than one term (FTE) 0 FTE means full-time equivalent. Hargate Primary School - 29

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Percentage of responses in each category

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Strongly agree Tend to agree Tend to disagree Strongly disagree Don’t know

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child is making good progress in school. 52 41 6 2 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Behaviour in the school is good. 54 41 2 2 2

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

My child gets the right amount of work to do at home. 23 40 21 9 8

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

I am kept well informed about how my child is getting on. 37 43 17 4 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

I would feel comfortable about approaching the school with questions or a problem. 48 31 13 6 2

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school expects my child to work hard and achieve his or her best. 59 33 2 4 2

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school works closely with parents. 31 48 15 6 0

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is well led and managed. 44 30 17 6 4

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school is helping my child become mature and responsible. 44 44 7 2 2

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

The school provides an interesting range of activities outside lessons. 19 41 19 7 15

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Results of the survey of parents and carers

Summary of parents’ and carers’ responses

p.29

Results of the survey of parents and carers

Parents are generally happy with the quality of education provided although several do not think children get the right amount of work to do at home, or that the school provides an interesting range of activities outside school. Also several parents do not think the school is well led and managed, that they are kept well informed about the progress their children make or that the school works closely with them. Hargate Primary School - 30

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

78 The Foundation Stage consists of separate nursery and reception classes, which will shortly be housed together to form a Foundation Stage Unit. Provision in the nursery is part time, and children start at three years of age. At the time of the inspection, the majority of children in the reception class were four years old.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

79 There is a very strong partnership between home and school. The children in nursery are representative of the wide range of community groups living nearby. They include children who are developing bilingual skills, those who are competent speakers from Black and Caribbean heritages, and children from white, United Kingdom heritage backgrounds.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

80 Parents are happy about the high level of care in the Foundation Stage and the way in which young children settle in and make good progress. This positive start is helping to create continuity between learning at home and in school, and is evident in the number of parents and grandparents, who contribute to learning experiences in the nursery. This helps children to develop a strong sense of themselves as members of a family or wider community, and to ask questions and comment about where they live.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

81 Provision in the nursery and reception classes is good and has been maintained since the previous inspection of the school, and some areas have improved further. In the nursery, in particular, there is a good balance between the activities children choose themselves and those with greater teacher focus. The staff team makes very effective use of the small planned steps for learning and uses ongoing assessment of children’s achievement successfully to guide lessons. There is an easy flow of information between the separate classes, which provides continuity in planning for learning across the Foundation Stage.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

82 At the start of nursery, simple checks show that, although attainment on entry has improved this year, achievement is below average in all areas of experience. A significant minority of children have under-developed skills in communications, language and literacy. Children make good progress with their personal and emotional development and are keen to learn and try out new experiences. By the end of the Foundation Stage, they achieve above the expected goals in this area, but reach the expected goals in all other areas of experience, although the speaking skills of several are below average.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

83 The quality of teaching in the Foundation Stage is good overall, with a high proportion of very good teaching in the nursery. The staff team has experience of how young children grow and learn and this enables them to respond to the diverse needs of the children in their care. Children with hearing impairment are included fully into the daily life of the school. This is because of the expertise of the staff team and their effective use of British Sign Language which is helping to support learning well.

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AREAS OF LEARNING FOR CHILDREN IN THE FOUNDATION STAGE

84 Teachers plan for an exciting range of experiences across the Foundation Stage, and encourage children to make choices and experiment with their learning. However, in both the nursery and reception classes, teachers sometimes miss opportunities to develop children’s reading and writing through incidental learning. In a similar way, in the reception class, children who can read simple words and sentences independently need more opportunity to practise and develop their reading skills in all areas of experience. Hargate Primary School - 31

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Personal, social and emotional development

85 Teaching is very good and the children are settled well and happy. This in turn supports good progress, so that by the end of the Foundation Stage, children are expected to exceed the early learning goals. The expertise of teachers supporting children with hearing impairment is enabling all children to develop an awareness of their own needs and feelings, as well as those of others.

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Personal, social and emotional development

86 In the nursery, teachers make the best of each opportunity to develop a sense of sharing and belonging. Children respond positively and confidently to this teaching. They talk freely about their home and community, to visiting parents and grandparents, developing the ability to initiate interactions with others. They show a concern for others at milk and fruit time, taking turns and sharing fairly. Children take pride in their achievements, and listen with interest to others. In the reception class, children concentrate well and begin to work in a more independent way, for instance relating well to each other in role-play activities such as ‘at the dentists’. When given the opportunity, they select and use resources independently and take responsibility for tidying away.

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Language, literacy and communication

87 Children who start school as developing bilingual speakers make good progress with their speaking skills. This is because teachers have good questioning skills, provide clear models of standard English, and value and encourage children’s contributions. Other children in the Foundation Stage also make satisfactory to good progress with their literacy skills, and so by the end of the reception class, achieve the early learning goals.

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Language, literacy and communication

88 Younger children are beginning to initiate talk; for instance, when a mother and baby join a nursery lesson, the children discuss the baby and state, “she doesn’t walk like this…..like we do” and “she doesn’t eat yet, she drinks milk from a bottle”. Reception children develop their ability to sequence events and explain in greater detail. An instance is when children learn about healthy eating, suggest they should not eat too many sweets and then go on to explain the importance of brushing their teeth and visiting the dentist. Whilst there are still some children who respond with single words, the vast majority of children communicate confidently. Children with hearing impairment use their skills with British Sign Language, to join in and answer questions along with their classmates.

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Language, literacy and communication

89 In both the nursery and reception classes teachers make good use of exploring stories and sharing poems and rhymes to develop skills with speaking and reading. Younger children in the nursery enjoy joining in with their favourite stories, and predict what happens next in favourite stories, such as The Three Bears . They handle books, hold them correctly, and understand words such as ‘front’ and ‘page’. They begin to understand the difference between pictures and print. Children in the reception class recognise their names and those of their friends, while more capable readers identify words by sight. However, children capable of reading simple stories independently are not always given the time and opportunity to do so.

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Language, literacy and communication

90 In the reception class, most children attempt to write their name independently and are taught how to hold their pencil correctly and how to form letters. Teachers provide resources for writing, for instance an appointment book and telephone pad, for use in role- play in the dentists, but very few children experiment with making marks. In many experiences, teachers miss opportunities to model and encourage incidental writing throughout the Foundation Stage. Hargate Primary School - 32

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Mathematical development

91 Teaching is very good and children reach the expected goals. Teachers use everyday learning effectively to develop children’s knowledge and understanding of number. In the nursery, children begin count, recognise and order numbers to five and above. They count how many children are present at the start of the nursery day and use a number line to record their findings. While exploring in sand play, children identify and count mother and baby animals, and match them in pairs. During creative experiences, children suggest how many eyes and legs are in their paintings of their families.

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Mathematical development

92 In the reception class children make good progress with their understanding of shape. They name and recognise the properties of two-dimensional shapes, and count corners and sides. Teachers successfully link this learning to work on identifying shapes in the school environment, and add mathematical language, such as ‘ bigger’, ‘smaller’, ‘less ‘ and ‘more’. Children make sound progress with their paper and pencil skills and begin to learn how to form numbers correctly

p.32

Knowledge and understanding of the world

93 By the end of the Foundation Stage, children achieve the early learning goals. Teaching is good, with effective links with the community and local environment enlivening learning. Good teaching in the reception class links work in mathematics to developing children’s knowledge and understanding of the world. The teacher encourages children to explore their school environment, and to take photographs with a digital camera. From this evidence, they identify the different shapes they have been studying and also widen their skills with knowledge and use of ICT.

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Knowledge and understanding of the world

94 In the nursery, parents bring babies into lessons, and children learn about caring for living things and how human beings develop and grow. They use their senses when experimenting with materials, explore the consistency of water, and look at what happens when they mix paint or roll out play dough. Throughout the Foundation Stage, children develop their ICT skills and can perform simple functions, such as using the mouse, and clicking on and off icons.

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Physical development

95 Children are expected to achieve the early learning goals in this area of experience. Teaching is sound overall. Due to poor weather conditions during most of the inspection, no outdoor experiences were observed and so teachers maximised opportunities to dance and sing games indoors. Nursery children respond well to rhythm and music, as they follow a taped story about autumn leaves. They learn how to negotiate space, stop and start at command and experiment with different ways of moving as they brush, collect and catch falling leaves. Children in reception also learn to move more confidently in the larger hall space. They show an awareness of the need for safety and work well with each other in a larger group. Good progress is made throughout the Foundation Stage as children gain dexterity and control with their painting, cutting and joining skills.

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Creative development

96 Teaching is generally good, and so children make steady progress and are set to achieve the early learning goals by the end of the Foundation Stage. Teachers in nursery plan daily experiences with a range of media including paint, and play dough. In the reception class, children have regular access to experiences in the dentist’s role-play area, Hargate Primary School - 33 and to creative and constructional toys and kits. Work in displays in the reception class shows children experimenting with paint and collage, and learning how to apply materials to create images and portraits of themselves. They can construct three-dimensional plans of their environment with care. Younger children in the nursery enjoy joining in with singing and rhyming games and begin to memorise the actions and tune of rhymes such as the wraggle, taggle scarecrow .

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ENGLISH

97 The standards of reading and writing currently being achieved by the seven year old pupils are average, though their speaking skills are below those found in most schools. At eleven, standards are average in reading but below average in speaking and writing with the result that English standards overall are below average. This is a similar picture to that painted in the last inspection. Over the last three years, the national tests at eleven have revealed that boys are underachieving to a greater extent than is found nationally. The school is aware of this through its analysis of the data and is addressing the issue, for example by including more non-fiction texts in literacy lessons and encouraging all pupils to read a wider range of books for personal pleasure, not just fiction.

p.33

Speaking and listening

98 Most pupils display satisfactory listening skills in lessons. They concentrate on what is being said and contribute comments which are relevant during discussions. However, speaking skills are not as good as those found in the majority of schools. There are very few planned opportunities directly aimed at developing these skills, for example through drama or organised discussions. In all classes, some pupils remain passive during lessons though the better teachers realise this and direct specific questions to these pupils to draw them into the discussion. The teacher in Year 2 encourages reluctant speakers by saying, “Well done for having a go.” Nevertheless, some seven year olds are reluctant to speak at length, for example when discussing their current reading book and, in lessons, they do not regularly speak in sentences unless reminded by the teacher. Progress, however, is just about satisfactory because pupils enter Year 1 with speaking skills that are slightly below

p.33

Speaking and listening

99 Eleven year olds often struggle to express themselves clearly. In explaining the gist of her story about a hero, one girl struggles to find words and says, “This girl, like, is in the school and, well, there’s a teacher who’s, like, hated so she does something to get rid of her and, you know, the rest thinks she’s a hero.” Throughout the juniors there are examples of inaccurate speech. Errors sometimes go unchecked by teachers. In written work, similar inaccuracies translate into incorrect grammar and difficulties with tenses . Inevitably, therefore, standards of writing are affected by imprecise use of speech, and the unsatisfactory progress that pupils make in the juniors is affecting the standards of English overall.

p.33

Reading

100 Standards of reading at seven are average though there is a wide range of ability. Progress is satisfactory. The above average pupils read fluently and accurately but they lack expression. Average pupils also read accurately and know how to tackle unknown words. A boy, for example, breaks ‘seagulls’ into its syllables and identifies the individual letter sounds in ‘gulls’ before putting the word back together. The below average pupils read haltingly, having to look closely at each word, but they talk accurately about the story and the characters. Hargate Primary School - 34 101 All pupils take books home and most read to an adult, though not always every evening. Reading diaries are available for comments and individual pupils are heard to read in school, usually by the teacher’s assistant. Literacy lessons offer regular opportunities for pupils to read, either as a group or as a class. In the lesson observed in Year 2, the whole

p.33

Reading

class read Fussy Freda with the emphasis on expressive reading. The pupils responded very well and there was noticeable improvement by the end of the story, as repetitive words became familiar. Home readers, however, are not changed often enough and reading records show that not enough books have been completed since the beginning of term. In addition, there is no clear system for moving pupils on to the next stage of the reading scheme in order to provide them with challenging material. At least two infant pupils who read to inspectors would have benefited from harder texts.

p.34

Reading

102 By eleven, pupils are still reading accurately and, technically, standards are average. This represents satisfactory progress through the juniors. However, many have difficulty in understanding vocabulary and in deducing why an author uses a particular word or expression. The Year 6 teacher is aware of this and in his literacy lesson he focuses on words such as ‘anticipate’, ‘swaggering’ and ‘arrayed’ to help pupils understand the text of Wind in the Willows . When reading individually, however, a word such as ‘warily’, though read correctly, is not understood by the average reader and ‘sinister’ is meaningless to a below average pupil. This latter word, however, is successfully read by breaking it up and reassembling it using the letter sounds.

p.34

Reading

103 All pupils have suitable strategies for reading unknown words. However, not many have an extensive repertoire of modern children’s fiction and they find it difficult to name favourite authors or books. They visit the local library regularly as a class but do not make full use of the school fiction library. They borrow non-fiction books to help with their class topics and know how the colour-coding system in the school library enables them to quickly find books on a particular subject. All know the purpose of the contents and index page. The library is housed is the entrance hall and is kept tidy by monitors. It is well organised and has a reasonable stock of books but is under-used. The teacher in charge of this facility is aware of the need to develop it and has plans to do so.

p.34

Reading

104 Pupils are regularly tested using standardised reading tests and this enables their progress to be satisfactorily monitored. In Year 6, pupils keep a reading journal with written comments about the content of the book and the level of interest that it holds for them. The teacher checks this and effort is rewarded with a class sticker. This is an effective way of monitoring the home reading but pupils themselves were not clear about the system for moving on to the next level of reading books, except for the above average who are already allowed to choose freely because they read accurately and have few difficulties.

p.34

Writing

105 The standards of writing in Year 2 are average. Writing is printed but most letters are formed correctly and words are spaced so that work can be read. However, the writing of the below average pupils often needs interpretation but they are willing to have a go, encouraged by the teacher who is keen to build their confidence. The average pupils are not yet using full stops and capital letters consistently but they are able to convey meaning in their writing. Above average pupils write sensibly and are aware of basic punctuation. Some work is affected by the way they speak, for example, “I been on the buffalo ride,” but usually they use suitable vocabulary. The greatest problem is with spelling though teachers are aware of this and there is sufficient attention given to the use of phonics to help build regular words. In Year 1, for example, pupils practise building three-letter words with the correct

p.34

Writing

vowel in the middle and the teacher keeps a record of the letter sounds known by each Hargate Primary School - 35 pupil. In both infant classes, the common words are given as homework and progress in writing generally is at least satisfactory.

p.34

Writing

106 Standards in Year 6 are below average but some of these pupils achieved well below average results in the national tests that they took when they were seven. Progress is therefore at least satisfactory. Inspectors were hampered in their ability to make judgements about writing standards by the lack of past work made available to them, in particular examples of free, imaginative writing. The work available, however, indicates inconsistencies in handwriting with some pupils using ink and joining their letters while others regularly printed and used pencils. While the above average have few problems with spelling and punctuation, their sentences are not often lengthy or extended by clauses, and vocabulary is rarely imaginative. The average pupils spell words like ‘people’ ( peopel) and ‘does’ ( dose) wrongly but construct sentences correctly unlike the below average pupils who are still not using full stops and capital letters consistently.

p.35

Writing

107 The school recognises that writing is a problem and a decision has been made to allow designated times for writing practice. A Year 6 ‘extended writing’ lesson enabled pupils to plan a story about a hero and start writing it, with its completion being set as a homework task. A teaching assistant gave invaluable help to a group of below average pupils, one of whom produced some very good work that was read by the teacher, the pupil lacking confidence to do it himself. Words like ‘bustling’ and ‘vicious’ and phrases like ‘a cold breath whipped at his neck’ were correctly applauded by the teacher and the class. This is proof that such opportunities are invaluable in promoting learning.

p.35

Writing

108 Support staff give invaluable help to pupils with a hearing impairment, enabling them to make appropriate progress, but pupils with SEN do not always have enough extra help. They make satisfactory progress, however, because teachers plan specific work for them and often work alongside them during group activities. Pupils for whom English is not their first language also make sound progress. Many of them are represented in the higher attaining groups and they are well motivated and want to learn.

p.35

Writing

109 The school has developed good assessment systems, and pupils throughout the school, including those with SEN, are tested regularly to check their progress. The co- ordinator analyses test data to track progress by gender and by ethnic background and to identify particular questions in national tests that cause difficulty for the pupils. She then draws up strategies to improve learning. This is good practice. Individual targets for improvement are beginning to be drawn up for each pupil and, in Years 2 and 5, these targets are pasted in the front of English books so that pupils can focus on them when they are working. Marking too is generally good across the school. Teachers let pupils know whether or not they have achieved the learning objective for that lesson and they provide advice about what is needed to improve work.

p.35

Writing

110 The literacy strategy forms the basis of work in the school and is effective in promoting progress. Some teachers, however, do not use the opportunities of written work in other subjects such as history to insist on the same standards of presentation, and accuracy of punctuation and spelling that would improve literacy skills further. The exception to this is in Year 2, where the teacher comments in a religious education book that ‘p’ and ‘g’ are wrongly positioned on the line. Computers are used in most lessons to practise skills. In Year 4, for example, two boys used a word-processor to copy their story about ‘Earthquake Terror’ and, at the same time, to re-draft the work and eliminate mistakes. The co-ordinator is building up the computer software and several programs are on order that will improve provision. Hargate Primary School - 36 111 Teaching across the school is satisfactory. The best teaching is in Year 2. Planning

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Writing

is a strength with teachers clearly identifying what it is that they want pupils to learn. Lesson plans usually identify suitably different work for the various ability groups in the class. Particularly in the infants, there is a warmth between teacher and pupil that builds confidence so that pupils are enthusiastic about their work and want to ‘have a go’. There is a brisk pace in Year 2 as pupils try to explain why an author uses capital letters and exclamation marks in the book Fussy Freda and they strain to be asked to answer questions.

p.36

Writing

112 In some other lessons, particularly in the juniors, teachers tend to talk too much and do not give pupils enough opportunities to contribute. In Year 4, for example, a lengthy newspaper article was read in full when a shorter extract would have enabled pupils to identify whether the language being used was formal or informal. There are a few disruptive pupils in the lower junior classes and they sometimes interrupt the flow of the lessons, slowing the pace. The Year 1 teacher, on the other hand, has firmly established her expectations that pupils will only be asked to speak if hands are raised. Teachers generally are conscious of the need to include everyone fully in lessons. Resources are well prepared. In Year 3, an overhead projector is particularly effective in displaying the text so that everyone can see. Questions are used effectively to prompt pupils to think, unless they are closed, such as, “Are the columns the same length?” which only requires a “Yes” or “No”

p.36

Writing

113 The subject is well managed by the co-ordinator. He has clearly identified the priorities that will take the subject forward and is currently engaged in visits to other classes to monitor the teaching of writing skills, particularly in the juniors. Observations of all teachers have been carried out within the last year by the headteacher and a literacy adviser. They identified a general weakness, that there was too little challenge for the higher attaining pupils. This was also identified in the last inspection report. It appears to have been tackled well in most classes. Resources are adequate and the reading scheme books are neatly arranged and accessible to pupils.

p.36

MATHEMATICS

114 By the end of both the infants and juniors, standards in basic numeracy and in other areas of mathematics are above average. This is a good improvement since the previous inspection and results from consistently good teaching and the school’s successful implementation of the National Numeracy Strategy. In the 2001 national tests for seven year olds, standards were well above the national average and were very high compared with similar schools. In these tests for eleven year olds, standards were above average compared with schools nationally and were well above average compared with similar schools. Whilst boys outperformed girls in the infants, the reverse was very apparent by the end of the juniors. Currently, there is no evidence of a significant difference in attainment between boys and girls. Results from the 2002 national tests indicate that these high standards were maintained.

p.36

MATHEMATICS

115 All pupils, including the hearing impaired, are fully included in learning. Those with SEN are making satisfactory progress in relation to their previous attainment. Pupils for whom English is an additional language achieve well. Most of the pupils have positive attitudes to work. They are keen to learn and to do their best. Presentation of work is generally good.

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MATHEMATICS

116 By the end of the infants, most of the pupils have good mental recall of addition and subtraction facts to 20. They have a good understanding of place value in tens and units. They solve simple number problems by using different strategies, for example adding 9 to a Hargate Primary School - 37 number by adding 10 and subtracting 1.They find the total cost of various items for sale and higher attaining pupils are confident when working out change. The pupils investigate number patterns, including odd and even numbers. They are able to use standard units to measure classroom objects and simple shapes.

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MATHEMATICS

117 By the end of the juniors, the pupils use quick mental recall to solve problems involving the four number operations. They are able to use their mathematical skills well to solve number problems, often involving more than step. They make sensible estimates to check the reasonableness of their answers. Some pupils are not confident with their multiplication tables and some find division difficult. Many pupils reduce a fraction to its simplest form and they have a good understanding of improper fractions and mixed numbers. The pupils match nets to three-dimensional shapes. They are familiar with the language of angles and they use protractors well to measure and draw angles accurately. They know how to use formulae to calculate the area and perimeter of shapes. The pupils are able to interpret data shown graphically, such as bar graphs of test results and Venn diagrams of pupils in various clubs. They find the range, mode and median of data about

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MATHEMATICS

shoe sizes in the class and the numbers of siblings in families. The pupils make some use of their mathematical skills in other subjects. In science, for example, they construct accurate bar graphs of pupils’ deepest breaths and lengths of pupils’ forearms.

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MATHEMATICS

118 The quality of teaching and learning is good throughout the school and there are examples of very good teaching. The teachers plan their lessons well and they share the learning objectives with the pupils. Lessons begin with brisk mental mathematics sessions, where the teachers use a variety of methods to develop the pupils’ mental abilities. In Year 1, the teacher made effective use of a ‘ladybird‘ game to develop quick mental recall of addition facts and the concepts of ‘more‘ and ‘less‘. In Year 6, the teacher asked the pupils to explain their strategies and this helped in their understanding of the equivalence of fractions and percentages. In Year 5, the teacher used a ‘hoopla‘ game well to help the pupils make quick mental addition of more than two numbers. In Year 3, the teacher played a game where the pupils had to feel and describe three-dimensional shapes hidden in a bag. The teachers emphasise the use of correct mathematical vocabulary and this is helping

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MATHEMATICS

the pupils to become familiar with terms such as ‘numerator‘, ‘denominator‘, ‘subtract‘, ‘minus‘, ‘face‘ and ‘edge‘.

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MATHEMATICS

119 The teachers move lessons smoothly into well-organised group activities, with work generally well matched to pupils’ differing needs. This provides an appropriate challenge for higher attaining pupils. Good emphasis is placed on developing the pupils’ problem-solving skills. Learning support assistants are well briefed as to their tasks and they give effective support, usually to pupils with SEN. The teachers often focus on one particular group, but ensure that during the week they give equal attention to all groups. The teachers strive to develop the pupils’ confidence. In Year 2, the teacher said, “Maths is fun, it’s not to be frightened about” and in Year 1 the teacher said, “If you have any difficulty, don’t worry, just ask me”. The teachers have high expectations for attainment and presentation of work and this is bearing fruit in the pupils’ books. They make good use of resources to aid learning,

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MATHEMATICS

involving practical apparatus where necessary and ICT where appropriate.

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MATHEMATICS

120 Lessons end with useful discussion sessions, where the teachers consolidate learning and check with the pupils that objectives have been met. In Year 4, the teacher gave the pupils the opportunity to talk about the criteria they had used in sorting two- dimensional shapes into sets. This part of the lesson is often used to set a worthwhile homework task. In Year 2, the teacher encouraged the pupils to try their best with the homework task. They could ask mum for help, but they must not let her do it all for them! The teachers mark pupils’ work regularly. Its quality is, however, variable. Some marking helps pupils improve, for example, “Be careful when doing decomposition, because you’re Hargate Primary School - 38 making silly mistakes”, but examples were seen of incorrect work, such as wrongly written numerals, being marked as correct.

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MATHEMATICS

121 A clear policy meets the requirements of the National Curriculum. Planning is soundly based on the National Numeracy Strategy. There are satisfactory procedures for assessing and tracking the pupils’ progress. Assessment data is analysed to highlight areas of weakness, on which the teachers subsequently focus, and to set targets for the pupils to achieve. The co-ordinator has not had the opportunity to monitor teaching, with a view to sharing good practice, but he has led some training for colleagues on the use of ICT in mathematics lessons. There are adequate resources to support learning. In encouraging the pupils to work collaboratively whenever appropriate, the subject makes an appropriate contribution to their social development. As yet mathematics skills are not fully utilised in other subjects throughout the school.

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SCIENCE

122 At the time of the previous inspection attainment in science was average at the ages of seven and eleven. Since then standards have fluctuated year on year and have not always been high enough. For instance, in the 2001 national tests for pupils aged eleven standards were well below the national average and below that of schools with similar numbers of pupils entitled to free school meals. However, the 2002 tests showed improvement and a good proportion of pupils achieved the national expectation although relatively few achieved the higher levels. In 2001 teacher assessments of pupils aged seven, the proportion achieving the expected level was below average although a good number achieved the higher levels. In 2002 a good number achieved at least the average and a greater proportion achieved the higher levels.

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SCIENCE

123 There was only very limited evidence available of recent work and no previous work is saved for assessment purposes. Inspection findings are supported through discussions with pupils and indicate that standards are largely average at the age of seven and that a good number of pupils are likely to achieve the higher levels. Pupils in Years 1 and 2 achieve well and make good progress because the quality of teaching is effective in providing a good level of challenge. Standards are also average at the age of eleven although currently only a small proportion of pupils is likely to achieve the higher standards. Whilst achievement of pupils in Years 3 to 6 is satisfactory overall, not as much is expected of pupils, and this slows the rate of progress they make.

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SCIENCE

124 Throughout the school pupils with hearing impairments are well supported; this enables pupils to have access to the full curriculum and make good progress towards the targets identified for them. Pupils with SEN make similar progress to their classmates. Pupils from ethnic minority groups often achieve well because they have positive attitudes to their work. There is no significant difference in the achievement of boys and girls.

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SCIENCE

125 Pupils enjoy practical science activities and are keen to carry out experiments and investigations and younger pupils make good progress in such activities. In Year 2 pupils like finding out about life and living things in their current work on growth. When setting up simple tests to find out what conditions sunflower seeds need to make them grow, pupils show good awareness of the need to ensure they carry out a fair test. They know that when filling plant pots with compost, earth, sand and paper that they need similar amounts of these and of water. Higher attaining pupils explain that predictions are what they think will happen and many predict that the seeds in the cupboard will not grow as well as those near the window. Pupils with hearing impairment make good progress when working with a skilled learning support assistant, predicting and finding out how many seeds will be in a lemon, grapefruit, peach and tomato.

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SCIENCE

Hargate Primary School - 39 126 In the juniors, pupils make satisfactory progress in carrying out experimental and investigative activities. However, progress is sometimes hindered by pupils not listening to instructions or too much time being spent discussing and planning activities, and not enough time carrying out investigations. In Year 6 pupils create an investigation to test how they can make solids dissolve more quickly. They make satisfactory progress in measuring and recording the time taken for sugar to dissolve and in recognising the temperature of the water and number of stirs affect their findings. However, not enough progress is made when pupils are given the opportunity to decide what apparatus is needed. There is very little recently recorded work to serve as a useful reminder to pupils of the work they have carried out. In Year 5 pupils make better progress when investigating how plant growth is affected

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SCIENCE

when they cover patches of grass with black and clear plastic sheeting and in understanding how a flowering plant reproduces.

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SCIENCE

127 Pupils in Years 3 and 4 make progress that is quite slow and at times barely satisfactory. In Year 4, the sample of recent work shows pupils have made reasonable progress in formulating a series of questions and answers about the human skeleton. Pupils produce satisfactory graphs to show the length of people’s forearm at different ages and all know that the headteacher has the longest arm span in school. In Year 3 pupils have some understanding of chemical changes, and whether the changes made to some materials can be reversed or not.

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SCIENCE

128 The quality of teaching and learning is good in the infants and satisfactory in the juniors. In the infants, teachers make good use of open-ended questions to encourage pupils to explain what they know and think and staff organise a good programme of practical learning tasks. Because pupils are interested in what they are doing and observing, they concentrate well. However, in the juniors, the quality of teaching is more mixed and there is some teaching that is unsatisfactory in Year 3 and some in Year 4 that is only just satisfactory. In Year 3, because tasks are not set clearly, pupils are unsure what they are finding out and whether it is important to conduct fair tests when mixing materials. In Year 4 too long is taken in planning and reviewing planning so that in two consecutive lessons pupils carry out no practical tasks. In Year 6, while teaching is satisfactory, on some occasions when pupils are not well focused upon what is expected of them learning is

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SCIENCE

129 Curriculum planning is satisfactory overall although there is currently some imbalance in the organisation of practical activities. Leadership and management of the subject are satisfactory and have some good features. The co-ordinator has good subject knowledge and provides good quality teaching in Year 5. She has introduced good assessment routines that are used well by some staff; such as in Year 2, to identify what pupils have learned well and where further work may be needed. However, the monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning have been limited and not effective enough in identifying or rectifying weaknesses in the juniors. While there is some use of ICT to record data in graphs as a whole there is considerable room to extend these and research opportunities.

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ART AND DESIGN

130 By the end of Year 2 and Year 6, pupils achieve broadly average standards in art. Pupils, including those with SEN and those speaking English as an additional language, make satisfactory progress. However, pupils with possibly higher attainment are not always taught well enough to enable them to achieve the standards they are capable of. Overall findings are similar to those of the previous inspection. Hargate Primary School - 40 131 No lessons in art were observed during the inspection, and only a very limited amount of work, reflecting everyday experiences in lessons, was available for scrutiny. Work on display in the school provides a very mixed picture. There are pockets of work produced by older pupils in the junior school, under the guidance of an artist mentor, which are of a high standard. Other displays of work reflect standards which are average. These include drawings in pupils’ sketchbooks, and displays of work linked to other subjects. From the

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ART AND DESIGN

limited evidence available the quality of teaching and learning is broadly satisfactory.

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ART AND DESIGN

132 The school uses professional artists in school effectively to encourage pupils to experiment and create. Work with an ‘artist in residence’ explores abstract ideas, and experiments with colour and texture with Year 5 and Year 6 pupils are of a high standard. In a similar way, pupils in Year 5 study the techniques used by the Cubists, and reflect the angular and bold images in their own, original work. A focus in work in Year 6 has been related to moving images, when pupils reconstruct photographs and illustrations to emphasise action.

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ART AND DESIGN

133 Work in infant classes is often linked to learning in other subjects, for instance, repeating patterns using computer images, or self-portraits based on work with paint and collage, linked to topics on ‘Ourselves’.

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ART AND DESIGN

134 Whilst there is satisfactory progress in the development of the basic skills of drawing and painting, there are weaknesses in the development of skills in other areas of the subject. There is little recent evidence of work in textiles, or of skills in art being developed progressively through a wide range of media and experiences year on year, although planning indicates this does take place.

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ART AND DESIGN

135 The co-ordinator has used national guidelines in art to provide a clear planning structure. At present there is no monitoring of teaching and learning, to help provide greater consistency. The lack of clear procedures for assessment is not helping teachers identify the skills they need to develop next and so move learning on. The co-ordinator has plans to develop photography within the art curriculum, and has started already in the reception year with work on the local environment. Everyday resources are appropriate for the pupils, but not enough use is made of computers to support learning.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

136 Standards in the previous inspection were judged to be in line with national expectations. Whilst there was only very limited evidence of recent work undertaken in the subject, the scrutiny of work available, subject planning and discussions with pupils and the subject co-ordinator indicate that standards are broadly average throughout the school. Most pupils, including those with hearing impairments, those with SEN and those from ethnic minority groups, make satisfactory progress. The majority of pupils achieve satisfactorily and there is no difference in the quality of work of boys and girls.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

137 In Year 2 pupils are able to draw a design for a car and identify and label the main features of a vehicle such as a fire engine with reasonable skill. This is in preparatory tasks leading to making their own simple vehicles as part of their work finding out about mechanisms. In Year 1, as part of their recent work, pupils have coloured, cut, folded and glued simple models of houses. Pupils have also practised using simple tools to shape clay when working with a visiting artist.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

138 In Year 3 as part of their work on structures pupils find out about packaging and make simple boxes. They decorate, cut and fold card into a box shape and also use a suitable range of building kits to make different box-shaped structures. In Year 4, pupils Hargate Primary School - 41 have designed and made bookmarks but virtually all the finished items show that pupils have used only felt tip pens or coloured pencils to decorate their bookmarks. Restrictions on the materials available limit progress in a wider range of skills. In Year 6, photographic evidence shows that pupils have made slightly better progress in control and using electrical devices in work well linked to the science curriculum. Pupils use a computer package to make a clown’s face whose eyes light up.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

139 Whilst it was not possible to observe any teaching during the inspection, samples of recent work indicate that whilst teaching is satisfactory there is limited evidence of pupils recording their own designs and using these as a basis for evaluations to improve their work. For instance, in Years 1 and 3, using adult pre-drawn templates of a house and box shape restricts the design element of recent work and limits pupils’ progress. Staff do not save copies of pupils’ designs or evaluations as a useful assessment tool or as a reminder to pupils of previous work on which to base subsequent activities.

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DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

140 The very recently appointed co-ordinator is currently providing satisfactory leadership and management in the subject and is keen to raise its profile across the school. Insufficient opportunities to monitor the subject throughout the school have hampered its development. This has allowed some aspects of the subject, including the use of ICT to support the design process, to remain underdeveloped.

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GEOGRAPHY

141 At seven and eleven years of age, pupils reach similar levels in geography to those found nationally. Progress and achievement across the year groups are generally satisfactory. Present inspection findings are similar to those of the previous inspection.

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GEOGRAPHY

142 Talking to pupils in Year 6 indicates that they have a broad knowledge of the physical and human features of localities in the British Isles, but patchy knowledge of a range of places and environments in the wider world.

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GEOGRAPHY

143 In the infant classes, the local environment is used well to develop pupils’ understanding of place. Younger children take photographs of the school locality, and use this information to make simple maps and three-dimensional models of the area. This learning is taken a step further, when pupils visit the local High Street. They identify the different services provided and suggest what changes could be made to improve the quality of the environment.

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GEOGRAPHY

144 In Year 2, pupils make good progress using and understanding geographical language, when they begin to study different locations and identify similarities and differences. An example is in a Year 2 lesson, when effective teaching, linked to the story of Katie Morag, encourages pupils to compare an island setting with a town location. Pupils respond well, using and understanding new vocabulary, such as ‘loch’, ‘coastline’, ‘mountain’ and ‘harbour’.

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GEOGRAPHY

145 In junior classes, the scope of learning in geography includes wider world locations and issues. Year 3 pupils use their own experiences of holidays abroad as a starting point for their study of weather around the world. The benefit of the knowledge pupils from minority ethnic groups bring to this lesson is clear, when pupils talk of their visits to Mauritius and India, and describe the climate there. Pupils make satisfactory progress, and by the end of the lesson are able to use an atlas, to identify the main climatic regions of the world. By Year 6, pupils are capable of working at a faster rate and make sound or better progress. In a lesson on mountainous regions, they name continents and countries where mountains are found, and can recall the name of some of the world’s highest peaks. However, in this Hargate Primary School - 42 lesson, as in others observed, pupils’ written work is not reflecting the range and quality of

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GEOGRAPHY

their understanding and learning in lessons.

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GEOGRAPHY

146 Pupils’ behaviour is generally good in lessons. Pupils with hearing impairment are well supported by learning support assistants, whose use of British Sign Language enables pupils to take a full part in class lessons. Other pupils with SEN make satisfactory progress, but often need more focused help with their reading and writing in geography. In Year 4, however, the immature behaviour of significant minority of boys stopped the flow of learning during a lesson on improving the environment.

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GEOGRAPHY

147 In the lessons observed, teaching is generally good. Teachers have expertise with the subject, evident in the content of lessons and in planning. Resources are used well, and linked effectively to pupils’ own interests and experience, for instance, by referring to holiday post cards and brochures, with work on climate and using photographs, taken by the pupils themselves, to stimulate learning about the local environment. Lessons are managed well and move at a steady pace. As yet, assessment procedures in geography are informal and do not provide useful guidance to help plan future work. There is some good marking in Year 2, where pupils’ skills are developed well.

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GEOGRAPHY

148 Although the inspection took place early in the new school year, there was very little evidence of pupils’ past work available for scrutiny. In the work seen, teaching over time is broadly satisfactory. However, expectations of pupils’ written work and presentation could be higher to improve literacy skills in the subject.

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GEOGRAPHY

149 The subject manager has a clear plan for the way forward for the subject, but as yet does not monitor the quality of teaching and learning in order to improve standards and identify gaps in learning. Resources are accessible, and appropriate. Whilst some use is made of computers to support learning, staff miss other opportunities.

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HISTORY

150 At seven and eleven years of age, pupils reach similar levels to those achieved nationally and maintain the standards that were seen in the previous inspection. The progress made and the achievement of pupils across the year groups are generally satisfactory. Pupils with hearing impairments, those with SEN and those speaking English as an additional language make similar progress to their classmates. The school plans to focus on teaching history next term, and so only one lesson in history was observed during this inspection. In addition, there is very little evidence of pupils’ past work in history available in books, or on display. In order to make decisions about standards and progress, teachers’ planning and discussions with pupils, played an important part in helping to form judgements.

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HISTORY

151 Teachers’ planning and discussions with the subject co-ordinator indicate clear coverage of the national guidelines for the subject. The school makes good use of visits to historical places of interest to develop pupils’ enthusiasm for local history, and to provide opportunities for pupils to handle and study artefacts from the past. Visits to a toy museum, for example, build effectively on pupils’ previous learning, and enable pupils to use their new knowledge, when sequencing toys on a simple time-line.

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HISTORY

152 In Year 5, junior pupils are motivated by work related to the study of the Ancient Egyptians and make good progress with their learning. All groups, including pupils with SEN, are keen to find out more and so carry on with their research at home. Two girls study holiday photographs of a pyramid, and begin to ask deeper questions about its construction and purpose. The lesson is resourced well and so pupils access information, from books, Hargate Primary School - 43 magazines and the Internet, to find answers to their own questions. The written work of average and less capable pupils can be disappointing, with the standard of writing not reflecting the level of pupils’ factual knowledge.

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HISTORY

153 Teaching in the lesson observed is good. The teacher has good subject knowledge, and builds upon the pupils’ interests. Support for pupils with hearing impairment is very effective, enabling them to contribute in lessons. Pupils’ contributions are valued, and those who find it hard to communicate and explain clearly, are given the time and support to do so. The lesson moves at a pace, and offers scope for pupils to work at a level of personal interest, but teacher and pupils’ expectations of writing in history could be higher. Good use of discussion in the lesson also provides the opportunity for pupils to develop their spiritual awareness, with pupils comparing Ancient Egyptian gods with the god of their understanding.

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HISTORY

154 The co-ordinator manages the subject soundly, but has yet to monitor teaching and learning, to ensure quality in both. Assessment of pupils’ achievement in history is informal and does not provide appropriate information to support developments in provision. Not enough use is made of computers for research.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

155 By the end of Year 2 and Year 6, standards are average, which broadly reflects the findings of the previous inspection. All pupils are fully involved in learning. Pupils with SEN, including those with hearing impairment, are well supported and they are making sound progress. So, too, are those for whom English is an additional language. Boys and girls attain equally. The pupils enjoy computer work and those who have computers at home are keen to produce work for school when it is suggested. They share resources sensibly in school.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

156 By the end of Year 2, the pupils name items such as the ‘monitor’, ‘printer’, ‘keyboard’, ‘mouse’ and ‘hard drive’. They are making sound progress in developing their keyboard skills and their ability to use the mouse with reasonable control. They type words and, with adult help, change the style and size of the font. They select the appropriate tools, such as brush size and colour, to produce satisfactory outline pictures of themselves and of the front of a house. The pupils devise a set of simple instructions to program a floor turtle. They use the computers to enhance their learning in a number of subjects. For example, Year 2 pupils use a program to reinforce their understanding of number bonds to 20 and another program to help them think of words with ‘ai‘ in them. In mathematics, Year 1 pupils use a program to enhance learning of repeating patterns.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

157 In the juniors pupils learn how to delete, insert and replace text. This helps pupils in Year 4 with the redrafting of their work in English. They know how to use the ‘cut and paste’ tools. Many pupils have a sound understanding of how to use the Internet and search engines to research information. Pupils in Year 3 use a CD-ROM to research information about musical instruments. They know that an electronic keyboard can be used to control and reorganise sounds. Pupils in this class use a religious education program to enhance their learning about the Ten Commandments. The pupils save and retrieve information. They are able to enter data into a database and produce the information graphically, for example climatic statistics in geography. Many pupils in Year 6 have a sound understanding of how to combine text and clip art pictures.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

158 The quality of teaching and learning is sound throughout the school. The teachers are developing their knowledge and expertise with the resources which the school has recently purchased, such as the interactive whiteboard and digital camera. They now Hargate Primary School - 44 emphasise the development of basic keyboard and mouse skills appropriately and this ensuring that ICT plays a more supportive role across the curriculum. They ensure that the pupils use correct terminology and this helped Year 1 pupils in understanding the use of a paint program. It also helped in a Year 5 lesson, where the teacher’s emphasis on terms such as ‘cell‘, ‘column‘ and ‘row‘ helped the pupils in using a spreadsheet to carry out calculations, using a formula.

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INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT)

159 A clear policy meets the requirements of the National Curriculum. Planning is soundly based on national guidelines, but there are no formal procedures for assessing pupils’ attainment, so that it is difficult to track the development of pupils’ individual ICT skills. The co-ordinator has not yet monitored teaching, with a view to sharing good practice and gaining an overview of standards. Although the school lacks an ICT suite, there are adequate computers and laptops available and other hardware to support teaching and learning. The school has done well in purchasing resources to keep abreast of recent innovations in ICT. The subject makes a sound contribution to the pupils’ social development, in encouraging them to work collaboratively and in teaching them the huge role played by ICT in the modern world.

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MUSIC

160 As a result of the last inspection, the school was required to improve the provision for music, first in the coverage of the National Curriculum requirements and secondly in the standards of teaching and learning. Only one lesson was scheduled during the current inspection and it is not possible to judge whether teaching and learning have improved overall, even though in that lesson they were satisfactory. Similarly, it was not appropriate to make judgements about the achievements and progress of groups of pupils. The school now has a suitable policy and a programme of work that should ensure that all elements of music are covered.

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MUSIC

161 As only one lesson was seen, evidence was gained by talking to pupils in Years 2 and 6 and this indicates that coverage is still not adequate. Pupils find it difficult to explain what they have learned in their recent music lessons. Both sets of pupils described music that they had listened to and discussed afterwards. Those in Year 2 talked about listening to everyday sounds and recognising, for example, the bark of a dog. The older pupils explained how they had brought their own compact discs into school and discussed the mood that the music evoked. However, without written evidence, it is not possible to judge the quality of such evaluations. The eleven year olds did not know the word ‘compose’ and could not give an example of any composing activities recently. Nor did they know the word ‘percussion’ though they could name some common instruments from that family. The school recognises that there is still work to be done to improve the provision of music.

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MUSIC

162 The standard of singing is similar to that in the previous report. In whole school gatherings, it is satisfactory. Pupils sing accurately and in tune, with good diction and correct adherence to rhythmic patterns. Particularly impressive is the way that they sign during the singing of the Lord’s Prayer to support and include those pupils who have a hearing impairment. In the lesson seen, however, singing was less impressive. It was tentative and not tuneful though the willingness of individuals to sing alone was praiseworthy and one boy had a particularly good voice, singing beautifully in tune with good tonal qualities.

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MUSIC

163 Music is sometimes played as pupils enter and leave assemblies and the composer and title are displayed on the back of the piano. No reference was made to this music in the assembly, however, and, on returning to their class, no pupils in Year 3 could identify Strauss as the composer or The Blue Danube Waltz as the title. In other assemblies no Hargate Primary School - 45 entry or exit music is used and this represents a lost opportunity to promote cultural development.

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MUSIC

164 The provision of music outside the classroom is good. An impressive number of pupils attend the lunchtime choir practice, including a fair proportion of boys, and they sing very pleasantly. They observe quieter passages sensitively in the song that they are preparing for the forthcoming Harvest Festival. These pupils regularly take part in the local music festival and this contributes well to their social development. Pupils have opportunities to learn brass and violins and to play the recorder. A beginners’ group was observed at lunchtime with pupils from Years 2 and 3 learning the first important requirements for playing the recorder: holding the instrument properly, covering the holes and blowing with a controlled breath to avoid ‘squeaks’. The teacher rightly insisted on the correct techniques.

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MUSIC

165 The school recognises the need for improvement in its development plan. The co- ordinator has begun a programme of work to teach alongside colleagues to deliver the programme of work and to improve confidence and subject knowledge. This has started in Year 5. The co-ordinator has also reorganised the resources so that they are more accessible to teachers and there are plans to convert one of the mobile classrooms into a music room. There is a satisfactory basic stock of instruments but not all are well cared for. The storage boxes, for example, are not suitable for housing small glockenspiels alongside tambourines and triangles because the metal notes become detached. There is no system for assessing the standards and progress that individual pupils achieve and computers are not widely used to promote work in music, though one ICT lesson in Year 3 made use of a keyboard to produce a sequence of four notes electronically.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

166 By the end of Year 2 and Year 6, standards are average, which reflects the findings of the previous inspection. Standards in swimming are good. By the time the pupils leave the school, almost all the pupils can swim at least 25 metres unaided and with good technique. All pupils are fully involved in learning. Pupils with SEN, including those with hearing impairment, receive good support and make good progress. So, too, do those pupils for whom English is an additional language. Boys and girls attain equally. Most pupils have positive attitudes to learning. They change into a variety of physical education kit, where it is appropriate. With the exception of a small number of less motivated, immature pupils, usually boys, the pupils listen well to instructions and respond quickly.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

167 By the end of Year 2, the pupils participate soundly in a variety of stretching and travelling exercises, in order to warm up for lessons. In gymnastics, the pupils are able to build up a simple sequence of three movements, such as a hop, a skip and a jump, both individually and with a partner. They hold a reasonable balance on one or two body parts and they are able to incorporate this into their sequence of movements. Most pupils have not yet developed good spatial awareness. They crowd together too much and fail to make use of all the available space in the hall.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

168 By the end of Year 6, many pupils pass a ball with their feet to a partner with reasonable accuracy. Higher attaining pupils are developing the ability to stop and control the ball, before passing it on again. The pupils are beginning to develop a satisfactory awareness of tactics necessary in games situations, such as moving off the ball and giving team members angles to use in passing. In dance, the pupils are beginning to develop sound, set moves relating to English folk dancing. They know how to perform left and right- hand turns, two-hand turns and how to promenade. Hargate Primary School - 46 169 The quality of teaching and learning is good in both infants and juniors, which reflects the findings of the previous inspection. The teachers plan their lessons well, change into appropriate kit and manage changing sessions well. Younger pupils are encouraged to become more independent in changing and to do so as quickly as possible. The teachers

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

pay due attention to safety, such as taping over ear studs and pointing out potential hazards in the hall, such as dining tables, musical stands and the piano. Lessons begin with effective warm-up sessions, with the teachers reminding the pupils of the necessity for this. “What do you notice is happening to your body?” asked the Year 2 teacher and this drew the pupils’ attention to how they felt warmer and how their hearts were beating faster.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

170 Class control is good. In Year 1, for example, the teacher dealt quietly and effectively with two or three silly boys and ensured that they did not break up the flow of the lesson. The teachers demonstrate good practice themselves and this provides a good model for the pupils. They give the pupils the opportunity to observe and evaluate the performance of others, in order to help develop ideas and to improve performance. This helped Year 2 pupils build up a sequence of gymnastics movements and Year 6 pupils to improve ball skills. There is good teaching of specific physical education skills and the teachers make tasks increasingly more demanding of the pupils. In a Year 1 lesson, this helped the pupils move on from balancing on two body parts to the more challenging idea of balancing on one. The teachers emphasise correct handling of apparatus and this was very apparent in a Year 2 gymnastics lesson, where the pupils carried mats out in the correct manner. Lessons

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

end with worthwhile cooling down sessions.

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PHYSICAL EDUCATION

171 A clear policy meets the requirements of the National Curriculum. Planning is soundly based on national guidelines, but there are no formal, whole school procedures for assessment, so that it is difficult to track the development of pupils’ individual physical education skills. The co-ordinator has not yet had the opportunity to monitor teaching, with a view to sharing good practice and to gain an overview of standards. There is a good range of apparatus and equipment for physical education and internal and external accommodation is good. The curriculum is enriched by some extra-curricular sports clubs, including coaching by staff from the local professional football club, and by the opportunity for older pupils to participate in outdoor and adventurous activities during a residential visit. Some pupils who did not go on this visit took part in activities at a local leisure centre. Through an emphasis on teamwork, the subject makes a good contribution to the pupils’

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

172 The standards being achieved by the seven and eleven year olds are average and progress, including that of pupils with SEN and those speaking English as an additional language, is satisfactory. This is similar to the picture painted in the last report. Work is now planned around the programme of work that is recommended nationally in conjunction with the local agreed syllabus. A satisfactory long-term plan drawn up by the school clearly shows the work that is to be covered in each class throughout the year. Overall, this is an improvement since the last inspection.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

173 Very little written work was presented to inspectors but, in the lessons seen, pupils displayed sufficient background knowledge to show that they understand the nature and importance of religious beliefs, practices and traditions to the followers of different faiths. In Year 1, pupils learn about Christian baptism and the symbolism of the water and the candle in the ceremony. Year 2 pupils explore the various ways in which Hindus celebrate the festival of Diwali. In Year 6, pupils prepare questions about religious practices that four of their classmates volunteer to answer on behalf of the Christian, Muslim, Sikh and Hindu religions. This provides an impressive opportunity for pupils to extend their knowledge of the Hargate Primary School - 47 multicultural traditions to be found in British society and to display their respect for these practices and beliefs. The lesson provides evidence too of the complete integration of pupils

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

from ethnic minorities in the class and the value that is placed on their contribution. They are therefore able to make the same progress as everyone else.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

174 Teaching overall is satisfactory. Of the four lessons seen, one was good because of a particularly effective role-play activity that strongly reinforced learning of how a baptism is conducted. All the lessons were well prepared, but sometimes the pace was not brisk enough to enable rapid learning and in one lesson too much information was provided, making it difficult for the pupils to assimilate everything. Teachers manage their classes well and, in Year 6, the enthusiasm to ask questions was well controlled so that a good number of questions, such as “How often do you pray?”, could be answered. In another lesson, the teacher tended to talk for too long and did not offer enough opportunities for pupils to offer their ideas but the eventual ‘Get well’ cards that were produced showed that pupils had properly considered the effect that these would have. Pupils are offered times to reflect on spiritual matters as when those in Year 2 write prayers thanking God for the gift of light.

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

175 The co-ordinator has just been appointed and is aware of areas for development. She realises, for example, that more religious objects are needed to support teachers when delivering lessons. Links with local places of worship are to be improved. There are already links with a local Christian church and chapel but she has now arranged a visit for children in the Foundation Stage to a local Hindu Temple for the celebration of Diwali. Computer programs and the Internet are not widely used yet to support work in the subject and there is no system for assessing the extent of pupils’ learning but one teacher, in particular, is taking the opportunity of written work in religious education to promote the development of literacy skills. In the Year 2 books, for example, he remarks on the fact that one pupil is not positioning ‘p’ and ‘g’ correctly so that the descenders go underneath the line. This is good

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RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

practice. However, not enough use is made of computers to support learning.

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