Hawley Primary School

100015 Unique Reference Number Camden Local Authority 276233 Inspection number 20 °21 June 2006 Inspection dates Mike Thompson Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Infant Type of school Community School category 3 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Janet Pope Chair Anne Fontaine Not previously inspected Date of previous school inspection Buck Street School address London NW1 8NJ

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02074855020 Telephone number 02079164749 Fax number

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3 °7 Age group 20 °21 June 2006 Inspection dates 276233 Inspection number .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by an Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Hawley is a small infant and nursery school situated on a cramped site in an inner-city location. Its pupils are from a wide range of home backgrounds. Just over half are from minority ethnic groups, and there is a small number from refugee and asylum-seeking families. About one in five is at the early stages of learning to communicate in English, and a similar proportion has learning difficulties and disabilities. The school is affected by a significant outward movement of pupils between Years 1 and 2 as parents seek to guarantee a Key Stage 2 place for their children at a local junior school of their choice.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 7 Inspection Report: Hawley Infant School, 20 °21 June 2006

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What the school should do to improve further

* Ensure that systems for assessing pupils' attainment in science enable teachers to see precisely how much progress pupils are making. * Sharpen up the improvement plan, making sure it includes effective ways of measuring the impact of initiatives on pupils' achievement.

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Grade:

Teaching and learning are good throughout the school because the teaching and support staff have high expectations of pupils and know their individual needs really well. Teachers are generally good at making learning interesting, and pupils show a keen desire to learn. Most lessons have good pace and challenge so pupils' interest is maintained. Very occasionally, introductions are overlong and pupils' enthusiasm and rate of learning declines. Teaching assistants are patient and kind, bringing out the best in the pupils they work with. These include those with learning difficulties and disabilities and those in the early stages of learning to communicate in English. Systems to check on pupils' achievements are good overall, and teachers use assessment well to help them plan what pupils are to learn next. The quality of assessment is an excellent feature of the Nursery and Reception classes. In Years 1 and 2, assessments in English and mathematics

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Grade:

are extremely thorough, but the system used in science does not highlight the progress that individuals undoubtedly make. This is because the method used for recording judgements shows the National Curriculum level at which pupils are working, but does not indicate how easy or difficult it was for pupils to reach this level.

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Grade:

The school provides a good range of interesting activities that are carefully matched to pupils' needs and interests. The curriculum is well planned and is being developed to promote greater creativity and enjoyment. However, the school does not make enough of the opportunities available to teach other subjects through English lessons. Planning for the Nursery and Reception classes places a strong and largely successful emphasis on developing children's independence and encouraging them to take more responsibility for their learning. 4 of 7 Inspection Report: Hawley Infant School, 20 °21 June 2006 The school makes excellent use of its cramped accommodation to provide a stimulating learning environment for its pupils. There is an outstanding range of additional activities, using local resources, to enhance pupils' learning and enjoyment. For example, children in the Nursery and Reception classes visited the Natural History Museum to help them with their topic about

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Grade:

dinosaurs. Visitors to the school also add an extra dimension to the development of pupils' skills. In Year 1, a Kenyan artist showed pupils how to use line drawings and colour washes to produce pictures of people dancing.

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Pupils receive outstanding care, guidance and support. One parent rightly commented, 'The atmosphere is happy and homely, and I feel that understanding the individual child is a priority at Hawley'. Through an extremely thorough method of record-keeping the school ensures that the academic and personal needs of all pupils are exceptionally well known and quickly met. The school is good at helping its pupils to eat healthily. At breaktimes, they can be found sitting on a bench in the playground helping themselves to a generous supply of fresh fruit. At lunchtimes they benefit from good quality, freshly cooked meals. Health and safety procedures are very effective. Child protection procedures are robust and widely understood. The school liaises closely with outside services to ensure excellent care and support for all pupils.

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5 of 7 Inspection Report: Hawley Infant School, 20 °21 June 2006 .

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in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 7 Inspection Report: Hawley Infant School, 20 °21 June 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Children Thank you very much for being so helpful when I came to visit your school. I really enjoyed meeting you, talking to you and looking at all your lovely work. I think that Hawley is a good school and this is why:* you are really lucky that you have clever grown-ups to look after you;* all of the grown-ups are good at teaching you and giving you lots of interesting things to do;* you learn a lot because you always try your best;* you play well with each other and are good at taking turns;* The headteacher is really good at making sure that you have everything that you need and that your school keeps you safe. Even in a good school like yours there is always something that could be even better. So, I think that what needs to be done next is for Anne to make really careful checks on the good plans that she has to improve your school. This will help her to find out how useful new ideas really are. I would also like your teachers to work out a better way of checking on how well you are

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

getting on in science when you are in Years 1 and 2. With best wishes, Mike Thompson Lead inspector 7 of 7 Inspection Report: Hawley Infant School, 20 °21 June 2006

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