Hutton Henry CofE (Controlled) Primary School

Inspection Report Hutton Henry C of E (Controlled) Primary School

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114232 Unique Reference Number Durham LEA 279339 Inspection number 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006 Inspection dates Mrs Margaret Shepherd Reporting inspector

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

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Hutton Henry School address Primary Type of school Hartlepool Voluntary controlled School category TS27 4RY 4 to 11 Age range of pupils 01429 836219 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01429 836219 Fax number 45 Number on roll Mrs Jane Thomas Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Jill Jones Headteacher 1 February 2000 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 279339 29 March 2006 - 4 to 11 30 March 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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

Hutton Henry C of E Primary School serves a very small village. The school has only two classes. Reception and Years 1 and 2 are in one class, and the whole of the junior age group are in the other. The school has suffered considerable staffing disruption over the past three years but this has now been resolved. Children enter the school with standards that are average overall, but there are considerable variations in and between each year group. The school has a higher than average proportion of children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, although some year groups have none of these children.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Hutton Henry C of E (Controlled) Primary School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. The school judges itself to have some good features but underestimates its overall effectiveness. Parents greatly value the school’s provision. The children are currently making excellent progress in Reception because the curriculum is very well planned and the teaching is outstandingly good. The children in the rest of the school are making good progress. Although the results of the 2005 national tests showed that standards were average, children currently in Year 2 and Year 6 are making good progress because of recent improvements in teaching and are on course to attain above average standards. Nevertheless, standards could be higher still, particularly in writing in the junior class. The children do not have enough practice in writing in all subjects and not enough emphasis is given to the technical aspects of handwriting. Children’s personal development and well-being are good and spiritual

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Grade: 2

and moral development is outstanding. The school provides sensitive care and support for each child and monitors their progress but it does not give the children enough help to improve their work. The curriculum is good and it is planned to ensure that the needs of all the children are met. Teaching and learning are good overall but the pace of learning is sometimes too slow in the junior class and children do not have enough opportunities to extend their learning through talking to each other. Leadership and management are good. The headteacher has a clear vision of how the school should improve and works closely with the governors to achieve the school’s aims. The school has improved well since the previous inspection and has the capacity to improve further. The school provides good value for money. not applicable

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What the school should do to improve further

The school should: • extend opportunities for writing across the subjects of the curriculum in the junior class and give the children more support for the development of handwriting skills • provide better guidance to individual children to show them how to improve their work • ensure a more consistent pace in lessons and provide more opportunities for children to talk to each other about their learning.

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Grade: 2

Achievement is good. Attainment on entry is average. The children make good progress and, overall attain above average standards. In Reception, the children make excellent progress because the teaching is outstanding and the teaching team provides carefully focused activities that exactly match the children’s particular needs. There are very few of these children but all reach or exceed the standards expected for their age. The results of national tests for Years 2 and 6 were average in 2005. Since then, the school 2 Inspection Report: Hutton Henry C of E (Controlled) Primary School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006 has worked hard to raise standards in mathematics and its records and assessments show that the children are now making good progress in that subject and are on course to attain standards that are above the national average. The children make particularly good progress in reading because the school provides a very effective reading

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Grade: 2

programme for individual children throughout the school. Standards in writing are average. In Years 3 to 6, children’s handwriting is too variable in quality. Children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities also make good progress because they benefit greatly from being with the same support staff throughout the school. The high quality relationships with staff give these children confidence to complete their work diligently.

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Grade: 2

Personal development and well-being are good with outstanding features. The outstanding features are in spiritual and moral development, which is rooted in the Christian faith. Children respond extremely well to opportunities for these aspects in assemblies and during their monthly visits to the church. They know right from wrong and behave well. They enjoy school and their attendance is good. Children have very positive attitudes; they learn confidently and thoroughly enjoy the interesting activities that the school provides. Children particularly appreciate the school clubs and nearly the whole school attends the popular ‘gadget club’. The older children understand the implications of setting personal standards and take their responsibilities seriously and the younger children follow the example of the older ones. Children have a good understanding of health and safety and enjoy the lessons that focus on these issues.

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Grade: 2

The Student Council expects to make a difference to the school’s provision and enjoys working with the governors at their meetings. Children have a clear understanding of their role in the school community, the village community and the wider world; for example, they are involved in a project to send mathematical equipment to a school in Africa.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good overall and outstanding in Reception. Teachers work in partnership with their teaching assistants and build high quality relationships with children. Support is carefully targeted to individual children’s needs and this has a particularly strong impact on the progress made by children with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The organisation in the reception/infant class is outstanding. The children receive carefully balanced teaching within these age groups because of the skilful deployment of the adults, the resources and the available learning spaces. Teachers in both classes plan carefully for group work to provide different activities for the varying age groups. Younger children enjoy the interesting tasks that teachers plan for them and the lessons proceed at a good pace; however, in the juniors, the pace is variable and children often lack opportunities to talk about their learning.

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Grade: 2

3 Inspection Report: Hutton Henry C of E (Controlled) Primary School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006 Although the teaching of reading is very good, the teachers do not give the junior children enough opportunities to practise their writing across the curriculum and do not do enough to improve their handwriting skills. Teachers give children effective individual feedback on their work during lessons but they do not set clear individual targets for children to reach in the longer term.

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Grade: 2

The quality of the curriculum is good. Teachers work very hard to ensure that the programmes of work accurately meet the needs of children of different ages in the same class. The curriculum for children in the reception/infants class is extremely well organised. There is a rich reading curriculum, based on the systematic introduction of letter sounds and on a well-organised programme for individual children supported by trained volunteers and support staff. The recent improvements to the library also help to sustain the good progress in reading. The school has worked hard to improve the mathematics curriculum, which is now well balanced. There are some good quality whole-school writing initiatives in place in which children carry out the same activity, such as a tour of the village and then produce different brochures around the same theme. However, in the junior classes, opportunities are missed to extend writing skills

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Grade: 2

across the curriculum. Handwriting practice is carried out regularly but children are not given enough specific guidance on how to improve their technical skills. Children really enjoy the whole-school themes that are planned by the staff. The enrichment of the curriculum is good. A rich variety of extra-curricular activities is provided for children to choose from, and children often attend several clubs during the week.

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Grade: 2

Care, support and guidance are good overall and care and support are particularly good. Teachers exploit the small size of the school community extremely well to support individuals in their personal development. Children can confidently approach an adult with their problems. The arrangements to ensure the children’s health and safety are effective. The school builds good partnerships with parents and these contribute well to children’s progress, particularly in reading. The staff work with a number of external specialists to extend the quality and range of the school’s provision. The children receive very effective support for their personal development. The teachers monitor the children’s progress but they do not give them enough specific guidance about how they can improve their work.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good. The headteacher has a clear vision for the school’s improvement. She has managed a number of challenging changes well since the last inspection and now has a team of staff who are determined to work with her 4 Inspection Report: Hutton Henry C of E (Controlled) Primary School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006 for the good of the children. The headteacher tackles weaknesses systematically and builds on the school’s strengths. The assistant headteacher supports the headteacher very well and makes an important contribution to the development of the school’s provision. The school promotes Christian values in all of its work. The teachers turn the small size of the school to advantage. Children are consulted about changes and parents value the opportunities to work with the school. The governing body is well organised and enthusiastic and handles difficult decisions skilfully. Staff and governors

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Grade: 2

have identified the school’s strengths and weaknesses effectively and this shows that the school’s evaluation of its effectiveness is accurate. The school has improved well since the previous inspection, for example, in the standards achieved in reading and, more recently, in mathematics. It clearly demonstrates the capacity for further improvement. 5 Inspection Report: Hutton Henry C of E (Controlled) Primary School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Hutton Henry C of E (Controlled) Primary School, 29 March 2006 to 30 March 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 1 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 2 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 2 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 2 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Alexandra House 33 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE T 0207 421 6800 F 0207 421 6707 Ofsted helpline 08456 404045 Hutton Henry CofE (Controlled) Primary School Hutton Henry Hartlepool TS27 4RY 3 April 2006 Dear Children Thank you very much for welcoming me into your school. I really enjoyed talking to you and looking at your work. The best things about your school are as follows: the sensitive way you respond spiritually in assemblies and when you go to church the good progress that the Reception children make the way that you work hard and achieve well, particularly in reading, using the library and working with your special reading visitors your behaviour and the way that the older children look after the younger ones are good the care the teachers take over the planning of lessons for all the different age groups in your classes your interesting curriculum and the way so many of you attend the different clubs, particularly

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

the gadget club the hard work your headteacher does to make sure that you learn well as you go through the school the work your governors do to make your school a better place. To help you do even better I have asked your school to get you to write more in different subjects and to make your handwriting better by practising different joins of letters and making the size of your letters more even. I have also asked the school to give you clearer guidance on how to improve your work. Finally, I have asked your teachers to give you more time to talk to each other about your learning and to make sure that you keep learning steadily throughout the lesson. Yours sincerely Maggi Shepherd

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