Hampton Hargate Primary School

Hampton Hargate Primary School Inspection report

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132763 Unique Reference Number City of Peterborough Local Authority 294019 Inspection number 25 °26 June 2008 Inspection dates George Falconer HMI 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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Primary Type of school Community School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 416 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Janet Craib Chair Mrs Sarah Moss Headteacher 10 February 2003 Date of previous school inspection Hargate Way School address Hampton Hargate Peterborough CAMBRIDGESHIRE PE7 8BZ 01733 296780 Telephone number 01733 296789 Fax number

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4-11 Age group 25 °26 June 2008 Inspection dates 294019 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 one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Hampton Hargate Primary school is larger than average and is situated on the outskirts of Peterborough. The community is highly transient with many pupils staying for only one or two years. The school has a lower percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups compared to the national figures, and has a lower percentage of pupils whose first language is not English. The percentage of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is also below that found nationally. Attendance figures for the school are good in comparison to the national average. Attainment on entry varies but is around the expected levels. Hampton Hargate achieved the Healthy Schools Award in 2007. It has also achieved the Activemark Sports Award and is currently striving for the silver award for Eco Schools.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Hampton Hargate Primary School, 25 °26 June 2008

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Grade: 3

The school's self evaluation of its overall effectiveness is graded as satisfactory. The inspection team agrees. This is a satisfactory school but with some good qualities. The leadership and management of the acting headteacher are good. She demonstrates a very firm grasp of what the school needs to do to raise achievement and standards. Her levels of energy and enthusiasm are taking the school forward and she is successfully leading and managing the staff. The senior management team works well together and middle managers are continuing to develop their roles and responsibilities. The governing body supports the school very well. However, it understands the need to offer more focused challenge to the school. The leadership and management of the school are satisfactory overall. Achievement and standards are satisfactory. A high percentage of pupils move in and out of school at times other than those expected. This impacts unfavourably on the overall achievement

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Grade: 3

and standards, particularly at the end of Key Stage 2. There is variation in the attainment of some groups compared to the national average, but the school is already working on this issue with recently introduced processes that track and monitor pupil performance more carefully. The school knows there is more work to be done, particularly in relation to mathematics and science, and for those higher achievers who are not yet reaching their full potential. The quality of teaching and learning is satisfactory overall and ranges from satisfactory to good with some outstanding elements. However, there are variable levels of understanding about pupil progress data and how teachers can best use it to effectively promote learning. The quality of the curriculum is satisfactory overall but aspects of curriculum enrichment are outstanding. The curriculum fulfils national requirements but the school acknowledges there is still work

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Grade: 3

ahead to make it more challenging and exciting for all pupils at all levels. Personal development and well-being are good, including the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils. Pupils make a good contribution to the school community and work well to support charitable causes. They are prepared satisfactorily for their future economic well-being. The quality of care is good and pupils feel that they are very well looked after by the school staff. The school pays close attention to the health and safety of the pupils and makes sure that they are guided and supported to make the right choices in life. The quality of academic guidance and support is satisfactory.

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Grade: 2

Good improvement has been made in the quality and effectiveness of the Foundation Stage since the previous inspection. Induction arrangements are good and children settle quickly into a warm and caring environment. Routines are well established so that children behave very well and enjoy their learning. Children make good progress. Teaching engages the children well and parents take a keen interest. Good use is made of the indoor and outdoor areas. Leadership and management of the Foundation Stage are good and staff work together very well. They have a clear understanding of how young children learn. Staff are making increasing use of assessment information to guide them in the planning of challenging activities. They have yet to collate this information to give a more precise overview of the progress children are making. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Hampton Hargate Primary School, 25 °26 June 2008

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise achievement and standards in English, mathematics, and science, particularly in mathematics and science. ■ Make sure that the quality of teaching and learning is good or better in the majority of lessons by ensuring all teachers more closely match the teaching activities and learning styles to the needs of the different groups of pupils and individuals, including the higher attainers. ■ Make sure that the procedures for pupils' academic support are robust and effectively contribute to raising standards across the year groups ■ Make sure that the governing body and the wider leadership team are well informed by data so that they are in a position to effectively challenge the school's actions in relation to outcomes A small proportion of the schools where overall effectiveness is judged satisfactory but which have areas of underperformance will receive a monitoring visit by an Ofsted inspector before

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Grade: 3

Achievement and standards are satisfactory overall. Achievement in the Foundation Stage is good. By the time pupils leave the Foundation Stage, they have made good progress in relation to their starting points. By the end of Key Stage 1, pupils make satisfactory progress overall and broadly average levels of attainment are reached by the majority of pupils. School figures for this year indicate improvement in Key Stage 1 attainment in mathematics and particularly for the higher achievers. Key Stage 2 results were broadly average in the 2007 tests. There are variations in the attainment of different groups of pupils. The 2007 Key Stage 2 test figures indicate potential high achievers to be below average in mathematics and science but marginally above average for English. A major factor to consider is the fact that only 35 per cent of pupils from the Key Stage 2 test cohort began in the Foundation Stage. However, the recently improved mechanisms for

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Grade: 3

monitoring teaching and learning and tracking pupil progress are beginning to impact positively on achievement, irrespective of point of entry.

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Grade: 2

Personal development and well-being are good. Pupils enjoy school and get on well with staff and with one another. Behaviour is good overall. Pupils are polite and welcoming to visitors and newly arrived children. Pupils know about how to keep safe. They have a good understanding of healthy lifestyles. The school is proud of its food hygiene award. Pupils know what constitutes a balanced diet and take regular exercise. There is a good take-up of extra-curricular sport where pupils have celebrated success in rounders, cricket and football in inter school competitions. Pupils' basic skills in literacy and numeracy prepare them satisfactorily for their future lives. Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They enjoy singing and taking part in productions. Pupils actions show they have a good understanding of what is right. Involvement in the local community and work on different cultures, lifestyles and faiths prepares them to be good

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Grade: 2

citizens in a multicultural society. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Hampton Hargate Primary School, 25 °26 June 2008

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory overall. However, some good and outstanding lessons were seen in which pupils responded enthusiastically to teachers' high expectations. In the best lessons teachers plan exciting and stimulating activities that considerably broaden and enrich pupils' learning and contribute to their good spiritual development. As examples, pupils thrived on the music lessons and the French lessons. In some lessons, some pupils are often passive learners. There is too much teacher talk and there are not enough opportunities for pupils to share ideas with each other, comment on their work and become more actively involved. Opportunities to develop as independent learners are limited and lessons are not always sufficiently challenging for all pupils. Sometimes the work is too easy and the pace of learning slows. The quality of marking and feedback is variable. Teachers often make good use of

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Grade: 3

information and communication technology (ICT) to capture pupils' interests at the start of lessons and to help pupils remain focused.

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Grade: 3

The school provides a satisfactory curriculum leading to sound progress in literacy and numeracy. Provision for ICT has improved and pupils are enthusiastic about their use of computers in the new ICT suite. The school acknowledges that greater attention is required to provide a more practical and engaging curriculum. For example, in science there is not enough opportunity for pupils to develop practical, investigative skills that will help them become more independent learners. French lessons add a very useful and enjoyable dimension to learning. Music is outstanding and is a strength of the school and is enhanced by the skills of visiting specialists.There is a high take up for a wide variety of extra-curricular clubs which provide important learning experiences for pupils. Enrichment activities, visits and visitors and sporting competitions ensure pupils have good opportunities to share their skills with pupils from other

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Grade: 3

The school is a friendly and caring community. Parents agree and one summed it up as 'a highly supportive and happy educational environment.' Good levels of pastoral care contribute successfully to pupils' good personal development. Procedures for child protection and safeguarding pupils are well established ensuring a safe and secure place for learning. There are good links with outside agencies that provide helpful advice and support for pupils with particular needs. Secure arrangements for tracking pupils' progress in reading, writing and mathematics have recently been introduced. They are giving senior leaders a clearer picture of the progress of individuals and groups. The idea of Ladders to Success is beginning to help older pupils in particular to be more aware of their next steps in literacy and numeracy. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Hampton Hargate Primary School, 25 °26 June 2008

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Grade: 3

Leadership and management are satisfactory overall. The leadership and management of the acting headteacher are good as she takes the school forward into its next stage of development. The senior leadership and management team works hard under the purposeful leadership of the acting headteacher. Middle managers are developing their responsibilities satisfactorily. The school runs smoothly on a day to day basis with the administrative team giving good levels of support. The governing body continues to be very supportive and is now recognising the importance of providing more challenge. As a result of the continuing developments, including critical self-evaluation and the procedures for gauging pupils' academic needs, the progress that pupils are making is beginning to show signs of improvement. Regular monitoring of teaching and learning is taking place and a purposeful programme of training to support the staff, including

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Grade: 3

teaching assistants, is a strong component of the development plan. However, the effect of these initiatives on achievement and standards is not yet fully evident in results. The school has a satisfactory capacity to improve. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Hampton Hargate Primary School, 25 °26 June 2008 .

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Grade: 3

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Hampton Hargate Primary School, 25 °26 June 2008

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Inspection judgements

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

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The effectiveness of the Foundation Stage 3 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

3 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

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

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and interests of learners?

3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Hampton Hargate Primary School, 25 °26 June 2008

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education 3 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Hampton Hargate Primary School, 25 °26 June 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

27 June 2008 Dear Children Inspection of Hampton Hargate Primary School, Hampton Hargate PE7 8BZ Thank you very much for making us so welcome when we visited your school. We enjoyed our discussions with you and we are grateful for all the information you shared with us. You must be really pleased to be able to go to a school that cares so much for you and where all the staff are very keen to help you with your learning. We found the staff to be very welcoming. Miss Moss was very helpful and worked with us extremely well over the two days. She is clearly doing a very good job. Many of the parents let us know just that in their responses. We looked at a number of lessons, some of your books and talked with many of the staff. We found out that many of you work hard and enjoy your time at school. You find many of the lessons interesting and most of you respond well to what the teachers ask you to do. Many of

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

you like the subjects you study. We were particularly pleased with the range and quality of other activities such as sports and games. We were very impressed with the singing in school. The French lessons are really good. As always, no matter how hard schools work, there are always some areas that can be improved. We talked to Miss Moss, the teachers and governors about this. We all agreed that the school should improve results in English, mathematics and science, especially mathematics and science. We also agreed that all of you should be given the best opportunities to do as well as you possibly can. The school is going to improve this so that teachers give all of you the right kind of work at the right level. They will also be making accurate checks on what your next steps in learning should be. The governors of the school are going to give as much support as possible, just as they have been doing. They are also going to ask more questions about the school's

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

actions and, more importantly, about how well you are working and how well you are moving towards the next level of learning. Good luck in the future. Best wishes George Falconer Her Majesty's Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Hampton Hargate Primary School, 25 °26 June 2008

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