Great Hucklow CE Primary

Great Hucklow Primary School Inspection report

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112819 Unique Reference Number DERBYSHIRE LA Local Authority 311018 Inspection number 19 °20 September 2007 Inspection dates Roger Sadler 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 Voluntary controlled School category 4 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 53 School The governing body Appropriate authority Ms J Persey Chair Mrs J Harrison Headteacher 22 March 2004 Date of previous school inspection Great Hucklow School address Tideswell Buxton Derbyshire SK17 8RG 01298 871293 Telephone number 01298 872704 Fax number

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4-11 Age group 19 °20 September 2007 Inspection dates 311018 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 Additional Inspector.

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Description of the school

Pupils come to this small school mainly from the village and surrounding area and are taught in three classes. Almost all pupils are from White British families and most are from socially and economically advantaged backgrounds. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties is below average. In most years, children enter Reception with knowledge and skill levels above that which is nationally expected. In January 2007 most of the teaching staff changed when a new headteacher and two new teachers took up post.

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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: Great Hucklow Primary School, 19 °20 September 2007

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Grade: 2

This is a good and very happy school. The new headteacher leads well so that the school provides good value for money and is much enjoyed by pupils. The school is very highly regarded by parents and carers who are particularly pleased that their children are given individual attention. Staff support the new headteacher strongly and are enjoying working, as a team, to improve the school further. Because they are well taught, pupils achieve well and make good progress. In most years, children enter Reception with knowledge and skill levels above what is nationally expected. Good provision in Reception ensures that most children exceed the standards expected for their ages by the end of their first year in school. Pupils continue to progress well in Years 1 and 2. In Years 3 to 6, past school test results indicate that pupils have mostly made satisfactory progress and attained above average standards. Current school records and pupils' work show

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Grade: 2

that pupils in Years 3 to 6 are learning at a faster rate than previously and are now achieving well. Furthermore, standards are rising and Year 6 pupils are attaining well above the standards expected for their ages in English, mathematics and science. Pupils' personal development and well-being, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are good, but with some aspects that are outstanding. Pupils enjoy school thoroughly. The curriculum is good. This results in lessons that are exciting and which provide appropriate challenge to pupils of all interests and capabilities. Pupils' attendance and behaviour are excellent. They work hard and show consideration for their own and others' safety and feelings. The school's increasing emphasis on exercise and healthy eating is helping pupils adopt and understand healthy lifestyles. Throughout the school, pupils are well taught, learn

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Grade: 2

well and benefit from good care, guidance and support. Teachers' lesson plans are detailed and meet effectively the needs of each individual. Pupils' work is marked carefully and constructively. However, too few pupils show a clear understanding of their learning targets in writing and the school has not yet introduced a system for setting learning targets in mathematics. This means that some pupils are unclear as to exactly where to concentrate their efforts to improve their work further. Because the headteacher's monitoring and evaluation are effective and accurate, the school improvement plan focuses on the most important areas and contains appropriate actions to improve standards. Subject leaders and governors support developments well but their monitoring and evaluation are not comprehensive because they do not use national data sufficiently to compare the performance of their pupils with similar pupils in other schools.

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Grade: 2

Parents' supportive views reflect the inspection findings and the positive picture of a school which is improving aspects of its provision and standards and has good capacity to continue to improve further.

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Grade: 2

Good induction arrangements help children settle happily and quickly. They rapidly make good progress in all areas of learning because of the broad, interesting and well-planned opportunities for learning. Children benefit from good teaching and scope for learning through independent work and play. Their learning and personal needs are meticulously assessed and staff treat them as individuals and with sensitivity. Children learn to behave well and act with consideration 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Great Hucklow Primary School, 19 °20 September 2007 for others. Consequently, they work and play happily and soon learn to cooperate and take turns in speaking out and in listening to others. Children make good progress in their language and mathematical development and enjoy writing, reading and counting.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that teachers set challenging targets for pupils in writing and mathematics so that pupils know exactly where to focus their efforts to improve. ■ Improve the skills of governors and subject leaders in using national data to compare the performance of the school with that of others.

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Grade: 2

Pupils make good progress throughout the school because they are well taught. The school has a strong track record of high standards by the end of Year 2 and inspection evidence indicates that standards are rising in Years 3 to 6 due to improved teaching. In all classes pupils are exceeding the expected standards for their ages and are achieving well. This year, more older pupils are attaining higher levels because the school has increased the amount of challenge for more capable pupils. The school has set ambitious targets for the proportion of Year 5 and 6 pupils who should reach each level in English, mathematics and science. School records and pupils' work indicate that Year 6 pupils are on track to reach well above average standards this year. Reading in school and at home is well organised and many parents make an important contribution to pupils' good progress, enjoyment and achievement in reading.

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Grade: 2

By the time that they leave school, most pupils are hard-working, mature and confident. Pupils show high levels of sensitivity to each other and act on a clear understanding of what is right. They are well-informed about safe and healthy lifestyles and show this well, for example, in their understanding of the importance of moving around the cramped building with care and consideration. It is also seen in their enthusiastic participation in the school's excellent garden project. Although older pupils make a satisfactory contribution to helping the school run smoothly, they are capable of accepting further responsibility. They enjoy being involved in local community events and national charity projects and make a good contribution to the wider community. Pupils are well prepared for secondary education, the world of work and for adulthood. The school council provides pupils with a voice in the running of the school and

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Grade: 2

they are, rightly, pleased to be involved in decision-making. The school ensures that pupils show good understanding and sensitivity to lifestyles in other cultures despite limited first hand contact with others from minority ethnic groups.

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Grade: 2

Throughout the school teaching is planned carefully so the learning needs of all pupils are met. Good relationships and positive attitudes to learning are evident in all classes. Staff manage behaviour well and encourage pupils to work hard and do their best. All teachers assess and mark pupils' work conscientiously and provide helpful guidance on where improvements are 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Great Hucklow Primary School, 19 °20 September 2007 needed. However, the school is aware pupils are sometimes provided with insufficient explanations of what counts as high standards in their work. While the school is attempting to improve this aspect of teaching, currently it limits pupils' ability to assess their own work accurately or to know how to improve it.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is broad, balanced and often interesting. In the last two terms the school has introduced a number of ways of extending more able pupils, who are, as a result, enjoying the challenge, making good progress and achieving well. The planning of the curriculum is also modified to meet the needs of pupils with learning difficulties. This helps them make good progress and achieve well. Provision for music and art is good and the range of sporting and physical activity on offer has increased substantially. Almost all pupils can swim and many enjoy the good range of extra curricular sporting opportunities. Excellent two-part singing was heard in school assembly and pupils are keen to learn and play instruments in the school orchestra. Year 3 to 6 pupils enjoy the annual residential school visit. The school make satisfactory use of information and communication technology to support learning in many subjects and this

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Grade: 2

aspect of learning is currently being improved with the generous support of parent helpers.

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Grade: 2

Good care, guidance and support facilitate pupils' learning and personal development well. Pastoral care is very good and pupils thrive in the school's very positive atmosphere. There are good arrangements for safeguarding pupils. Pupils say that incidents of bullying are rare and are dealt with quickly. The school has thorough and effective systems for monitoring each individual pupil's progress. Potential underachievement is identified early and effective additional support guides pupils to do their best. Over the last two terms pupils in Years 5 and 6 have been given learning targets in writing and these helped pupils achieve well in writing in 2007 assessments. There has been no system for setting learning targets in mathematics but one is currently being introduced in all classes.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management are good and the new staff team are working effectively so that pupils are achieving well. The staff team are also working well to raise standards further. The school works in close partnership with parents and helps many parents support their children's learning well. The school knows itself-well. It has well developed effective strategies for accurately judging its success and checking that all pupils are doing their best. Accurate monitoring and evaluation ensures that the school improvement plan focuses on the correct issues. All staff play an important part in improving the aspects of the school for which they are responsible and have a clear and accurate view concerning strengths and weaknesses in provision in their subjects. The school expertly manages its limited accommodation to ensure that any impact on learning is kept to a minimum. The governors of the school are closely

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Grade: 2

involved with the school and provide good first-hand support and monitoring for the work and development of the school. Although monitoring and evaluation are good overall, governors 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Great Hucklow Primary School, 19 °20 September 2007 and subject leaders show a limited understanding of how to use data to check that all pupils are making the best progress of which they are capable. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Great Hucklow Primary School, 19 °20 September 2007 .

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Grade: 2

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Great Hucklow Primary School, 19 °20 September 2007

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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 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 How well do learners achieve? 2 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 2 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 1 How well learners enjoy their education 1 The attendance of learners 1 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?

2 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: Great Hucklow Primary School, 19 °20 September 2007

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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 2 How effectively leaders and managers use challenging targets to raise standards 2 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: Great Hucklow Primary School, 19 °20 September 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

21 September 2007 Dear Children Inspection of Great Hucklow Primary School, Tideswell, SK17 8RG. Thank you for making me so welcome when I came to inspect your school. I am pleased that you enjoy school as thoroughly as you do and that your attendance is excellent. I greatly appreciated talking with you and your teachers. I think your school is a good school. It is well managed by your headteacher and the staff and is certainly giving you a good education. As your lessons are good and the school cares for you so well, you make good progress and achieve well. In lessons, you listen carefully and read well and it is heartening that many of your parents help you learn to read. You are being well prepared to make the best of secondary school and the future. You show good understanding of the importance of eating the right food and exercising regularly. Your behaviour is excellent, you know clearly right from wrong, show consideration for others and are friendly and helpful

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

to each other. The work you are given is often very interesting and school gives you a good range of additional opportunities to learn including clubs, and residential visits. I am not surprised that your parents and those who care for you think so highly of your school. There are two things that I have asked your school to work on to help make your school even better:

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Ensure that you all have targets that help you work on the aspects of your writing and mathematics that are most important for you and that you know what those targets are. ■ Ensure that governors and teachers who lead subjects check that you are progressing at least as quickly as pupils in other schools in the country. With very best wishes for the future, Mr Sadler Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Great Hucklow Primary School, 19 °20 September 2007

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