Hamsey Green PrimaryOfsted inspection, 6 Mar 2008

Hamsey Green Infant School Inspection report

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124943 Unique Reference Number Surrey Local Authority 315093 Inspection number 5 °6 March 2008 Inspection dates Janet Sinclair 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 4 °7 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 147 School The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Corinne Fernandes Chair Mrs Chris McClelland Headteacher 24 November 2003 Date of previous school inspection Tithepit Shaw Lane School address Warlingham CR6 9AP 01883 622 000 Telephone number 01883 622 773 Fax number

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4-7 Age group 5 °6 March 2008 Inspection dates 315093 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

Hamsey Green is a small infant school. Its pupils come from a wide range of backgrounds, the majority of whom face particular economic and social challenges. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties is well above the national average. The school has been awarded Healthy Schools status and the Basic Skills Quality Mark.

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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: Hamsey Green Infant School, 5 °6 March 2008

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Grade: 2

Hamsey Green is a good school where pupils are keen to learn and achieve well due to effective leadership and management, good teaching, and strong links with parents. The headteacher and all her staff have created a warm, friendly atmosphere where children feel well cared for and consequently are confident learners. The majority of parents express very positive views of the school and have great confidence in its provision for their children. As one commented, 'We are very happy with the school. It has a very positive, caring ethos and communication with parents is excellent.' The headteacher gives clear educational direction to the work of the school, effectively promoting personal development and good achievement for all pupils. She is well supported by her deputy, the governors and the whole staff team. One of the keys to the school's success is the way it is always looking for strategies to improve pupils' achievement and well-being.

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Grade: 2

This is seen clearly in its current involvement in the pilot, 'Letters and Sounds' programme. The school has made good progress since its last inspection and, with its strong commitment to continuing improvement, it has a good capacity to improve further. Provision in the Foundation Stage is good and children make good progress across the areas of learning. Most are working below the goals expected of them on entry to Year 1 due to their low attainment when they start school. Pupils reach broadly average standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 2. Progress is good. Pupils receiving additional literacy and social skills support in Key Stage 1 make good progress due to the well thought-through provision. Teaching is good. Teachers continually strive to improve provision for the pupils through effective joint planning, good management and interesting activities. As a result, pupils enjoy their work and behave well. A strength of the teaching is the effective

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Grade: 2

deployment of teaching assistants who work very enthusiastically with small groups and individuals to support their learning. Pupils' personal development and well-being are good. Pupils are happy to come to school and develop well as confident, thoughtful learners. They take on responsibilities willingly and are particularly committed to recycling and the responsibility of being buddies at playtimes. Although pupils thoroughly enjoy what the school has to offer, attendance is broadly average. The school works hard to improve attendance through a variety of motivational strategies. There is detailed curricular planning, which fully ensures good coverage and continuity in pupils' learning. However, an overuse of worksheets in the foundation subjects, limits the development of pupils' creative and organisational skills. Enrichment is good. Pupils enjoy the many visits, visitors and after school clubs which the school provides. Good procedures for pupils' welfare,

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Grade: 2

health and safety ensure they feel safe and confident of adult support if needed. Pupils with learning difficulties are well supported by teaching assistants, the special educational needs coordinator and through a variety of effective intervention programmes. Monitoring of pupils' progress is good, but the new individual and group targets are not always well matched to their learning needs, thus limiting their effectiveness.

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Grade: 2

Children get off to a good start in the Foundation Stage because staff work very well as a team and have created a rich and stimulating environment for them. They are well cared for and 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Hamsey Green Infant School, 5 °6 March 2008 relationships at all levels are good. Frequent teacher assessments ensure that work is well targeted at children's needs enabling them to make good progress across the areas of learning. Staff work hard to improve children's literacy skills, which overall are at a low level on entry. Their involvement in the 'Letters and Sounds' programme to improve literacy skills further is already showing very positive results.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Ensure that the curricular targets set for individuals and groups are sufficiently well matched to their learning needs so that their usefulness is maximised. ■ Reduce the number of worksheets used in teaching aspects of the curriculum so that pupils can better develop their own creative and presentation skills.

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Grade: 2

Children start school with skills and abilities that are well below average overall. They make good progress across the areas of learning. However, while some exceed the Early Learning Goals on entry to Year 1, many do not meet them. Over time standards in Year 2 have been average or slightly above. However, the overall trend has been towards average and this has been due to the high number of pupils with significant learning and behavioural difficulties in each year group. In 2007, all pupils made good progress. This continues for pupils currently in Year 2, although standards remain broadly average. Writing, which has been a weakness, is improving due to the school's efforts. Pupils enjoy writing and get good opportunities to write for a range of purposes such as in their work on journeys in Year 1.

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Grade: 2

Pupils' good personal development is clearly shown in their good behaviour, positive attitudes and enjoyment of school. Only very occasionally does this lapse when activities do not fully engage them. Attendance is satisfactory and pupils are happy to come to school. They say that they feel safe in school because any unkindness is dealt with quickly and there is always someone they can go to should they have any worries. They enjoy being 'buddies' at break-times and are pleased that, 'everyone is kind and friendly'. Pupils' spiritual moral, social and cultural development is good. They work well together and are kind and helpful. They know right from wrong, enjoy being involved in making class rules, and learn to respect each other's views through circle time. Events such as Chinese New Year and visits from an African Dancer and storyteller enhance their knowledge of other cultures. They have a good understanding of

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Grade: 2

healthy lifestyles and enjoy their daily fruit and vegetable as well as physical activities, swimming and after school clubs such as football and dance. Good links with the community are forged through fund raising, the efforts of the school council and involvement in recycling. Pupils' satisfactory literacy and numeracy skills ensure sound preparation for their economic well-being.

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Grade: 2

Teaching is effective because teachers plan lessons carefully, have good relationships with pupils and match work well to their needs. Consequently, pupils enjoy lessons and are keen 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Hamsey Green Infant School, 5 °6 March 2008 and motivated to learn. Teachers are working hard to improve pupils' writing skills, which have been a focus of school improvement, and this is noticeable in the amount of written work produced by pupils and the increased emphasis on punctuation in lessons. Teaching assistants are fully involved in pupils' learning and support teaching very well. They fulfil an important role in ensuring that pupils with behaviour and learning difficulties can participate fully in lessons. Challenging questioning and interesting activities are often seen in lessons but just occasionally, these are less effective, which slows progress. Marking is generally used well to

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Grade: 2

praise pupils' efforts but is less effective in guiding them on improvement.

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Grade: 2

The curriculum is good overall for all pupils. It provides well for the development of pupils' literacy, numeracy and information, communication and technology skills. An added benefit is the opportunity for swimming that all pupils get. The school is currently working on providing a more creative curriculum and refining cross-curricular links. In some foundation subjects, however, the over-use of worksheets, sometimes with low-level tasks, stifles pupils' creativity and limits the development of their skills in setting out their work. Pupils' personal development is promoted well through good attention to health and safety. The school has Healthy Schools status and there are regular exercises at lunchtime. Through personal, social and health education lessons, pupils discuss safety issues such as the Firework code. A good range of after school clubs, visits and visitors enrich the curriculum. These are very popular with pupils who say that

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Grade: 2

they enjoy football and dance as well as visits to places such as the War Museum and Arundel Castle.

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Grade: 2

The school has worked hard and successfully to ensure all pupils feel safe and well cared for. Pupils with speech and language, emotional or moderate learning difficulties are identified at an early stage and are well supported. The school works effectively with parents and outside agencies to ensure their needs are fully met. Particularly good aspects of the provision are the social skills programme, which helps pupils with emotional and behavioural problems to integrate better and the arrangements for transfer to the junior school ensuring effective support for pupils with emotional and confidence issues. The school ensures very thorough induction procedures for children starting in the Foundation Stage, which enables them to settle really well. Parents fully appreciate the good induction. Policies and procedures to safeguard pupils and ensure their well-being, health and safety are robust. Staff regularly assess pupils' work and use this information to monitor progress and when

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Grade: 2

planning lessons. The school effectively tracks pupils' progress over time and uses this information to set realistic targets. All pupils have individual and group targets, but they are not all clear about their content, which limits their effectiveness.

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Grade: 2

Leadership and management at all levels are effective, ensuring good provision. Self-evaluation is good. The school has a clear idea of its strengths and weaknesses and through the detailed 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Hamsey Green Infant School, 5 °6 March 2008 school development plan focuses well on the main areas for improvement. However, specified outcomes are not always precise enough making it difficult to accurately measure the success of some initiatives. Subject leaders have clearly defined roles and responsibilities in terms of improvement planning for their subjects and monitor their subjects through observations of teaching, analysis of data and work sampling. They are always looking at ways to bring about improvement and this is obvious in the overall improvements taking place in writing. However, they have not been so successful in reducing the volume of worksheets in use. There is regular and effective monitoring

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Grade: 2

of teaching and learning though a variety of means such as classroom observation, work sampling and planning ensuring that good teaching is maintained. There are very good links with parents who are strongly supportive of the school and hold it in high regard. Governors have a good understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses and successfully act as 'critical friends'. They are enthusiastic, fully committed and very supportive of the school. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Hamsey Green Infant School, 5 °6 March 2008 .

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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: Hamsey Green Infant School, 5 °6 March 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 2 The capacity to make any necessary improvements

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Achievement and standards

2 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 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 2 How well learners enjoy their education 3 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?

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: Hamsey Green Infant School, 5 °6 March 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 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: Hamsey Green Infant School, 5 °6 March 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

18 March 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Hamsey Green Infant School,Warlingham,CR6 9AP I am writing to thank you for being so friendly and helping me with the inspection. I enjoyed talking to you and was pleased to learn how much you enjoy school and the work that you do. We agree with your parents that Hamsey Green is a good school. Here are the things we like about your school.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You get a good start to school in Reception.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You make good progress because the teaching you get is good.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Your headteacher and all the staff of your school are looking after you very well.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You enjoy school, especially all the extra activities you have.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You are well cared for and in turn are kind and helpful to each other.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

These are the things we have asked your school to work on.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Ensure that you know exactly what your targets mean so that they will help you to improve quickly and that you are all working hard to achieve them. ■ In some subjects, you are using a lot of worksheets and while some of these are helpful, you are not always getting enough opportunities to use your own ideas. I wish you all the best for your future success. Yours sincerely Janet Sinclair Lead Inspector 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Hamsey Green Infant School, 5 °6 March 2008

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