Hamble Primary School

115901 Unique Reference Number Hampshire Local Authority 326288 Inspection number 27 November 2008 Inspection date Janet Sinclair Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Primary Type of school Community School category 4–11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 286 School (total) 0 Government funded early education provision for children aged 3 to the end of the EYFS 0 Childcare provision for children aged 0 to 3 years The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs Sandra Downes Chair Miss Margaret Jamieson Headteacher 5 October 2005 Date of previous school inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous funded early education inspection Not previously inspected Date of previous childcare inspection Hamble Lane School address Hamble Southampton SO31 4ND 02380 453298 Telephone number 02380 452167 Fax number

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4–11 Age group 27 November 2008 Inspection date 326288 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. 2 of 9 Inspection Report: Hamble Primary School, 27 November 2008

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors. The inspectors evaluated the overall effectiveness of the school and investigated the following issues: overall achievement; achievement in writing; the impact of leadership and management on achievement; the quality of personal development and care, guidance and support. Evidence was gathered from the school's self-evaluation form (SEF), national published assessment data and the school's own assessment records, tracking documents, observation of the school at work, interviews with staff, pupils and an analysis of parents' questionnaires. Other aspects of the school's work were not investigated in detail, but the inspectors found no evidence to suggest that the school's own assessments as given in the SEF were not justified and these have been included where appropriate in the report.

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Description of the school

Hamble Primary School is larger than average. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities is broadly average; however, their distribution across the school is uneven. Their difficulties are mainly specific and moderate learning difficulties. Most pupils are of White British heritage with a few from minority ethnic backgrounds. The school has been through a difficult time recently in terms of staff illness. The school has the Eco Schools Bronze, Tidy Schools Silver and Healthy Schools Awards, Activemark and Investors in People status.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 9 Inspection Report: Hamble Primary School, 27 November 2008

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Grade: 2

This is a good school. It has some outstanding features. The headteacher, with the support of all staff, ensures high-quality care for pupils through a thorough and sensitive approach to identifying and providing for their academic and pastoral needs. This, coupled with excellent curriculum enrichment opportunities, ensures pupils' enjoyment and commitment. As a result, pupils' personal development is outstanding. They thoroughly enjoy school and make an excellent contribution to the school and wider community. Pupils say that lessons are fun and interesting. As a result, they work hard and their attendance is good. Parents are mainly supportive of the school and appreciate the good quality care their children receive and the many extra-curricular activities provided. As one rightly stated, 'Hamble School provides a very caring environment for the children where they make good progress in their learning', and another commented, 'the school offers great after school activities such as

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Grade: 2

French and a running club, which my children thoroughly enjoy', summing up many of the positive comments made. Standards in the past have varied but were mainly average or above in reading, mathematics and science. Pupils across the school are now making good progress given their capabilities and starting points. Current Year 5 and Year 6 pupils are on course to gain above-average standards overall. Although progress in writing remains satisfactory. The school is working hard to improve writing through, for example, the 'Letters and Sounds' programme and booster groups at Key Stage 2, which are already proving successful in terms of accelerating progress. It is also obvious in pupils' increasing confidence as writers. The subject leader is providing teachers with further support through a clear identification of the next steps in pupils' learning, a strategy that has been successful in improving reading. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or

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Grade: 2

disabilities achieve well due to the early identification of their needs and effective help from well-qualified learning support assistants. Pupils' good progress is due to good teaching and thorough and regular assessments. Teaching is monitored regularly through lesson observations and work sampling. This has ensured good consistency both in teaching and in outcomes for pupils. For example, staff have ensured all pupils have targets for their learning that clearly help them to improve. This also increases pupils' involvement in their learning and helps them to improve their work. Regular assessments are used to ensure pupils of all abilities get the additional support they need, for example, an after school club for mathematics and booster groups. Very good relationships across the school enable pupils to feel confident and secure within their learning environment and fully able to take on new ideas. Teachers plan and organise lessons well and use questioning effectively to

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Grade: 2

challenge pupils and extend their knowledge. This was particularly noticeable in a mathematics lesson in a Year 5-6 class where good questioning helped pupils to explain the strategies they had used to solve number problems. Most lessons have a good pace and interesting activities, ensuring pupils enjoy their work. However, while marking in English is good, it is not so effective in mathematics. The school is aware of this and the subject leader is focusing on monitoring this. Although the curriculum is good with a variety of activities to engage pupils' interests, it is not planned well enough to fully meet the needs of all ability groups within the mixed-age classes, so they do not always make the progress of which they are capable. Pupils' outstanding personal development is evident in the pride they take in being school councillors and prefects. They do excellent work such as introducing games at playtimes and

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Grade: 2

4 of 9 Inspection Report: Hamble Primary School, 27 November 2008 supporting younger pupils. They are very safety-conscious. Some older pupils are trained Junior Road Safety officers and have enjoyed involving all pupils in designing road safety posters. Pupils are very clear about how to stay healthy, eagerly quoting, 'vegetables, salad, five-a-day, Healthy Eating week, exercise and sporting activities'. Pupils say they feel very safe in school as there is very little bullying and when it does occur it is dealt with quickly. They thoroughly enjoy the excellent range of extra-curricular activities and particularly mentioned French and chess clubs, visits to Fairthorne Manor, and Marwell Zoo and the Year 6 residential trip. All of these contribute very well to the pupils' strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. The headteacher and her deputy headteacher provide clear direction for the work of the school.

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Grade: 2

Enthusiastic and committed subject leaders have a good impact on the work of the school through effective initiatives to bring about further improvement. Self-evaluation is accurate and the school has a good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. The school improvement plan is a brief document, giving only a cursory overview of school development. However, it is supplemented by good subject action plans with clear success criteria, which enable the school to measure its effectiveness. Governors are fully supportive. Through their committees and involvement in the work of the school, they fully act as a critical friend. Good leadership and management at all levels have ensured the school has maintained, and improved, the good provision noted at the time of the last inspection, and indicates a good capacity for further improvement.

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Grade: 2

Children's attainment on entry is mainly below expectations for their age. They make good progress due to effective provision so that many achieve an average or above-average level of development by the end of the EYFS. The excellent induction children receive helps them to settle well and quickly become confident learners. Parents are happy about the good start their children receive in the Reception classes. The recent introduction of the, 'Linking Sounds and Letters' programme is helping children to make excellent progress in reading. However, there are missed opportunities to develop children's writing and this slows their progress. Teaching is good because staff work well together as a team to provide exciting and relevant learning activities to meet children's differing needs and interests. The welfare of children is promoted extremely well. The setting is well managed, equipped, safe and secure, enabling all children, including the most vulnerable, to thrive.

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What the school should do to improve further

■ Raise standards and achievement in writing by ensuring that the strategies in place are carefully monitored and that all staff focus rigorously on the next steps in pupils' learning. ■ Improve curricular planning for the mixed-age classes so that it caters more fully for the broad spread of abilities. 5 of 9 Inspection Report: Hamble Primary School, 27 November 2008 .

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What the school should do to improve further

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 of 9 Inspection Report: Hamble Primary School, 27 November 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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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 capacity to make any necessary improvements

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EYFS?

2 How well do children in the EYFS achieve? How good are the overall personal development and well-being of the children in the EYFS? 2 How effectively are children in the EYFS helped to learn and develop? 1 How effectively is the welfare of children in the EYFS promoted? 2 How effectively is provision in the EYFS led and managed?

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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/or disabilities make progress

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Achievement and standards

1 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. 7 of 9 Inspection Report: Hamble Primary School, 27 November 2008

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learners?

1 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 1 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 1 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners enjoy their education 2 The attendance of learners 2 The behaviour of learners 1 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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learners' needs?

How well do the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of learners? 1 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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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 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination eliminated 2 How well does the school contribute to community cohesion? 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? 8 of 9 Inspection Report: Hamble Primary School, 27 November 2008

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

09 December 2008 Dear Pupils Inspection of Hamble Primary School,Southampton,SO31 4ND I am writing to tell you how much we enjoyed our visit to your school. Thank you for being so very friendly and helping us with the inspection. We really enjoyed talking to the school council and pupils in Year 4 and Year 6. We were impressed with the contribution you make to the school community as school councillors, prefects and junior road safety officers as well as your enthusiasm for all school activities. Your parents think that Hamble is a good school and we agree. It also has some outstanding features. Here is a list of some other things we liked.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ You have a good headteacher, deputy headteacher, teachers and school staff who are dedicated to ensuring your school is a happy, safe place where you can work hard and do your best. ■ You make good progress in reading, mathematics and science because your teachers make lessons interesting and fun and monitor your progress very carefully. ■ You thoroughly enjoy school, especially the teaching, sports clubs, visits, and special events such as Healthy Eating week. ■ You are very well cared for and in turn are caring, kind and supportive of each other.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Every school has something it could do better, so this is what I have asked your school to do to help you learn even more.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

■ Help you to do better in writing by checking how well you are doing and clearly identifying the next steps in your learning. ■ Make sure that planned activities ensure you are all fully challenged in lessons.

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

With very best wishes. Yours sincerely Janet Sinclair Lead Inspector 9 of 9 Inspection Report: Hamble Primary School, 27 November 2008

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