Hessle Mount School

Hessle Mount School Independent school inspection report

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DCSF registration number 811/6001 Unique reference number 118127 URN for registered EY245651 Inspection number 342468 Inspection dates 23-24 September 2009 Reporting inspector Christine Inkster HMI

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended.

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Age group: 3-8 Published: 14 October 2009 Reference no: 342468 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It rates council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 08456 404040, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way.

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Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA

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T: 08456 404040 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk No. 090070 Independent school inspection report

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Purpose and scope of the inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under Section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school. 1

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Information about the school

Hessle Mount School is situated in Hessle in the East Riding of Yorkshire, close to the city of Hull. It provides care and education for pupils aged three to eight years of age. There are currently 117 pupils on roll in the main school and 12 children in the pre-school setting. The school was established in 1979. The school was last inspected in January 2007. The last inspection for registered childcare was in April 2008. There are currently 36 children who are funded under the Nursery education scheme. There is an early morning school club from 8.00am to 8.30am and an after- school club until 5.30pm each evening. There is also a holiday club.

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Information about the school

The school aims to ensure that ‘all children feel happy, safe, needed and valued so that they can reach their full potential, developing skills, attitudes, practical abilities and knowledge plus the will to use them.’

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Evaluation of the school

Hessle Mount School provides a good quality of education and care for its pupils and meets its aims effectively, including in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Pupils make good progress because the quality of the curriculum, teaching and assessment are good. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is a strength of the school and is outstanding as a result of the commitment and high levels of care from staff. Pupils’ behaviour is excellent. The provision for the welfare, health and safety of pupils is outstanding; safeguarding arrangements are fully in place and meet requirements. The school has successfully addressed all of the issues identified at the last inspection and now meets all of the regulations for independent school registration.

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Quality of education

The curriculum is good in school and in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The school teaches all subjects of the National Curriculum; has a strong focus on developing pupils’ knowledge, skills and understanding in the core subjects and on using these skills effectively in other subjects across the curriculum. Since the last inspection, the school has ensured that there are effective long-term and medium-term plans in

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Quality of education

1 www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2002/ukpga_20020032_en_14#pt10-ch1-pb4-l1g162 Independent school inspection report place for each subject and that there is an overview of what will be covered in each year group to ensure continuity and progression for pupils. The mathematics scheme of work is now continued into Year 3. The provision for information and communication technology (ICT) is enhanced by the establishment of a well resourced ICT suite. An appropriate programme of personal, social, health and citizenship education (PSHCE) is provided through discrete lessons and also through other areas of the curriculum. Pupils enjoy good opportunities to participate in sport through physical education, swimming lessons and through the work of visiting coaches, for example, for tennis lessons. Pupils in Year 3 have the opportunity to learn French. The curriculum is enhanced through a range of visitors and occasional

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Quality of education

visits. The school prepares pupils well for the next stage in their education and ensures that they are successful in passing the entrance examinations for selective schools of their choice.

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Quality of education

The quality of teaching and assessment is good in school and in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Teachers have good subject knowledge and their questioning skills are effective in promoting children’s learning. Pupils are very keen to respond and they are well motivated to learn. There are excellent relationships between staff and pupils and this is a consistent feature throughout the school. Pupils are articulate and able to express their views and opinions with confidence. They are able to work well independently and make appropriate choices. Where teaching is good, lessons are conducted at a brisk pace and pupils are actively involved, enabling them to make good progress. However, in a very small minority of lessons, pupils make satisfactory progress because they are expected to listen for too long and become restless and disengaged in learning. On a few occasions the work is not closely matched to the abilities of each individual pupil and as a result not quite challenging

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Quality of education

enough for them. Teaching assistants support learning effectively for individuals and groups of pupils. There are plans in place for leaders and managers to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning on a more regular basis to ensure continued improvement but this has not yet been fully implemented.

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Quality of education

Assessment arrangements including those in the Early Years Foundation Stage are good. They have improved since the last inspection and a system to track pupils’ progress has been introduced. Assessments are carried out regularly and related to national assessments. As a result, teachers are able to quickly identify any pupils who may be underachieving and ensure that these individuals receive the support they need. Assessment arrangements in the Early Years Foundation Stage are good overall and are particularly detailed in the pre-school setting. These assessments and observations are used very effectively to inform future planning and establish specific learning targets for individuals.

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Quality of education

Pupils make good progress in relation to their capability and starting points both in school and in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Pupils achieve challenging targets by the end of Year 3 which ensure that they pass the entrance examinations to selective schools. Most pupils achieve levels above and often well above expectations for pupils of their age. Independent school inspection report

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils

The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is outstanding in school and in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The school has a very warm, welcoming ethos and pupils say they really appreciate this. As one pupil stated, ‘I think you will find this school is a very friendly place. This school is great. Everyone has a smile on their face here and we all feel really, really safe’. Pupils cooperate very well together and show exceptional care and consideration for each other. They have very positive attitudes to learning and this is demonstrated by their very good attendance. Their behaviour is excellent. Older pupils take their responsibilities as monitors very seriously and pupils offer support to others using their own initiative, for example, when one pupil instinctively assisted the inspector to turn to the correct page in the hymn book during assembly. Pupils’ spiritual development is promoted

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Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils

extremely well in assembly through opportunities for prayer and personal reflection. Pupils make a positive contribution to the community by, for example, sharing harvest gifts with local elderly residents and through fundraising activities for a variety of charities. Pupils are prepared very well for the next steps in their education because the school works hard to develop their confidence and self-esteem as well as ensure high levels of attainment. Pupils demonstrate maturity in the way they talk about the school and discuss their own ambitions. Pupils are aware of how public institutions and services work and visitors into school, such as the police and fire service, support this. Cultural development and racial harmony are very effectively promoted within the school and a range of different festivals are celebrated including Eid, Diwali and Chinese New Year.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

The provision for the welfare, health and safety of pupils is outstanding in school and in the Early Years Foundation Stage. All of the issues from the previous inspection have been fully addressed and improved upon as the school has ensured that all the appropriate policies and procedures are fully in place and updated against national recommendations. There are now an even greater number of adults trained in paediatric first aid and all staff have been trained in child protection. The school has a comprehensive development plan in place to ensure the continual improvement in respect of accessibility to the premises with regard to the Disability Discrimination Act 2002.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

Parents say they have full confidence in the school’s procedures for welfare, health and safety and pupils themselves confirm that they feel extremely safe. Supervision within the buildings, gardens and playground is of a high standard and pupils know they can ask teachers and other staff for help when needed. Pupils indicate that incidents of bullying are rare. If they do occur, pupils are confident that any issues will be dealt with promptly. A very high priority is placed on teaching pupils how to lead healthy lives and even the youngest children in the Early Years Foundation Independent school inspection report Stage have a remarkably good understanding of healthy eating and the need to take regular exercise.

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Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

There is good communication between the early morning and after-school clubs and school as the school staff run the clubs. This is very effective as pupils know staff well and there is continuity in care for pupils. A range of interesting activities are provided and pupils have access to healthy snacks and drinks. Levels of supervision are high and other qualified staff are readily available, should numbers of pupils attending increase, to ensure that there are appropriate ratios of staff to pupils.

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Suitability of the proprietor and staff

Effective safeguarding arrangements are in place that meet requirements in school and in the Early Years Foundation Stage. Checks with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) have been completed for those in regular contact with pupils and these are kept in a single central record.

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School’s premises and accommodation

The accommodation is fit for purpose and cleanliness and maintenance is of a high standard. The premises consist of a grand, imposing Grade 2 listed Georgian house with further demountable classrooms. The pre-school setting is housed in a converted modern bungalow. All stand in beautifully maintained park-like grounds with a good amount of separate car parking space, hard surfaced and grassed play areas and several gardens. The hall and classrooms are of a good size for the number of pupils. There is a separate ICT suite and a library area. Disabled access is adequate with further improvements clearly planned.

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Provision of information for parents, carers and others

The school provides parents, carers and others with a wide range of up-to-date information through the prospectus, website and regular informative newsletters. Each year group makes a valuable contribution to the newsletter, keeping parents informed of the topics covered and work celebrated. A small number of parents indicated that they would like more trips and educational visits to be arranged. The school is currently taking action to address this as the proprietor was aware of parents’ views expressed through the schools’ own questionnaire.

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Procedures for handling complaints

The school has a complaints policy and a set of procedures, which meet all of the regulations. Independent school inspection report

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Effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage

The overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage is good and some aspects are outstanding including the promotion of children’s welfare and their personal development. Children make good progress in all areas of learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage

The provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage is good. There is a good balance between teacher-led activities and those that children choose for themselves. There are meaningful and enjoyable learning opportunities both indoors and outdoors enabling children to make good progress. Teaching is good overall with some outstanding practice in the pre-school. Well established routines, excellent role modelling, and consistently high expectations of behaviour all contribute significantly to children’s good progress and feelings of safety and security. As a result, they are confident and independent learners and their behaviour is excellent. However, in a very small minority of lessons teaching is satisfactory as children are expected to listen for too long and become restless and disengaged in learning.

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Effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage

The leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation Stage are good and this has been instrumental in ensuring consistently good progress over a number of years. There is a clear understanding of the strengths of the provision and a commitment to continual improvement.

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Effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage

The promotion of children’s welfare is outstanding. Children have an excellent awareness of what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and a very good understanding of personal safety. Adults know children very well and have excellent relationships with them. As a result, children are confident in approaching any adult if they have a concern. Children’s personal, social and emotional development is outstanding as demonstrated by the way in which they settle in and enjoy every minute of their learning. Cultural development is very good and so children from a range of different backgrounds play and learn together in complete harmony.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

 The school meets all of the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003 as amended (‘the Regulations’).

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What the school could do to improve further

While not required by regulations, the school might wish to consider the following points for development:

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What the school could do to improve further

 improve the quality of teaching and assessment to that of the best by ensuring that tasks in all lessons are closely matched to the needs and abilities of every individual pupil so that work is consistently challenging for them Independent school inspection report  ensure that leaders and managers regularly monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching and assessment to promote continued improvement  share good practice in the Early Years Foundation Stage to ensure all teaching is consistently good or better. Independent school inspection report Inspection judgement recording form outstanding good satisfactory inadequate

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What the school could do to improve further

Overall quality of education √ How well the curriculum and other activities meet the range of needs and interests of pupils √

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What the school could do to improve further

How effective teaching and assessment are in meeting the full range of pupils’ needs √

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What the school could do to improve further

How well pupils make progress in their learning √

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What the school could do to improve further

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development

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What the school could do to improve further

Quality of provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development √

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What the school could do to improve further

The overall welfare, health and safety of pupils √

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What the school could do to improve further

The quality of the Early Years Foundation Stage provision How good are the outcomes for children in the EYFS? √ What is the quality of provision in the EYFS? √ How effectively is the EYFS led and managed? √ Overall effectiveness: how well does the school meet the needs of children in the EYFS? √ Independent school inspection report

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School details

Name of school Hessle Mount School DCSF number 811/6001 Unique reference number 118127 EY URN (for registered childcare only) EY245651 & EY350558 Type of school Primary School Status Independent Date school opened 30 April 1979 Age range of pupils 3-8 Gender of pupils Mixed Number on roll (full-time pupils) Boys: 65 Girls: 52 Total: 117 Number on roll (part-time pupils) Boys: 6 Girls: 6 Total: 12 Annual fees (day pupils) £4,500 Address of school Jenny Brough Lane Hessle HU13 0JZ Telephone number 01482 643371 Fax number 01482 643371 Email address info@hesslemountschool.org.uk Headteacher Mrs Jennifer Riddle Proprietor Mrs Carol Cutting Reporting inspector Christine Inkster HMI Dates of inspection 23-24 September 2009

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