Hady Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Hady Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 15 March 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings.

The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in February 2014. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

The school is led astutely and skilfully. The leaders and the staff reflect deeply on their work and look constantly for ways to make meaningful improvements at the school. Any changes that they make reflect detailed analyses of how well the p...upils are learning.

The pupils make good progress over the course of their time at the school. Their progress in writing by the end of key stage 2 is exceptionally strong. You lay good foundations for this in the early years, where the children also make good progress with their writing.

You responded to the recommendations from the previous inspection in a considered and systematic way. You have focused on introducing whole-school approaches to teaching and assessment, including in the early years. You have made important improvements to the learning environment in the early years, particularly the outdoor area, which have enriched the children's learning.

You have developed the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by looking at research and providing training and professional development opportunities for the staff. You have introduced an approach to teaching all subjects that emphasises ensuring that the pupils have understood fully the key learning, before they are moved on to the next piece of learning. This has been most effective in the teaching of writing, and in the early years and key stage 2, where you have focused your efforts, rather than in key stage 1.

You have revised and fine-tuned the school's policy and practice for assessing the pupils' work and for providing the pupils with guidance on their learning. I saw during this inspection that the school's policy is being used consistently and to good effect. The proportion of the children reaching a good level of development by the end of the early years has improved steadily since the last inspection.

It is typically broadly average. The proportion of disadvantaged children reaching that standard has improved substantially over the same time. You make suitable arrangements for children to transfer from the early years to Year 1.

You have identified, through careful monitoring and reflection on what happens at the school, that the children have not always been able to make the transition easily between the different curricula and styles of learning. This has contributed to a below-average proportion of the pupils reaching the expected levels in reading and writing by the end of key stage 1. The early indications are that changes that you have made have improved the pupils' transition into Year 1.

You have put in place staffing arrangements and ways of working that are enabling you to transfer the best teaching and assessment practice at the school within and between the different phases, in particular between Year 1 and the early years. Currently, the pupils in Year 1 are making better progress than the Year 1 pupils did last year. I saw many examples of very good writing produced by the pupils.

The pupils write often in detail and at length. Their writing is uniformly presented to a high standard. It shows great care and pride and demonstrates how successful the teachers have been in getting the pupils interested in writing.

The pupils have a good grasp of English grammar, spelling and punctuation. The teachers provide the pupils with meaningful guidance about and feedback on their work. The pupils get good opportunities to revise their work, to re-draft, to make corrections and to extend their skills.

They put those opportunities to good use. The teaching makes sure that the pupils have a good understanding of the concepts involved. The pupils put that learning to good effect, when writing.

Reading is promoted well throughout the school. The governing body has supported the leaders in improving the school's facilities and resources for reading. You have even jumped out of an aeroplane, to help to raise funds! The library is now an attractive resource for the pupils.

Some boys spoke to me with interest about the range of books available. Nevertheless, the boys do not make as much progress in reading as the girls. Safeguarding is effective.

The school has a strong culture of safeguarding. The systems for noting and acting upon any concerns are operated securely. The staff understand and are alert to their responsibilities.

They are able to draw on effective training and frequent updates to keep abreast of possible areas for concern and particular matters relevant to the pupils at the school. The school's nurture and well-being manager is highly active and influential in this aspect of the school's work. She epitomises the idea of constant vigilance that underpins the school's approach.

She is particularly effective in working with external agencies and with families, so that the pupils who need extra help get it. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. The governing body checks carefully on the school's work to safeguard the pupils.

The school records information about the pupils carefully, capturing potentially important information about the pupils in a way that enables the staff to watch for patterns or emerging issues. Inspection findings ? The school is, justifiably, regarded locally as a centre of good practice for the teaching of writing. ? The training and development of the staff has included opportunities for them to learn about assessing the pupils' writing and to test the accuracy of their judgements.

• The staff in the early years and the teachers in key stage 1 seize opportunities to get the children and the pupils to apply their knowledge of phonics in a range of activities and subjects. This contributes to the great majority of the pupils reaching the expected standard in phonics by the end of Year 2. ? The pupils who speak English as an additional language are supported well to learn alongside their peers in lessons, including in the early years.

• The improvements made to the teaching, learning and assessment in the early years and key stage 2 have not been implemented fully in key stage 1. The senior leaders have every intention of doing so, as part of a carefully considered approach to improving the school. ? The pupils do not make quite as much progress with writing in key stage 1 as they do in the early years and key stage 2.

• The pupils do not make as much progress in reading and mathematics as they do in writing. ? The senior leaders have analysed closely the factors that led to a dip in the pupils' progress in reading in key stage 2 in 2017. A small number of boys, in particular, made some small technical errors that resulted in them just missing out on reaching the expected level.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the best practice in the teaching of writing is secured in all key stages ? the teaching of subjects other than writing is as effective as it is for writing ? the boys are able to demonstrate fully their skills in reading as well as they are able to do in writing. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner, and the director of children's services for Derbyshire County Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Clive Moss Her Majesty's Inspector Information about the inspection The inspection focused on the transition from the early years to Year 1, the accuracy of the assessment of the pupils' writing, the teaching of mathematics, and the support for the pupils' reading. During the inspection, I held meetings with you, other senior staff at the school, the leaders for key stage 2 and mathematics, and for the early years, the designated leaders for safeguarding, and a teaching assistant. I discussed the work of the school with a representative of the local authority.

I spoke briefly with a parent. I met with members of the governing body. I made a series of visits to lessons, accompanied by you, visiting all classrooms.

I discussed the work of the school with pupils during lessons. I looked at examples of the pupils' work during lessons and reviewed examples of their workbooks. I looked at the views of parents and carers expressed using the Ofsted online survey Parent View and in the school's own surveys.

I looked at the results of the inspection surveys for the pupils and the staff. I scrutinised various documents, including safeguarding records, a range of policy documents, and records of governors' activities to monitor the school's work. I looked at letters and messages from other schools and agencies, commenting on the work of the school.