Hague Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Hague Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy here and love coming to school. They are polite and display positive attitudes to their learning.

Pupils listen well and show respect for the views of others.

The curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. Meeting their teachers' high expectations is important to pupils and they achieve well.

This includes those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). One pupil summed up the culture of aspiration by saying: 'Our school encourages us to believe in ourselves to achieve our dreams and goals.'

Pupils aim to follow the school's 'f...ive star' values of collaboration, creativity, communication, responsibility and achievement.

Pupils behave sensibly. Classrooms are places where pupils stay focused on learning. In the playground, pupils play together nicely.

They said that bullying and name calling is rare. If it happens, it is dealt with quickly by staff.

Teachers plan a wide range of trips to museums, galleries and other places of interest.

Pupils also enjoy after-school activities including sports, arts and cycling proficiency. Close links with a local county cricket board mean that pupils get to meet famous cricket ambassadors and go on visits to the cricket grounds at Lords and The Oval. Pupils also enjoy cricket coaching, and some have even played cricket in Downing Street.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have developed and refined a curriculum that is exciting and challenging for all pupils. Staff teach lessons in a clear sequence in order to build on pupils' previous learning. They make sure that pupils learn and understand key vocabulary.

They also encourage pupils to be curious and ask questions about the subject content being taught. Across a range of subjects, pupils secure their understanding well and remember key ideas.

Leaders ensure that teachers have the right training to develop strong subject knowledge.

Teachers are skilful in the way that they support pupils to think about and retain their learning. Teachers check pupils' understanding before moving on to new subject content. Gaps in knowledge are identified and pupils receive additional support with any areas that they are struggling with.

This helps pupils to be confident when learning something new.

Children begin learning how to read as soon as they enter school. The well-planned phonics programme underpins this work.

Staff deliver this programme well. They make sure that pupils read books that match the phonics sounds that they are being taught. Very quickly, pupils develop into fluent and confident readers.

However, the curriculum is not as effective in developing pupils' knowledge of how to spell and write words with increasing accuracy. This holds pupils back from composing and recording their own ideas in writing as they progress through the English curriculum.

Children in Nursery and Reception are surrounded by much loved books and enjoy retelling traditional tales.

Teachers read to pupils every day. Pupils learn to question the meaning of the text that they are reading.

Regular practice of essential ideas is built into leaders' curriculum design from the early years up.

This approach enables pupils to recall knowledge with fluency. In mathematics, for example, Nursery and Reception children get lots of opportunities to count, recognise numbers and identify shapes. In Years 1 and 2, pupils build on this further by frequently practising and applying their knowledge of number facts.

By the time they reach Year 3, pupils confidently use what they know to reason mathematically and to solve problems. Extra support, for example one-to-one tutoring, is put in place for pupils who need it.

In other subjects too, staff plan learning so that pupils remember important knowledge and are curious to find out more.

In history, for example, pupils know about the causes of significant events and their impact. They are skilfully supported to pose their own historical questions, for instance how and why things have changed, including in the local area.

Leaders ensure that all pupils with SEND can access the full curriculum.

This includes the pupils who attend the resourced provision. Staff are supported to identify and cater for pupils' learning needs quickly.

All pupils are offered a broad range of opportunities to support their wider development.

For example, they go on residential visits to the countryside which aim to build confidence and independence. Pupils take part in regular assemblies to celebrate the different faiths and cultures in the local community. They are taught about democracy and are proud if they are chosen to represent their class on the school council.

Pupils' attitudes to learning are positive. This helps to make sure that lessons are taught without disruption.

Governors offer strong support to school leaders.

Governors and school leaders are considerate of staff workload. Staff said that they feel valued and supported.

Parents and carers are very positive about the school and the leadership team.

They like how warm and welcoming staff are to all.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff are well trained to identify and respond to pupils who may be at risk.

They are vigilant and all concerns are acted on promptly. Leaders work closely with the local authority to ensure that all pupils are kept safe.

Staff know their families well and early help is offered to vulnerable families.

Staff work with outside agencies to raise awareness of the risks in the wider community.

Pupils said that they feel safe in school. They learn about online safety and positive relationships through a well-planned curriculum.

Pupils know that they can talk to a trusted adult in school if they feel worried or unsafe.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The English curriculum, including the approach to early reading, enables pupils to become fluent and enthusiastic readers. However, it does not provide as strong a foundation in writing.

This reduces how confidently and accurately pupils record their own ideas. Leaders need to refine the curriculum further to ensure all aspects of pupils' learning in English are equally well supported.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2012.