Harestock Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. Pupils' achievement is good. Rates of progress have improved since the previous inspection.

Almost all pupils across the school now make at least good progress. Over recent years, standards have risen across the school. Last year, pupils at the end of Year 6, particularly boys, had made outstanding progress throughout Key Stage 2 in mathematics.

Teaching over time is good and some is outstanding, particularly in reading. Since the previous inspection, closer tracking of pupils' attainment and progress has helped the school to make sure that gaps between pupils are closing. The school is a welcoming, friendly community where pupils and st...aff interact well and where other cultures are warmly celebrated.

Pupils feel very safe. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school, and this makes a strong contribution to their good learning. They have good opportunities to develop social and cultural skills which prepare them well for life after school.

Changes in the governing body have ensured that it now offers good support and challenge to the school, and holds senior leaders to account well. Senior leaders have worked successfully to address the dip in progress in English in Key Stage 2 for Year 6 pupils leaving the school in 2012. Pupils now make good progress in English in all year groups.

Strong support from the local authority has helped the school to improve the quality of teaching in English and mathematics. It is not yet an outstanding school because : Teachers do not always provide pupils with clear enough advice about how to move to the next level, or give them time to respond to advice, especially in writing. Work is not always at the right level of difficulty for pupils and the pace of learning in lessons is, occasionally, either too fast or too slow.

Some of the targets in the school's action plans are not always clear enough to show the impact on pupils' learning. Pupils who have a parent in the armed services, or who are known to be eligible for free school meals, make less progress than their peers.

Information about this school

Harestock is larger than the average-sized primary school and numbers have increased since the previous inspection.

It has both single-age and mixed-age classes. There has been a restructuring of the leadership team since the last inspection and a number of changes in teaching staff. The school serves a mobile community with a higher-than-average proportion of pupils entering and leaving the school at different times of the year and during their school life.

The large majority of pupils are of White British heritage. There are few pupils who speak English as an additional language. The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs who are supported through school action is above the national average.

The proportion supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is in line with the national average. The proportion of pupils supported through the pupil premium (additional funding for pupils eligible for free school meals, in the care of the local authority or with a parent in the armed services) is lower than the national average. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.