Harting CofE Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a nurturing community where pupils flourish.

The school's values of 'love and respect' run through everything it does. Pupils are happy. Behaviour around school and in lessons is positive.

From the start of Reception Year, children benefit from caring relationships. This helps them to settle quickly, learn to share, listen to others and take turns. Pupils are confident that if they have any worries, there is always an adult in the school who will listen and help.

Any rare issues of unkindness are dealt with quickly and effectively.

Pupils achieve well across the curriculum. Recent changes to the curriculum mean the school's expectations... of what pupils will achieve are on the rise.

Disadvantaged pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are placed at the forefront of the school's ambition for all pupils to succeed.

The school provides pupils with a broad range of experiences. These include after-school clubs, sports competitions, and trips that enrich the curriculum.

In particular, all pupils in Years 5 and 6 thrive on the opportunity to learn a brass instrument and are all proudly part of the school's brass band. This has performed nationally and hosts an annual 'Proms in the Playground' event. This is an event enjoyed by the whole school community.

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

The school has designed a broad and ambitious curriculum which starts in the early years. This clearly defines the key knowledge that pupils should learn in each subject. The school has organised each subject so that knowledge is taught in a logical order.

This means that teachers know what to teach and when. Consequently, pupils successfully build knowledge over time and achieve well.

Teachers have good subject knowledge.

They present new information clearly and make good use of resources to help pupils understand new concepts. Typically, teachers check what pupils do and do not know, and they use this information to adapt teaching. However, the curriculum is new in some subjects, and sometimes staff do not deliver it as the school intends.

For example, occasionally, language is not modelled as precisely as it could be. Also, in mathematics, pupils do not regularly use reasoning in their learning.

The school has prioritised reading.

Its phonics programme is ambitious and well structured. Staff are well trained and have good subject knowledge. This enables them to deliver phonics with confidence.

Pupils practise reading from books that match the sounds that they know. Regular checks on what pupils know and remember are used to identify and support pupils at risk of falling behind. A well-thought-out reading curriculum ensures that pupils throughout the school are exposed to a high quality and diverse range of books.

This helps pupils grow a love of reading.

Pupils with SEND receive effective support. This work starts promptly in the early years.

They receive targeted help where needed, including in their lessons and individual intervention sessions. Staff are skilled at identifying pupils' educational needs and making necessary adaptations, which mean that pupils with SEND flourish and achieve well.

Behaviour is positive across the school.

Pupils know the rules well and understand why these are important. In lessons, they respond promptly to teachers' instructions and follow clear routines. Attendance is high.

Pupils enjoy coming to school. The school quickly supports families needing additional support to ensure regular school attendance.

The school's work to promote pupils' personal development is strong.

This work includes educational visits, residential trips, and after-school activities that pupils enjoy attending. Pupils speak fondly about learning outside, where they learn about local wildlife. They are enthusiastic about visits, including one to a local museum where they learned about life in a Victorian household.

The school's personal, social, health and economic education curriculum is delivered well and ensures pupils learn about essential topics such as bereavement, relationships and healthy eating. However, many pupils' understanding of different religions is limited, and not all pupils are developing an age-appropriate understanding of the fundamental British value of democracy. The school is alert to this and is ambitious about what it can do further to ensure that pupils are as well prepared for life in modern Britain as they can be.

The school is outward looking and makes effective use of external support. Governors support and challenge the school effectively. Staff, including those new to teaching, feel valued and are proud to work at the school.

They appreciate leaders' support for their workload and well-being, enabling them to focus on delivering the school's improved curriculum. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the education and care their children receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some aspects of the school's personal development offer have not yet been addressed by the school's recent improvement work. This means that pupils are not consistently building an understanding of different faiths and cultures over time. The school must ensure that its plans to further develop its personal development offer are implemented successfully so that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

• In some subjects, the curriculum is new and not always delivered as leaders intend. This means that there are occasions when learning is not as strong as it could be. The school must now work to ensure consistency in the quality of implementation to ensure pupils achieve as well as they can across the curriculum.