Hazel Slade Primary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school. Leadership and management are good, teachers' performance is managed well and the pace of improvement is gathering momentum.

Taking their lead from the very clear direction set by the headteacher, all leaders and managers are now fulfilling their roles well. Governance is much improved. The governing body keeps a very close check on how well pupils are doing.

It challenges the school robustly to improve teaching so that pupils can do even better. The quality of teaching is good. Consequently, pupils make good progress and achieve well over time.

Reception children are prepared well for their work in Year 1 because provision in t...he Early Years Foundation Stage is good. Pupils are proud to be at this school and they value it highly. They report that the school is a very safe place where they are looked after well.

Their parents agree. Behaviour is good in lessons and around the school. Pupils very much enjoy learning.

They are enthusiastic learners who want to do well. The school does much to promote pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Thus, pupils are reflective and caring, accepting of others and eager to take on responsibility.

It is not yet an outstanding school because : There is not enough outstanding teaching to help pupils make even more rapid progress over time. Writing skills are not marked as well in other subjects as they are in literacy. The assessment of pupils' learning in subjects other than English and mathematics is underdeveloped.

Statements about how the school will measure progress towards its stated priorities are not sufficiently linked to raising pupils' achievement.

Information about this school

The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. It provides full time education for Reception-aged children in the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Eleven per cent of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs are supported at school action, and nine-and-a-half percent of pupils are supported at school action plus or have a statement of special educational needs. Both proportions are above the national averages. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils eligible for the pupil premium funding is above average.

This funding is for children in local authority care and those previously known to be eligible for free school meals. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds, including those who speak English as an additional language, is below average. The school meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils' attainment and progress.

A private nursery, which also offers before and after school clubs two days a week, operates on the school site. It is inspected separately. In October this year, the school started its own daily breakfast club.