Hilldene Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe here. They enjoy being part of the Hilldene community. Pupils know they can share any worries they may have with a member of staff.

Pupils are polite and welcoming to each other and to visitors. They make a positive contribution to the school. For example, many pupils volunteer for leadership roles such as house captain, school council representative and junior travel ambassador.

Pupils take part in activities to support the well-being of the local community, including singing at a care home. Pupils fundraise for local charities, for example by creating and selling a recipe book. A wide range of activities, such as guitar and a social enterpr...ise club, encourage pupils to develop a variety of interests.

Pupils appreciate these opportunities.

Leaders have designed a broad and balanced curriculum. The school has high expectations for pupils' achievement.

Pupils enjoy their lessons and behave well. However, the planned curriculum, including for early reading, is not consistently well implemented. This means that pupils do not build sufficiently deep bodies of knowledge in different subjects, including in areas of learning in the early years.

As a result, some pupils do not achieve highly in national assessments and are less well prepared than they need to be for the next stage of their education.

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

The school has ensured the curriculum, including in early years, matches the scope of what is expected nationally. All pupils access a broad range of subjects.

Leaders have identified the important ideas that pupils need to learn and remember. In science, for example, the curriculum includes many opportunities for pupils to develop their understanding of how to think like a scientist, including when learning about the spread of germs. However, across different subjects, the activities pupils complete do not consistently help them learn the important knowledge outlined in the school's ambitious curriculum.

In these instances, pupils do not develop a secure understanding of the subjects they study. They struggle to apply their learning to more complex concepts. Pupils are not as well prepared for the next stage of their education as they should be.

Assessment is not used effectively to check what pupils have learned and remembered. As a result, the school does not routinely identify where pupils have not secured the basic knowledge they need to move their learning on. This leads to misconceptions and gaps in their understanding, which persist over time.

Overall, the inconsistent implementation of the planned curriculum does not sufficiently support pupils to achieve well.

Reading is prioritised throughout the school from the early years. Staff have high expectations for pupils and encourage them to read widely and often.

For example, all pupils regularly visit the local library. Parents are encouraged to play a key role in supporting their child's reading with regular parent workshops and 'read together' mornings. Many pupils enjoy reading at home.

Pupils read books that are appropriately matched to the sounds they have learned. However, the agreed phonics programme is not implemented with consistent precision. For example, in some instances, the modelling of pronunciation is inaccurate.

Staff check the progress pupils are making and identify those who are falling behind. However, some pupils who need more help with their reading do not get sufficient opportunities to practise the sounds they are learning. This limits these pupils' progress through the phonics curriculum and their readiness to read more complex texts.

Similarly, in the early years, children do not have sufficient opportunities to rehearse and extend their vocabulary. As a result, this limits some children's spoken language and readiness to begin learning to read and write.

The school quickly identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Staff work closely with wider agencies to secure personalised support for these pupils. They understand well how to adapt their practice to help pupils with SEND access the curriculum.

The school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour and attendance.

Leaders intervene when a pupil's attendance begins to fall, ensuring tailored support is put in place. Pupils understand how to behave well and typically do so around the large school site. The school uses a range of personalised help for those pupils who need extra support with their behaviour, including targeted and regular check-ins with pastoral staff.

The personal, social, health and economic education curriculum is designed to help pupils learn about staying mentally and physically healthy. For example, pupils learn how to keep themselves safe when online. All pupils enjoy regular outings, including to the Houses of Parliament and a Roman castle.

Staff are proud to work here. They feel that leaders are caring and consider their workload. Knowledgeable governors understand their role in maintaining effective oversight of the school, including safeguarding.

However, checks on the implementation and impact of the curriculum have not been sufficiently robust. As a result, leaders' priorities for development have not been focused sharply on addressing the most significant areas for improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• There are inconsistencies in the implementation of the phonics curriculum and the support for weaker readers. As a result, some pupils do not develop the accuracy and fluency of their reading quickly enough. The school should ensure that the chosen phonics programme is implemented with consistent precision, including those at the earliest stages of learning to read.

• In some subjects, and areas of learning in the early years, teaching does not consistently focus on helping pupils to secure the important knowledge and vocabulary that the curriculum outlines. As a result, pupils do not develop the depth of understanding they need to be ready for the next stage of their education. The school should ensure that pupils benefit from teaching which helps them to learn the important knowledge that the school's ambitious curriculum identifies.

• Assessment, including in early years, is not well used to check what pupils know and understand. As a result, the school does not have the information it needs to evaluate the impact of the curriculum. The school should ensure that assessment is used to provide an accurate picture of the impact of the curriculum so that areas for improvement can be identified and addressed.

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