Hipswell Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a caring and friendly school.

The school is in a British Army Garrison town. The school is made up of a large proportion of service children. Leaders are highly ambitious and acknowledge the fact that pupils may join or leave the school at different times due to the posting of parents.

Pupils settle quickly when they join the school. Leaders ensure that there is strong support for pupils' emotional well-being.

Pupils understand the school rules and know how they help them to stay safe.

Any incidents that do occur are dealt with swiftly. Pupils know how to stay safe online. Pupils are inclusive.

Diversity is welcomed and valued. Pupil...s value and respect each other. Pupils benefit from taking on responsibilities and helping others.

This includes the Hipswell Heroes Group, where pupils support others when a parent has been deployed or posted.

Leaders work to ensure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), access the same curriculum as their peers. Leaders are committed to the safeguarding of pupils.

As a result, pupils feel safe in school.

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

Leaders have recently designed a new curriculum. Leaders have ensured this is ambitious.

Mathematics and reading are well established. However, some subjects are in earlier stages of development. Subjects such as geography and history are well designed and sequenced, but systems to check pupils' knowledge and learning are not tightly linked to what the pupils are taught.

Leaders make adaptions to the curriculum to meet the needs of a transient population. This includes opportunities to revisit and reinforce knowledge and concepts. However, sometimes leaders do not check how well the intended curriculum is being delivered.

This means that leaders do not have a clear enough picture of what is working well and what could continue to improve. Staff adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils with SEND are identified early and continue to access the same curriculum as their peers.

Pupils learn to read well through a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics. The books that pupils use to learn to read are well matched to their phonic knowledge. Pupils enjoy reading.

Leaders and teachers check that pupils retain the phonic knowledge that they should. They provide extra support and time for pupils who find reading harder and need to catch up. While this support is often effective, the extra sessions provided do not always meet pupils' specific learning needs to help them catch up quickly.

The provision in early years is well designed to meet the learning needs of the children. Children get a good start to their education. Staff use questions and prompts skilfully to encourage children to explain their thinking.

While the learning activities support development, some routines are not fully embedded. Some children need adult support to engage with activities for a sustained period of time. As a result, learning is not always as effective as it could be.

Parents are involved and supportive. They attend various sessions, so they understand how the children can be supported at home. This includes stay-and-play sessions and phonics training events led by staff at the school.

Pupils behave well. They are polite and considerate towards each other and their teachers. The school is a calm and purposeful place to learn.

Pupils enjoy school. They say that bullying does happen, but it is rare. Pupils state that adults listen to them and sort out any concerns or worries they might have.

There are plenty of opportunities for pupils to develop their interests and talents. This includes tennis and bikeability after-school clubs. Pupils take on responsibilities and leadership roles.

These include the 'collective worship team' and 'reading ambassadors'. These roles make a positive difference to school life.

Leaders have personalised the curriculum for personal, social and health education.

This is informed by the learning needs related to the locality. Pupils are articulate when talking about different faiths, such as when sharing detailed knowledge on Humanism. Pupils are taught about fundamental British values.

However, their ability to clearly articulate this is still developing. Pupils know how to stay safe online.

Governance is a strength.

They have a clear understanding of the school's strengths and areas to improve. This helps them to provide effective support and challenge. They are committed to supporting leaders to improve the school.

Governors fulfil their statutory responsibilities. Leaders invest in staff. They ensure staff access appropriate training.

Staff comment that leaders 'support and invest' in them. As a result, staff are empowered and driven to improve the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and governors demonstrate a secure knowledge of how to keep pupils safe. This includes being safe online. Leaders ensure that the profile of safeguarding is consistently high.

Leaders encourage a culture of vigilance. Records kept are meticulous. Staff and governors receive regular and timely safeguarding training.

Leaders regularly check that expectations for recording and reporting are in line with expectations. Leaders show tenacity when working with outside agencies. This makes sure pupils get the help they need.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The processes that leaders use to check how well the intended curriculum is being delivered are not strong enough. This means that leaders do not have a clear picture of what is working well and what could continue to improve. Leaders should develop better ways to check how well the curriculum is being implemented in order to sustain ongoing improvement.

• In reading, some pupils who have fallen behind are not catching up as quickly as they could. The additional support programmes provided do not always meet pupils' specific and individual learning needs. Leaders should ensure that pupils' individual learning needs are clearly identified and that any additional support provided is adapted to reflect this, so that pupils catch up as quickly as they can.

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