Hunnyhill Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils' positive attitudes to Hunnyhill reflect the motto of 'proud to belong'. They are keen to be a part of this inclusive school.

Staff successfully help pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to be involved in school life. One pupil commented that he was 'thankful to the school' for the support he receives.

From the start of pre-school, staff skilfully help children to learn how they are expected to behave.

Pupils have trusted adults in school to talk to and this helps them to feel safe. Bullying does sometimes happen, but staff are swift to resolve unkind behaviour. However, leaders do not always take timely action to ensure tha...t pupils get the support they need to be safe from harm.

Pupils enjoy opportunities to learn beyond the classroom. They like the different leadership roles, such as anti-bullying ambassador. Pupils take these roles seriously.

They value the range of clubs available, including gardening and computing.

Leaders are keen for pupils to be inspired to achieve. However, their ambition for pupils to learn well is not consistently realised across all lessons.

This means that pupils are not always supported to learn as well as they could, including when learning to read.

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

Leaders and staff ensure that children get off to a strong start in early years. From the start of pre-school, staff prioritise developing children's communication skills.

They model speaking correctly in sentences to help children learn a wide vocabulary. This enables children to become confident at speaking, which provides a firm foundation to build on as they continue through Reception. Staff adapt a sequenced curriculum to support children, which inspires them to learn.

Even the youngest children are supported to be independent, which prepares them well for learning further up the school.

Pupils are encouraged to love books and stories. Staff read a wide range of texts to pupils, which exposes them to stories they might not otherwise read.

Leaders carefully provide a selection of books to develop pupils' understanding of important concepts, including celebrating diversity.

The teaching of early reading needs further development. Leaders recently introduced a new phonics scheme, but new staff have not yet been trained to use it.

This means that they do not have the expert knowledge required to teach early reading. Consequently, the teaching of phonics is inconsistent. In addition, the support for weaker readers in phonics lessons is not always strong enough.

As a result, these pupils are not being helped to quickly develop the accuracy they need to learn to read fluently and with confidence. Leaders make sure that pupils read books that contain the sounds they have learned.

Curriculum thinking in other subjects, including in mathematics, is secure, but there is variability in how effectively staff use the shared planning and resources.

Some teachers use clear modelling, emphasise the most important content and give pupils time to revisit key knowledge and skills to build confidence and accuracy. This is not consistent. This means that, over time, pupils do not learn and remember the most important content as well as they could.

Leaders are developing assessment. Teachers check what pupils know and can do at the start of new units. However, they do not routinely use this information to inform future teaching.

This means that pupils are not consistently supported to address gaps in their learning. Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND are identified promptly. Staff provide effective support for these pupils by using different resources and carefully scaffolding learning.

Pupils usually behave well. From the start of pre-school, staff encourage warm and positive relationships which support pupils to settle quickly and learn the routines. Pupils are taught to identify and manage different emotions, which helps them to be respectful to others.

Leaders and staff successfully support pupils who have challenging behaviour. This means that pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs are helped to develop positive attitudes to learning.

Personal development is a priority for leaders.

Teachers support pupils to understand the school values, including respect and resilience. One pupil commented, 'The values help me understand how to be a better person.' Leaders recognise that the pandemic impacted pupils' social skills.

Staff teach pupils different playground games to help them develop positive and healthy relationships.

The governing body understand their responsibilities. They make visits to the school and meet subject leaders to check how well pupils are learning.

However, governors do not have a strong enough oversight of all aspects of safeguarding.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders ensure that staff receive high-quality training so they know what signs to be alert to that may indicate that children are at risk of harm.

Staff know how to report concerns.

Leaders do not always ensure that pupils get the timely support they need to keep them safe. They have not ensured that record-keeping is complete.

Records do not contain key documents or a clear timeline of events, including actions taken by the school. During the inspection, leaders and governors recognised these weaknesses and began to rectify them to ensure that pupils are kept safe from risk of harm.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders and governors have not ensured that safeguarding procedures are consistently followed.

This means that pupils do not always receive the timely support they need. Leaders and governors should make sure that they precisely follow the safeguarding procedures and ensure that record-keeping is comprehensive so that all pupils are kept safe from risk of harm. ? The teaching of reading is inconsistent, particularly for the weakest readers.

This means that pupils are not always learning to read as quickly as they could. Leaders should ensure that all staff are equipped with the expert knowledge to support all pupils, including those who need extra support and practice, to learn to read fluently and confidently. ? There is variability in teaching, including in mathematics.

This means that pupils do not always learn as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that staff check what pupils know and can do and use this information to inform their teaching to emphasise the most important content. They should make sure that teachers give pupils the opportunity to revisit key skills and knowledge to build confidence and accuracy.