New Hartley First School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

New Hartley is a good school.

Pupils are very happy and thrive in a very friendly purposeful community. Children make an excellent start in the Early Years Foundation Stage. The quality of teaching here is outstanding and this enables children to make excellent progress.

Children are provided with rich learning experiences, so that by the time they start Year 1 their skills are well above those expected for their age. In Key Stages 1 and 2, good teaching builds on pupils' excellent start. Pupils' progress is good and by the time they leave Year 4, they are consistently attaining significantly above that expected for their age, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics.

Boys an...d girls make very similar amounts of progress even though girls usually attain slightly higher standards than boys. Lessons are characterised by the clarity of instructions and explanations, and work that is well matched to each pupil's ability. Teachers' marking of pupils' work in literacy and numeracy is excellent, but this high standard is not reflected in other subjects.

Pupils appreciate the wide range of clubs, visits and visitors, that enhance their learning and which contributes to the school's good curriculum. Teachers, however, miss too many opportunities to provide pupils with high-quality, exciting, relevant tasks within which they can apply their literacy, numeracy, and information and communication technology (ICT) skills across the curriculum. The good quality of care, guidance and support ensures that pupils feel safe, their attendance is high, and that they behave well and are very well looked after.

Pupils work and play together very harmoniously and have strong moral values. Their cultural development is less strong. The very effective headteacher has carefully led, managed and developed the staff and governing body teams so that the school is a harmonious and inclusive community in which every child and adult is valued.

All staff and members of the governing body are involved in the school's self-evaluation process, which has led to a clear and very accurate understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses. Leaders and teachers rigorously check pupils' performance. Where targets have not been met, decisive action is taken to remedy the situation.

Leaders do not, however, effectively evaluate the progress of different groups of pupils. This means that they do not have a detailed knowledge of how well different groups of pupils achieve. Parents and carers are very supportive of the school.

The staff work effectively to ensure that pupils are provided with equal opportunities to develop and progress as well as they can. The school promotes community cohesion well but does not effectively evaluate the impact of the school's work on pupils' attitudes. The rigour and clarity of the school's self-evaluation and the subsequent actions that have been put into place to make improvements, have ensured that the school has made good progress since the last inspection.

The school's plans for improvement, together with the determination and clear sense of purpose of staff and governors, ensure that the capacity for sustained improvement is good.

Information about the school

New Hartley is small for a first school. Most of the pupils are White British.

The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is average. The proportion of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The school has been awarded a number of national awards, including Financial Management in Schools Standard and Healthy schools.