Hatch Warren Junior School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Hatch Warren Junior School

Following my visit to the school on 13 November 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings.

The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in January 2015. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

Since you started at the school, you have made your expectations for school improvement clear. You have built positive relationships with your staff, who share your motivation and ambitious aims. They are proud to be members of the sc...hool community.

You work closely with your deputy. Together, you have ensured that the school's self-evaluation is accurate, based on a rigorous programme of monitoring. Your improvement plan clearly identifies what is working well and what could be even better.

Governors have an accurate understanding of the school's strengths and areas for development. They play a strategic role in school improvement, providing senior leaders with a helpful balance of challenge and support. Pupils are happy in school.

They are polite and respectful towards each other and value the friendships they have. During learning time, pupils apply themselves positively. They are inspired by their curriculum and describe their learning as fun.

They spoke with much enthusiasm about the many exciting learning opportunities they have at school. These included the chance to camp on the school field in Year 4, to learn about the Egyptian mummification process and to take part in Forest School activities. Your school vision, 'Inspire, Believe, Persevere, Achieve', is embedded in the learning dispositions of your pupils.

One child was proud to tell me that 'it is okay to make mistakes, because that is how we learn'. Pupils spoke confidently about the need to persevere, even when faced with challenging tasks, because 'having a growth mind-set enables us to achieve'. Parents and carers are very positive about the school.

One parent with whom I spoke said that they 'couldn't recommend the school more highly'. Parents are very positive about the support that teachers provide for their children, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Most parents who completed Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, felt that their children are taught well at school.

The majority of parents would recommend the school to others. Leaders and governors have maintained the strengths identified during the previous inspection. One area of development was to improve the quality of writing in the school.

Pupils now have more opportunities to write across a range of subjects, linked to their year group topics. This has made writing more purposeful, which has stimulated pupils' interests. Pupils' spelling has also improved over time.

In 2018, more pupils achieved and exceeded the expectations for their age in grammar, punctuation and spelling, compared to other pupils nationally. However, you and your leaders rightly recognise that further development of writing, particularly for the most able pupils, should remain a school priority. At the time of the previous inspection, leaders were also asked to further improve the quality of teaching in the school.

Steps to address this have already started to impact on pupils' achievement, most significantly in reading and mathematics. As a result, for the past two years, a greater proportion of pupils attained the expected standard for their age in reading and mathematics compared with other pupils nationally. Safeguarding is effective.

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and thorough. The safety of pupils is at the forefront of everything you do at the school. You keep safeguarding under constant review and all staff and governors receive regular training.

This enables staff to make accurate decisions and quickly report any concerns that they may have. Policies and procedures are clear and well understood by all staff. Governors take their safeguarding responsibilities seriously and regularly check the school's systems for keeping pupils safe.

This includes regular checks on the school's procedures for vetting and recruitment of adults who work in the school. Pupils with whom I spoke said that they feel safe at school. They explained some of the ways in which the school teaches them to stay safe, for example through lessons about online safety and road safety.

They also spoke about assemblies that taught them about 'Childline' and how they can use this service to help them if they are worried about anything outside of school. Pupils feel confident to talk to adults in school. They say that teachers listen to them and are quick to sort out problems.

The vast majority of parents who completed the online questionnaire, Parent View, felt that their children are kept safe at school. Inspection findings ? During our initial meeting, we agreed on two lines of enquiry. The first of these focused on the achievement of disadvantaged pupils, the achievement of pupils with SEND, and the progress of the most able pupils.

• Leaders and governors make effective use of the school's pupil premium funding to ensure that disadvantaged pupils achieve well. Teachers plan carefully for the needs of disadvantaged pupils and deploy learning support assistants effectively. This enables pupils to discuss ideas and deepen their understanding, so that they achieve the targets set for them in their lessons.

School assessment information indicates that current disadvantaged pupils are making good progress. ? Teachers plan well for the needs of pupils with SEND. As a result, these pupils make good progress from their starting points.

Learning support assistants provide an effective balance of guidance and challenge, so that pupils develop their knowledge and skills independently. There is a wide range of high-quality interventions in place for pupils with SEND, which you monitor and review regularly. ? Some teachers do not always challenge the most able pupils sufficiently, particularly in writing.

During my visit, I observed learning and scrutinised a range of pupils' written work. Some pupils that I spoke to were not always clear about what they needed to do to make their writing better. In workbooks, the rates of progress and levels of challenge for the most able pupils were variable.

Your deputy has recently implemented training for teachers. However, it is too early for you to have fully evaluated the impact on pupils' progress. You are right to continue to monitor this.

• The second line of enquiry focused on pupils' progress in writing. You have recently made changes in English, most notably to improve the teaching of writing. Teachers now use high-quality texts, which are rich in language, vocabulary and complex grammar.

This has begun to support pupils with identifying ways in which they can improve their own writing. Spelling is becoming increasingly accurate, with more consistency in the use of punctuation to help clarify meaning than in the past. Most pupils are now making better progress than previously in writing.

However, you rightly recognise the need to continue this work, particularly for the most able pupils. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? the teaching of writing provides enough challenge for pupils, particularly for the most able, so that a higher proportion meet and exceed the expectations for their age. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Hampshire.

This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Luisa Gould Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection I met with you and your deputy headteacher. We discussed and agreed the key lines of enquiry for the inspection.

We discussed the school's assessment information about outcomes for current pupils, your plans for improvement and your evaluation of the school's effectiveness. Together, we observed learning in English in all classes. I evaluated a range of English workbooks.

I met with your special educational needs coordinator and a group of governors. I held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority. I considered 81 responses to Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, and took account of parents' free-text comments.

I analysed a range of school documentation, including policies and procedures, and minutes from governing body meetings. I met with your school business manager to review safer recruitment practices. I also checked other safeguarding documentation and procedures.

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