William Harding pupils celebrate their Ofsted triumph

William Harding School has passed its Ofsted report with flying colours, going from requiring improvement to being rated good in all examined departments.

The Ofsted report said: “The headteacher, senior leaders and governers have radically improved the school. They have acted to resolve successfully the issues identified at the previous inspection.”

“Pupils now make good progress in all year groups because of good quality teaching and accurate assessment."

Pupils behave well and the school’s work to promote their personal development is good. The majority of pupils join the school with knowledge and skills which are mostly typical for their age.

“They make good progress because communication, literacy, mathematics and phonics skills are effectively taught. As a result, a higher proportion than found nationally reach a good level of development. Children are well prepared for their learning in Year 1.

The report says leaders and governers have worked effectively to put in place the required improvements to enable the school to be good. The issues identified in previous inspection have all been resolved, as the headteacher Dominic Hughes has ensured that the quality of the teaching has greatly improved over the past couple of years.

The curriculum has had a positive impact on pupils’ personal as well as academic development. Pupils’ spiritual,moral, social and cultural skills are carefully developed. William Harding school is much larger than the average-sized primary school.

At the time of the inspection there are four classes in the reception year and year 1 and thee classes in each of the other year groups. The school is currently undergoing an extensive building programme and this will result in four classes in each year group.

Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes. There were 28 lessons and part lessons visited, many of which were observed jointly with senior leaders.