Cramlington Hillcrest School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 30 November 2022

Pupils develop their emotional regulation and communication skills well through the school's curriculum. Staff work closely with parents and carers. They are ambitious for pupils to 'aim high' and to 'dream, believe and achieve'. Leaders have high aspirations for pupils. Staff care for pupils and treat them with respect. Relationships are positive. Staff make sure that pupils can access the curriculum. Classes are small. Staff know pupils well. There is a holistic approach. Teachers plan learning to meet pupils' individual education, health and care plan (EHC plan) requirements. Staff work closely with parents and external agencies to support pupils. Pupils feel safe in the school. Established routines help them to feel safe. Pupils know adults they can trust and go to when worried. Staff make sure that pupils can use suitable communication tools independently. Pupils can explain their needs to adults and use worry boxes or talk to 'worry monsters' when needed. Pupils' behaviour is generally good. Skilled staff know what to do to meet pupils' complex needs. Leaders make sure that therapeutic support is available to pupils to help them to manage and understand their behaviour. Most pupils think that staff sort out incidents of bullying or poor behaviour appropriately.

What the school should improve

• Staff have not been trained to use a consistent approach to the teaching of phonics. Leaders recognise that as a result, not all staff have the knowledge they need to provide effective support to pupils who are at the early stages of learning how to read. Leaders should ensure that all staff across all key stages are trained to teach phonics to a high standard.
• The key knowledge that pupils need to know and remember is outlined in curriculum planning. However, this knowledge is not always clearly represented in whole-school assessments. Subject leaders do not have an accurate picture of the precise knowledge that pupils acquire in their curriculum subject area. Senior leaders should ensure that assessments clearly identify the knowledge that pupils learn so that subject leaders have a good understanding of the progress pupils are making and teachers can use assessment data to plan pupils' next steps more effectively.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)