Ofsted Report

Harlow Green Community Primary School was last inspected in February 2023 by means of a fully graded inspection. The outcome was that the school was judged to be ‘Good’. Please read the full report by clicking on the link below.

Harlow Green Community Primary School_Ofsted Report_February 2023

Why does Ofsted inspect schools?

Ofsted inspect schools to provide information to parents, to promote improvement and to hold schools to account for the public money they receive. School inspections are required by law. They provide an independent assessment of the quality and standards of education in schools, and check whether pupils are achieving as much as they can.

Who inspects schools?

Her Majesty’s Inspectors and Ofsted Inspectors (who, in most cases, are serving school leaders who inspect for Ofsted for an agreed number of days each year) carry out the inspections. All inspectors have been trained to, and assessed against, Ofsted’s standards.

What was the inspection framework like in 2023?

In the previous framework in which the school was inspected under, inspectors would make separate graded judgements on the following areas using the four-point scale:

The quality of education
Behaviour and attitudes
Personal development
Leadership and management
Early Years Provision

This was then be drawn into an overarching grade for Overall Effectiveness.

Inspectors used the following four-point scale to make all judgements:

grade 1 (outstanding)
grade 2 (good)
grade 3 (requires improvement)
grade 4 (inadequate)

School inspections_A guide for parents

What will happen when the school is inspected next time?

The framework for inspection has changed again in 2026 with a new system that is not comparable with the previous framework.

New Ofsted grading system

The main change compared to the previous framework is that inspectors will no longer give one overall judgement, such as ‘good’, ‘outstanding’ or ‘requires improvement’.

Instead, the report cards show colour-coded grades for different areas – the aspects of education that matter most to you, like ‘attendance and behaviour’, ‘achievement’, ‘personal development and well-being’, and ‘inclusion’ (meaning how well the school or other provider meets the needs of all children).

Schools are graded in these areas on a new scale:

‘exceptional’
‘strong standard’
‘expected standard’
‘needs attention’
‘urgent improvement’

An inspection report will also indicate whether safeguarding responsibilities are ‘met’ or ‘not met’.

It is important to understand that the new grades cannot be compared to the old ones: this is a different approach to inspection and a new way of reporting to parents/carers.

For further information please click on the link below to access the Government’s guidance.

Understanding Ofsted report cards and grades - GOV.UK

When looking at school Ofsted reports, should I worry of a school as an area which ‘needs attention’?

At any point in time, all schools will have some practice that is exceptional, at a strong or secure standard, or is developing and is an area for attention.

Every school is attempting to improve and never attempts to sit on its current successes. To this end, long term and short-term strategic improvement planning is in place which is in reaction to a school’s self-evaluation. Consequently, schools have already identified areas that need attention.

It is possible that an inspection team will agree with these areas and record them as such on the inspection report card. The colour coding of amber may make this feel more of a concern for parents/carers but this should not be the case.

What is the school’s approach to inspection?

As a school which aims to improve provision to benefit the experience and outcomes for all children, we regularly look to evaluate ourselves in various ways, including:

Evaluation from the Local Authority
Working alongside other schools
Working within national projects
Researching best practice
Listening to the voice of our community

Ofsted inspections are a statutory process which will evaluate a school over a short period – usually two days – every three to four years. Although this is an important process for schools to consider, it is not a focus for our work.

At Harlow Green, we believe that we need to understand the national and local requirements in conjunction with what we feel is the best way forward to develop provision that improves children’s outcomes, both personally and academically.

If we work hard in all that we do, and are honest in our evaluation processes, then any external evaluation will identify our strong practice and agree with the journey we are on, including areas we are developing.

How should I use an inspection report to consider how good a school is?

It is important to understand the provision of a school when considering whether it meets the expectations of parents/carers for what they want for their child’s educational experience. An inspection report can be helpful in giving families a view from other educationalists who have visited the school at a particular point.

Parents/carers should also look to form a well-rounded view of a school by considering other information such as:

The experience and views of your child (if already attending school)
The views of families whose children have been pupils of the school
Visiting a school and speaking with school leaders
Pupil outcomes
Key school information available on its website (vision, curriculum, policies)

When families are shown around Harlow Green by the Head teacher, the message is always about how parents/carers should do as much research as possible to find a school which matches the a family’s vision and ethos – of course we always hope this is our school!