Fairholme Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The headteacher and leadership team have high aspirations for the school.

These are shared by staff and pupils. Senior leaders analyse what is going well and what needs to be better. They have suitable improvement plans in place.

The governing body supports and challenges school leaders effectively. Governors have a clear understanding of issues, and are determined to see that the school improves. Children in the early years are well cared for.

They settle quickly and happily in the Nursery and Reception classes, and make good progress. Pupils understand the school's ethos of respect, honesty, responsibility, kindness, self-belie...f and aspiration. They are proud of the school, and their good behaviour reflects this.

Leaders check teaching regularly. Good teaching ensures that pupils make good progress, particularly in reading and writing. Attendance has improved, and is now in line with the national average.

Physical education (PE) and sport make an exceptionally strong contribution to the school. Pupils are keen to talk about how taking part helps them to learn life skills, such as resilience and teamwork. It also helps them to stay fit and healthy.

Pupils are well cared for, and a culture of safeguarding permeates the school. Systems and procedures are robust. Parents are positive, and say that their children are happy and cared for at school.

Most would recommend it to others. The early years indoor and outdoor areas are not exploited as fully as they could be to help children develop skills in key areas of communication, literacy and mathematics. The curriculum covers all the required subjects, and topics chosen are interesting.

Pupils have some opportunities to deepen their understanding, for example when writing about a history topic. This is not done consistently enough across the school. Progress in mathematics is good, but is not improving as fast as it is in reading and writing.

Information about this school

Fairholme is a larger than average-sized, primary school. Since the previous inspection it increased in size from a two- to a three-form entry school. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above the national average.

Just under half of the pupils are of White British heritage. Other pupils are of African or Caribbean heritage or are from the Indian sub-continent. The proportion who speak English as an additional language is above average, but relatively few pupils are at an early stage of learning English.

The proportion of pupils identified with SEND is above average. The school's breakfast club provision is run on behalf of the governing body on the school site. The after-school provision is not managed by the governing body, and did not form part of this inspection.

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