Holly Hill Primary and Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Holly Hill Primary and Nursery School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a happy and thriving school.

Pupils say that care and respect are the school's most important values. They know these values are central to everyone following, 'The Holly Hill Way'. Pupils demonstrate these values in their sensible behaviour and considerate manner.

They work well together in lessons to support each other's learning.

The school is passionate about diversity and inclusion for all pupils. It works hard to ensure that the curriculum reflects this ethos and uses assemblies to remind pupils why these things matter.

The school prov...ides books for pupils to read that promote equality. As one pupil put it, 'Everyone is welcome here.'

Almost all parents and carers are positive about the school.

They value the school's inclusive approach. Some parents highlight the school's caring 'family feel'. They appreciate how the school goes above and beyond to give pupils the support they need.

Parents value the celebrations that staff plan for big events and how they recognise pupils' successes.

Pupils enjoy opportunities to develop academically and personally. As a result, they flourish as individuals and as part of the school community.

Pupils like taking part in wider opportunities that are provided beyond their taught lessons.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Holly Hill Primary and Nursery School has ambitious aims for its pupils through its curriculum. The school works hard to ensure that all subjects prepare the way for the pupils' next stage of education.

Pupils show good attitudes because planned learning is interesting and challenging. They take pride in presentation. They like the wide range of subjects they study and enjoy learning new vocabulary.

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum. Pupils start learning letter sounds as soon as they begin school. They develop their reading fluency from expert staff, who teach them well.

Pupils who need more help benefit from extra practise. This means they can catch up. Teachers often read stories aloud to pupils from a choice of high-quality books.

They make sure that the books they share with pupils tell stories from different cultures. Teachers encourage pupils to read a variety of books written by different authors.

The school is tenacious in ensuring that pupils, including children in the early years, remember new knowledge.

Staff use effective strategies to break this knowledge down into small steps to help this. They check that pupils can say new knowledge out loud. This helps pupils remember more.

In a small number of lessons, staff don't give pupils enough opportunities to do this well. This means that pupils do not always remember what they have been taught.

The school has the same ambition for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), as it does for all pupils.

It adapts the curriculum so that these pupils achieve as well as they can. Staff support pupils with SEND effectively. They provide extra help so that these pupils can revisit key knowledge.

This means that pupils with SEND can access the same curriculum as their peers.

The school is working hard to improve pupils' attendance. Staff check on any pupil who does not attend school every day.

They keep very close records of any groups of pupils who miss too much school. They send letters to parents to remind them about good attendance. Staff's hard work is beginning to improve how often some pupils come to school.

There is a large range of enrichment activities for pupils to engage with. Parents and pupils value these. Pupils can take part in sports, cookery and art clubs.

There has been a large rise in the number of pupils who want to sing in the choir. This is, in part, due to their love of the exciting music curriculum. The school council collects pupils' views about school life.

They engage with the local community, for example, by writing to local residents at Christmas. Pupils learn about different cultures and beliefs. They talk with confidence about why equality matters.

Leaders keep staff well-being high on the agenda. They listen to staff's views and work hard to reduce workload. Staff value the school's positive working environment.

They are a supportive team.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school does not always ensure that teachers use effective teaching strategies to help pupils rehearse their new knowledge orally.

This means that pupils, including children in the early years, sometimes struggle to recall the important information they need to remember. The school should make sure that staff choose suitable strategies to help pupils recall what they have learned.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2014.