Hollydale Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending this happy and welcoming school. Adults are calm and kind.

If pupils feel sad or need someone to talk to, they know that staff will listen and help them. This helps pupils to feel safe.

Pupils' behaviour in classrooms, in corridors and during social times is exemplary.

This is because pupils are taught how to behave from the early years. Pupils explain that they behave well because they want to learn. Therefore, classrooms are purposeful environments.

Pupils achieve well and meet the high expectations the school has for them.

The school provides many opportunities for pupils to take on positions of responsibility. This... includes acting as members of the school council, reading buddies and members of the gardening club.

Pupils in the gardening club grew vegetables which they took to Borough market to sell. These opportunities support pupils to demonstrate the school's values of 'responsibility' and 'resilience.'

The school provides meaningful opportunities for pupils to consider the views of others.

For example, pupils debate whether Elijah McCoy or Alexander Miles was the greatest inventor.

Pupils are taught about faiths and cultures that may be different to their own. They visit places of worship and speak confidently about the importance of respecting others.

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

Reading is at the heart of the curriculum here. Children are taught to read as soon as they join Reception. This is because the school aims for children to read without delay.

Pupils have opportunities to visit the local library and are read aloud to daily. Children in Reception listen enthusiastically to familiar texts. They take great delight in providing the sound effects for the 'squelching mud' as the teacher reads 'We are Going on a Bear Hunt'.

These experiences develop a love of reading.

Staff are trained to teach early reading well. This means that the reading programme is delivered consistently.

Pupils practise sounds that they know by reading books that are matched to the letters that they have been taught. As a result, pupils read with developing confidence and fluency.

Teachers provide opportunities for pupils to revisit previous learning.

Staff typically check the sounds that pupils know. Therefore, pupils who find learning phonics difficult are typically given the help they need to catch up.

The curriculum here is broad.

The school has identified what needs to be taught in a logical order and this starts from the early years. In mathematics, for example, pupils in Year 2 confidently partition numbers up to 100. This is because they know the value of each digit.

Pupils in Year 4 classify plants because they have previously been taught the difference between flowering and non-flowering plants.

Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They explain concepts clearly.

For instance, when pupils are learning to play the ukulele, teaching demonstrates effectively how to move from one chord to another. As a result, pupils play the chord progression well. However, sometimes adults do not check what pupils know sharply enough and this means that some pupils struggle to link previous learning to their current learning.

This includes some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The school is determined that pupils with SEND achieve well. There are appropriate processes in place to identify pupils with SEND early on in their school careers.

The school works effectively with external professionals, such as speech and language therapists, who provide staff with targeted training to support pupils further.

Pupils are highly motivated and have positive attitudes to their learning. This means that teaching of the curriculum is not interrupted by silly behaviour.

Pupils are taught how to manage their feelings and how to collaborate with their classmates. This starts in the early years where children are taught the importance of taking turns.

The school has appropriate processes in place to monitor pupils' attendance.

Leaders work together with parents and carers to identify barriers so that attendance improves.

The personal, social and health education curriculum is a priority for the school. Pupils are taught about diversity and that families can look different.

Pupils respectfully explain that the most important part of being in a family is that you are 'loved' and 'cared for.'

Pupils enjoy the many wider opportunities offered. For example, the school provides a range of clubs including football, art and confidence club.

Pupils in the choir speak with pride of singing at a local retirement home because they had the opportunity to 'brighten someone's day.'

Governors understand the school's strengths. There are various processes in place to check the effectiveness of the school.

Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the initiatives in place to manage their workload and support their well-being. This includes teachers at the start of their careers.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Safeguarding takes priority here. Pupils learn about risks within and beyond the school. For example, older pupils are taught how to keep safe when travelling on public transport and children in Reception visit the fire station to recognise things that are dangerous.

Pupils are taught how to keep safe online in an age-appropriate manner.Staff have received effective safeguarding training and know the importance of reporting concerns quickly. Leaders respond swiftly to concerns raised and work closely with outside agencies so that pupils and families receive the support that they need.

Leaders carry out the necessary checks on staff before they are appointed. However, sometimes safeguarding records lack information about the actions that were taken by the school and the outcomes. The school should ensure that safeguarding records fully and accurately reflect the actions taken to keep pupils safe.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, the checking of what pupils know and understand is not precise enough. This means that some pupils struggle to remember previous learning and have gaps in their knowledge. The school needs to ensure that teaching staff check what pupils know and understand more rigorously so that all pupils achieve well.

• Although safeguarding risks are identified swiftly and appropriate action is taken by leaders, on occasions, safeguarding records do not accurately capture the school's work. This means that sometimes key information is missing from records. The school needs to ensure that safeguarding records contain accurate and sufficiently clear information on the steps taken to ensure pupils' safety and well-being.