Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this rural school.

Relationships between pupils and teachers are positive and respectful. All staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour. Although pupils say that bullying happens from time to time, they recognise that adults do all they can to sort it out.

This helps them to feel safe.

In a short space of time, leaders have made many positive changes. The school's values of teamwork, resilience, ambition, consideration and kindness are understood by all pupils.

Pupils are attentive and engaged during lessons. They work hard. The school provides opportunities for pupils to contribute to the life of the school.

For ...instance, some pupils are members of the school council, while others value their roles as house captains.

Pupils' understanding of the protected characteristics and of the many different faiths and beliefs in modern Britain is not secure. Sometimes, the language choices pupils make during playtimes can be inappropriate.

Not all pupils recognise the impact of the words they use on others.

The school is highly ambitious for pupils to achieve well. However, these aspirations are not yet realised by pupils in all subjects.

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

Leaders are determined to improve the quality of education that pupils receive. They have a detailed picture of the school's performance. Governors are well informed and check the impact of actions to improve the school.

The school puts the best interests of pupils at the heart of improvement actions. Leaders are making a real difference to the school. Staff are rightly positive about the changes leaders are making.

They feel valued.

The school has acted swiftly and decisively to review a significant proportion of the curriculum. In some subjects, such as mathematics, the curriculum is more established than in others.

This starts in the early years, where children learn to count and recognise shapes as they play. The mathematical knowledge that pupils learn is carefully sequenced so it builds on what they already know. This gives pupils the opportunity to practise the skills they need.

It helps them to remember what they have been taught. Where needed, the curriculum is adapted for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, these pupils progress well through the curriculum.

In other subjects, the curriculum is less developed. The essential knowledge that the school wants pupils to know is not mapped out and taught in ways that help pupils build their knowledge over time. As a result, pupils have gaps in their knowledge and understanding.

Pupils with SEND are supported well. The school identifies their needs accurately and puts appropriate help in place. This includes through the recently introduced provision in 'The Den'.

The school makes teachers aware of the strategies that can support individual pupils. The activities pupils complete are well matched to their learning needs.The school has prioritised reading.

Staff have received the training they need to teach the school's phonics programme. Pupils who are falling behind are identified quickly and given the extra help they need to catch up. However, for some pupils, the books they read are too difficult.

During phonics lessons, pupils' mistakes are not corrected consistently. Older pupils enjoy the books they share as a class. This encourages them to read texts by different authors.

They welcome the changes the school is making to give them better access to a wider choice of reading books.

In Nursery, children are immersed in rhymes and songs. Staff in the early years support children effectively.

They encourage children to play and learn together through gentle encouragement, celebration and high-quality talk. Children in Reception enjoyed going on an imaginary car journey to the jungle to see the exotic animals they had learned about. The early years is awash with books.

This motivates children to retell the stories that staff share. Every week, parents and carers are usefully invited into school to read along with their children. This promotes a love of books from an early age.

The school promotes science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning effectively. Supported by visitors, pupils learn to build go-karts and investigate wind turbines. The school's relationships and sex education and health education curriculums help pupils develop an age-appropriate understanding of healthy relationships.

However, the personal, social and health education curriculum does not provide enough opportunities for pupils to experience the world beyond their school. The curriculum does not develop pupils' understanding of the protected characteristics sufficiently well. In addition, pupils' awareness of different cultures, beliefs and faiths are not developed as well as they could be.

The school is doing everything it can to prioritise and tackle poor attendance. Pupils' absences are analysed carefully. The school's approach is thorough and robust.

It is having a positive impact on rates of pupil attendance. However, persistent absenteeism remains stubbornly high. The school rightly continues to prioritise this work.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the sequencing of knowledge pupils should learn is not clear enough. As a result, new learning does not build on what pupils already know, and this leads to gaps in pupils' knowledge and misunderstandings.

The school should ensure that, in all subjects, knowledge is sequenced logically and lessons build more precisely on what has been taught before. ? When teaching phonics, pupils' mistakes are not picked up consistently. The books that some pupils read are too difficult.

Consequently, pupils are not able to read with the fluency needed to practise the sounds they have learned. The school should sharpen the teaching of the phonics programme to ensure mistakes are addressed quickly and that the books pupils read accurately match the sounds they know. ? The school's curriculum does not provide enough opportunities for pupils to experience the world beyond their immediate locality.

Pupils' understanding of the importance of protected characteristics is underdeveloped as is their awareness of different cultures and beliefs. As a result, some pupils do not appreciate the impact of the actions and words they use. The school should provide greater opportunities in the curriculum to broaden pupils' understanding of protected characteristics and of other cultures, faiths and beliefs.