Dunholme St Chad's Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Dunholme St Chad's Church of England Primary School Ryland Road, Dunholme, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN2 3NE

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 January 2023

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 17 and 18 January 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Dunholme St Chad’s Church of England Primary is a happy and welcoming school. Many pupils told inspectors that they enjoy school. Pupils value their friendships. One pupil said, ‘We do not tolerate difference here, we celebrate it.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils trust their teachers to take any worries they have seriously. They say bullying is rare and if it did occur, teachers would deal with it quickly. Pupils feel safe. Leaders have effective safeguarding arrangements. Records could be even more precise and detailed to ensure vital information is not missed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils study a range of subjects through a themed curriculum. However, while topics are carefully planned, connections between topics are less well planned.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities in school, including the ‘mini police’ and reading buddies. They support charities such as the local food bank.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. Staff have high expectations, which pupils respond to. Some pupils do not attend school as often as they should. This means they are missing out on the positive experiences in school and learning

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better?

Everyone at the school shares the school's Christian vision of ‘creating a community with open hearts and open minds’.

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better?

Leaders understand the importance of pupils gaining secure reading skills as they move through the school. In the early years, children get off to a good start with their phonics. This ensures that they are well prepared for Year 1. Books match the sounds that pupils know. Leaders create opportunities for children to practise and recall their sounds regularly. They have a sharp focus on making sure that those children who are at the early stage of learning to read, and those who have fallen behind, quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to become confident, fluent readers.

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better?

Children in the early years are happy and well cared for. Staff are skilful at developing children’s language skills. They are passionate and committed to supporting children’s learning. Leaders have developed a curriculum that provides exciting learning opportunities for children. An example is the current topic on winter. Children have built houses for animals that hibernate. They then used night vision cameras to record and explore the animals that visit the houses.

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better?

Subject leaders have developed well-crafted topics within the school’s thematic curriculum. In a few instances, leaders have not made all the connections between 17 and 18 January 2023

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different themes as clear as they could be. This means some pupils do not have the required building blocks of knowledge they need to apply from one topic to their learning in future topics. Subject leaders ensure that staff receive subject-specific training.

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The curriculum has ‘golden threads’ which extend through all subjects. For example, the golden thread of equality and diversity was explored by Year 3 when considering roles in the Roman empire.

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Staff understand the individual needs of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The special educational needs coordinator works alongside staff to develop personalised pupil targets.

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Pupils are knowledgeable about different faiths. They welcome visitors from different faiths and enjoy learning about them. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. They know and understand the fundamental British values. Pupils value the extra-curricular opportunities in school. Leaders are widening this offer to pupils.

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Pastoral support is strong. Pupils value being able to speak to the learning mentor when they have a worry. Staff have worked to improve attendance. There are still some pupils who are persistently absent from school. Leaders are working with families to reduce the number of pupils who are regularly absent from school. Governors’ questioning of leaders shows challenge on curriculum, school performance and progress. They have supported leaders well in the development of the new curriculum. Staff feel supported in their professional and personal development.

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Governors are mindful of workload and have introduced a well-being day for staff. A small minority of staff reported that their workload is a concern to them.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There are minor weaknesses in safeguarding arrangements. These do not leave children either being harmed or at risk of harm. Some safeguarding records lack precise details about actions taken and their outcomes.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that appropriate checks are completed on all adults who work at or visit the school.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have adopted appropriate policies which they use to keep pupils safe. They provide regular training for staff. Staff understand how to report concerns about pupils’ welfare.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn to keep themselves safe through the personal, social and health education curriculum 17 and 18 January 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some safeguarding records lack sufficient detail about actions taken and their outcomes. This means vital information could be missed. Leaders need to make sure that all their actions and the outcomes of these actions are precisely and consistently recorded in all files.  Not all pupils attend school as often as they should. Despite some improvement in individual pupils’ attendance, some pupils are still not attending school regularly enough, which means they are missing out on the positive experiences in school and learning. Leaders need to work even more closely with the local authority and parents and carers to ensure that all pupils attend school regularly.  While sequencing within individual themes in the school's thematic curriculum is coherent, sequencing across themes does not always have the clarity and connections between a few subjects that details what knowledge is to be learned and when. This means some pupils do not have the required building blocks of

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

knowledge they need to apply from one subject to another subject. Leaders need to review these curriculum areas to ensure that all key knowledge is clearly identified and sequenced across the thematic curriculum, so that pupils progress well through the curriculum.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, 'disadvantaged pupils' refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 17 and 18 January 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10254818 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 17 October 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Diocese of Lincoln. The most recent section 48 inspection of this Church of England school, which is an inspection of the school’s religious character, took place on 7 October 2015. Section 48 inspections were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They restarted in September 2021. The next inspection will be within eight years of the last section 48 inspection.  School leaders do not make use of any alternative provision.  Out-of-school provision for children aged 4 to 11 is provided on the school site. This is not managed by the governing body.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector(s) carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 17 and 18 January 2023

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and physical education. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons with senior and curriculum leaders, met with teachers, looked at pupils’ work and met with pupils about their learning in these subjects.  Inspectors looked at curriculum planning in a range of subjects.  Inspectors took account of the 58 responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and 33 written comments from parents. They also considered the 18 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  Inspectors met pupils to understand their views about the school.  To inspect safeguarding, the lead inspector checked the single central record of pre-employment checks and other safeguarding records. The inspector also met with the designated safeguarding lead and the deputy designated safeguarding

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leads.  Inspectors spoke with leaders, teachers, support staff, members of the governing body and pupils to evaluate the culture of safeguarding in school.  Inspectors spoke to staff about their workload and well-being.  The lead inspector met with representatives from the governing body.  The lead inspector had a discussion with the local authority locality lead for the school.  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of the school’s documentation provided by the school, including school improvement documentation and governing body minutes.  Inspectors considered a wide range of documentation on the school website.

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Inspection team

Anne Maingay, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

George Huthart Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 January 2023

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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