Halton Holegate CofE Primary School

Inspection of Halton Holegate CofE Primary School Station Road, Halton Holegate, Spilsby, Lincolnshire PE23 5PB

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Inspection dates: 30 and 31 January 2024

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 30 and 31 January 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Halton Holegate is a school where pupils are happy and safe. The school is ambitious for what pupils can learn and do. An improved curriculum provides well- planned and engaging learning experiences. For example, pupils in key stage 2 enjoy exploring ‘rivers’ in geography.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave very well in class. There are clear routines for good behaviour in the classroom and around the school. This begins in the early years. Pupils in each class are keen to learn, and they listen well to the instructions of their teachers. As a result, lessons are calm and purposeful. Pupils show high levels of respect for staff members. As one pupil commented, ‘I have the teacher I’ve always wanted.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school supports pupils’ wider development through a range of experiences. Well-attended clubs led by staff cater for a wide variety of interests. These include sports, ukulele and gardening clubs.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children in the early years are happy to play and learn together. They enjoy positive relationships with each other and with members of staff. This sense of togetherness is evident throughout the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers have confidence in the school. As one parent commented, ‘It’s a great school with amazing teachers. Our children have blossomed.’

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better?

Since the previous inspection, the school has redesigned the curriculum. It is now well sequenced and ambitious. Pupils build up their knowledge in each subject in small steps. The curriculum provides regular opportunities for teachers to check what pupils know. This helps teachers to identify any misconceptions that pupils may have. Some aspects of the curriculum have been more recently introduced or adapted. These areas need a little more time to make a full impact on pupils’ learning.

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better?

Teachers know their pupils very well. This helps them to tailor the curriculum to meet individual needs. The school has high expectations of all pupils. This includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school provides effective support to help pupils with SEND achieve well. This happens across the different areas of the curriculum.

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better?

The school has very small class sizes in Nursery and Reception. The school plans activities with great care and has made sure that children in early years do not miss out in any way. Their learning is well connected. For example, children in the Nursery Year enjoy exploring their topic of ‘On the Beach’. They make kites, write postcards and take orders in the beach cafe. Children are enthusiastic in their learning. When digging for letter sounds among the shells and pebbles, one child asks, ‘Can we do another one?’ 30 and 31 January 2024

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The programme for teaching pupils to read is well established. The school is quick to spot any pupils who struggle with the phonics programme. Support is immediate for these pupils. As a result, all pupils achieve success in learning to read. Leaders prioritise reading across the school. All pupils visit the school library each week to select books to read at home for pleasure. They enjoy reading a wide variety of texts with their class teachers.

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Learning in mathematics is also a strength. Teachers are knowledgeable and enthusiastic. They recap previous learning well. Pupils state that this helps them remember what they have learned. Pupils can talk with maturity and understanding about their learning in mathematics. This also applies to their learning across the wider curriculum. For example, in history, pupils’ work shows an appropriate depth of response. In art, they learn from the work of great artists and develop their own ideas.

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Pupils enjoy their learning experiences beyond the classroom. Most pupils attend at least one club. Pupils, including those with SEND, enjoy leadership responsibilities. These include playground leaders and eco-warriors. The school council has raised money for playground equipment. The school is working to broaden pupils’ horizons in different ways. For example, pupils visit places of worship and take part in community events. They also travel further afield for, among other activities, musical events. Pupils are respectful of others with different backgrounds. However, their understanding of different cultures is not developed to the fullest extent.

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Governors are regular visitors to the school. They have an accurate picture of the current strengths of the school and a clear vision for the future.

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Staff say that they are proud to work at the school. Staff value the work that leaders have done to support their well-being and workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 There have been recent changes to improve the curriculum, including in the early years. Some of these are at an earlier stage of implementation than others. The school should continue to implement the amended curriculum so that pupils can securely and consistently deepen their knowledge over time.  The school has not fully developed pupils’ understanding of cultural diversity in modern Britain. As a result, some pupils lack knowledge of the experiences of others from different backgrounds. The school should ensure that the curriculum improves pupils’ understanding of cultural diversity so that they are fully prepared for life in modern Britain. 30 and 31 January 2024

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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' is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 30 and 31 January 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Andrew Leeman Laura Mackenzie-Snow (interim headteacher) Website www.haltonholegateprimaryschool.co.uk

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 2 and 3 November 2021, under section 5 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 in November 2019.  The school does not use any alternative education provision.  At the time of the inspection, the substantive headteacher was absent from school. The interim headteacher has been in post since October 2023.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 30 and 31 January 2024

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other leaders. They spoke with groups of staff and pupils. They met with members of the governing body and with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, looked at samples of work and spoke to pupils about their learning. The lead inspector listened to pupils reading aloud to a familiar adult. Inspectors also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in a range of other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single

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central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and around the school site.  Inspectors spoke with parents at the school gates. They also considered the responses to the survey, Ofsted Parent View, and to Ofsted’s staff survey.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including school improvement plans and minutes of the governing body’s meetings.

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Inspection team

Martyn Skinner, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Jackie Thornalley Ofsted Inspector 30 and 31 January 2024

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