Hotham Primary School

Inspection of Hotham Primary School Charlwood Road, Putney, London SW15 1PN

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Inspection dates: 11 and 12 February 2025

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The quality of education Outstanding Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Good 11 and 12 February 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils receive remarkable learning experiences at Hotham Primary. The school promotes exceptionally high ambition for all pupils. The school’s vision of ‘limitless opportunities for every child to aspire and succeed’ is fully realised. Pupils embody the school’s values of ‘respect, responsibility and resolve’. The early years provision is dynamic and engaging. Children get off to a rapid start in their learning. Staff ensure that children learn how to communicate and cooperate with each other in a stimulating environment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of pupils across the school. They make sure that pupils acquire a depth of knowledge and skills in their learning. The school ensures that the curriculum is stimulating and is delivered through highly skilled teaching. Pupils behave wonderfully well and eagerly attend school. Pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve very well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school’s work on pupils’ development is exemplary. Pupils become confident and mature individuals. They benefit from an orchestrated collection of broader development opportunities. These include numerous trips and extra-curricular activities, including skateboarding, fencing, art clubs and contributing to the ‘Hotham Herald’. Pupils proudly take on leadership responsibilities, including the ‘value teams’ and being eco-leaders, playground leaders and sports leaders.

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

The school balances pupils’ academic success with strong personal development. The school’s curriculum is highly ambitious and well organised, with a strong emphasis on pupils’ early language development and learning to read. In Reception, children blend sounds to form words and recognise trickier sounds with ease. Pupils read with increasing fluency and accuracy. The school prioritises developing children’s writing skills early on. For instance, staff teach children in the early years to begin to write letters accurately. This focus on high-quality handwriting and sophisticated vocabulary use continues throughout the school, resulting in the exceptional quality of pupils’ writing.

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

Teachers use their strong subject knowledge to design effective learning activities that help pupils to build on their earlier learning. For example, in physical development activities, children in Reception learn to throw objects accurately. This develops in Years 5 and 6, where pupils demonstrate strong knowledge and awareness when making connections between different types of passes in basketball and netball. In mathematics, Nursery children use a variety of resources to count up to five. In Reception, children learn to add and subtract with numbers up to 20. By Year 2, pupils solve real-life problems by dividing numbers accurately. Across the curriculum, staff enable pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding of subject content well.

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

The school ensures that pupils with SEND have their needs carefully identified. Teachers and support staff utilise the information on individual pupils to ensure that they can fully access the curriculum. Resources are adapted in different ways that help pupils gain a better understanding of the content they need to learn. 11 and 12 February 2025

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Pupils love reading. This is because the school makes reading a priority. The school makes sure that pupils read a wide variety of interesting books that capture their interest and understanding of the wider world. Older pupils talk about their favourite books, characters and story plots with zest. The school takes decisive actions with pupils who have fallen behind in their reading and ensures that their confidence and fluency improve quickly.

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Pupils exhibit high levels of resilience and self-control in their learning. Time is never wasted in lessons, and the school ensures that low-level disruption is minimised. Children in early years learn to play very well with each other. They learn to use tools in their construction area and role play safely, increasing their understanding of safety in the wider world. The school has a strong focus on pastoral support and care. The school prioritises pupils’ well-being. Any barriers to pupils’ learning and attendance are minimised by highly skilled staff.

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The school has structured its personal, social and health education programme meticulously. Through a variety of assemblies, lessons and events, pupils gain knowledge about different faiths, cultures and backgrounds. Pupils are well versed in online safety and understand the significance of various types of discrimination. They value opportunities to develop their character and cultural awareness. For example, pupils in Year 5 rehearsed for a regional festival, performing a song with precision and flair. Pupils appreciate the residential trips, which help them learn about themselves and develop leadership and teamwork skills.

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Leaders, including the governing body, are highly committed and strive for excellence. The school is reflective in its work and ensures effective involvement with all stakeholders. Projects like the ‘winter wonderland’ involve many members of the school community. Staff appreciate the school’s efforts to manage their workload and well- being. Parents and carers are also highly appreciative, fully supporting and contributing to the work of the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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How can I feed back my views?

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. 11 and 12 February 2025

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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). 11 and 12 February 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 8 and 9 October 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act, 2005.

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Information about this school

 The school uses one registered alternative provision.  The current headteacher started in September 2020.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  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. 11 and 12 February 2025

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 The inspectors spoke to the members of the senior leadership team, including the headteacher and deputy and assistant headteachers. The lead inspector held meetings with the governors and a representative from the local authority.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in art and design, history, mathematics and early reading. For each deep dive, the inspectors discussed the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single 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.  The inspectors took account of responses to Ofsted’s online survey for parents, Ofsted

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Parent View, including free-text comments. The inspectors also considered the responses of pupils and staff to Ofsted’s online surveys.  The inspectors spoke with groups of pupils during lessons and social times.

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Inspection team

Ray Lau, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Nneoma Thomas Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 February 2025

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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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