Sir Francis Hill Community Primary School

Inspection of Sir Francis Hill Community Primary School Bristol Drive, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN6 7UE

p.1

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Requires improvement Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 8 and 9 July 2025

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Sir Francis Hill school can talk with enthusiasm about the school’s values of wisdom, community and kindness. They are proud to demonstrate these values and represent the school at a range of musical and sporting events. These events help them to develop their talents and interests.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

The school has recently undergone a period of change. Leaders have quickly established the priorities for improvement and have begun to ensure that the school is ambitious about what pupils can achieve. In some subjects, pupils benefit from a high-quality curriculum. This is not consistently the case. In other subjects, the development of the curriculum is still in the early stages. This means that teaching is not consistently good across all subject areas. The school does not provide some pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) with the right adaptations they need to access their learning. Pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

In most lessons, particularly in the early years, behaviour is calm and orderly. Most pupils feel safe and know who they can talk to if they have any worries or concerns. Staff do not routinely use the school’s systems to ensure that the high expectations of pupils’ behaviour are upheld.

p.2

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

The curriculum has recently been strengthened. In some subjects, it now sets out clearly the important knowledge that pupils should learn and when they should learn it. In these subjects, pupils build their knowledge and achieve well. In other subjects, this is not the case. When this occurs, teachers are not able to design learning opportunities that help pupils to build their knowledge. They are not able to check how well pupils have developed their knowledge. Pupils’ misconceptions are not consistently identified and addressed. Some pupils make the same mistakes over time in the work that they produce. The school does not help pupils well enough to remember previous learning.

p.2

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

Reading has been prioritised at the school. Children begin the process of the learning to read from the moment that they start at the school. The school’s phonics programme is delivered consistently well. Teachers put support in place at the earliest opportunity. This enables pupils who need additional help to improve the accuracy and fluency of their reading.

p.2

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

Staff identify promptly the needs of pupils who may require additional support with their learning, including those with SEND. However, currently, the school does not adapt the curriculum well enough to ensure that pupils with SEND are able to access the curriculum and develop their knowledge and understanding.

p.2

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

In the majority of lessons, pupils show a positive attitude to their learning and are keen to join in. However, the school has not ensured that pupils receive the help that they need to behave well, particularly during social times. Staff do not demonstrate consistently high expectations. This is because they do not routinely use the school’s agreed strategies to 8 and 9 July 2025

p.2

3

manage pupils’ behaviour. Therefore, some pupils demonstrate behaviours that do not contribute to positive experiences for their peers at lunchtimes. Some pupils do not attend school as often as they should. However, the school has clear systems in place to support pupils and their families to reduce absences. As a result, attendance is improving at the school.

p.3

3

The school’s offer for pupils’ personal development does not prepare pupils for life beyond school as well as it could. Some pupils do not engage with opportunities that the school provides to develop their talents and interests. The school’s work to develop pupils’ understanding of fundamental British values and protected characteristics has not been as effective as it could have been. However, pupils do benefit from opportunities to build their confidence, including through residential visits. Older pupils embrace opportunities to make a difference to the school, including becoming house captains. The school provides age-appropriate relationships education and guidance to help pupils to stay safe online.

p.3

3

Children in the early years have a positive start to their time in school. There is a focus on developing children’s learning and communication skills. Children are able to talk about their learning and the new skills that they have developed since starting school. They quickly develop trusting relationships with staff, and clear routines are established. Staff support children to develop curiosity through play and a range of stories.

p.3

3

School leaders and governors have a clear understanding of what is needed to improve the school further. The plans that they have in place to address some areas of the school’s work are still in the early stages. The school does not have systems in place to review some aspects of its provision. This means that in these areas, actions to develop and support staff have not been undertaken swiftly enough to ensure the best possible outcomes for pupils.

p.3

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school does not check closely enough how well pupils are learning the curriculum. In some subjects, there is little assessment of what pupils know and do not know. Teachers do not consistently pick up pupils’ misconceptions in lessons, or in their written work. As a result, pupils do not always have a secure understanding of the important curriculum content that they need to remember. The school must ensure that any gaps in pupils’ learning are identified and addressed swiftly.  Staff do not make adaptations to tasks and activities to ensure that pupils with SEND can access the curriculum consistently well. As a result, pupils with SEND can become confused and do not develop their knowledge and understanding as well as they 8 and 9 July 2025

p.3

4

should. The school must support teachers to make appropriate adaptations to learning so that pupils with SEND develop the knowledge and skills they need.  The school has not ensured that all staff have a clear understanding of how to apply the behaviour systems, particularly during social times. This means that some pupils are not able to regulate their behaviour effectively. The school should ensure that all staff and pupils understand and apply high expectations for behaviour at all times during the school day.  The school’s strategic oversight of some aspects of its work is not sufficiently robust. As a result, the school does not have a strong enough understanding of aspects of its work or check whether strategies have the intended impact. The school needs to put effective systems in place to ensure successful school improvement.

p.4

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.

p.4

How can I feed back my views?

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

p.4

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.4

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). 8 and 9 July 2025

p.4

School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

p.5

School details

Headteacher Carole Scally (Acting Headteacher)

p.5

School details

Dates of previous inspection 8 and 9 November 2022, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

p.5

Information about this school

 The acting headteacher has been in place since October 2023.  The school has appointed a new headteacher, who is due to start in September 2025.  The school makes use of one registered alternative provison.

p.5

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.

p.5

Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 8 and 9 July 2025

p.5

6

 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the acting headteacher, assistant headteachers, other school staff and members of the governing body, including the chair. The lead inspector also met via telephone with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history, science and religious education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning, listened to pupils read and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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

p.6

6

safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Throughout the inspection, inspectors met with groups of staff and considered the opinions expressed through the staff survey.  Inspectors considered the views of parents expressed through Ofsted Parent View and met parents at the school gate.

p.6

Inspection team

Roxanne Fearns-Davies, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

p.6

Inspection team

Tom Hawkins Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 July 2025

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

7

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

7

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

7

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7