Schools & FE · Report card

Poppleton Road Primary School

Inspected 28 Apr 2026 · published 16 Jun 2026 · URN 149648

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Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

Katie Hall (lead), Alison Ashworth, Amy Blackburn

What we read, and from where

Click a reading to see it highlighted in the report.

Achievement verified
Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour verified
Needs attention
Curriculum and teaching verified
Expected standard
Early years verified
Expected standard
Inclusion verified
Expected standard
Leadership and governance verified
Needs attention
Personal development and wellbeing verified
Expected standard
Framework verified
Report card
Inspection datesingle source
28 Apr 2026
Inspectors verified
Alison Ashworth, Amy Blackburn, Katie Hall
Postcode verified
YO26 4UP
Name on report verified
Poppleton Road Primary School
Safeguarding verified
Met
URN verified
149648

Page 1 of 16

Deep dive

What this report says

In plain English

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Grade profile

Each judgement on its scale, weakest to strongest.

AchievementExpected
Attendance and behaviourNeeds attention
Curriculum and teachingExpected
Early yearsExpected
InclusionExpected
Leadership and governanceNeeds attention
Personal development and wellbeingExpected

Tone of the report

How positive or critical the inspectors' language is, from the words they chose. No AI involved.

+76Very positivemore positive than 56% of reports of this type

In line with other reports of this type.

Praisepositivelypositivehigh expectationssecurefeel safeeffectivelyenjoywell-designed

Criticismconcernsnot alwayslimitedgapsabsencenot secure

How the report reads, start to finish

Every paragraph in order, sized by length. Tap one to see it on the page.

FindingsSafeguardingAbout the inspectionLeadershipWhat needs to improve positive critical

Findings1333w+82
Leadership246w+44
Safeguarding51w−11
What needs to improve50w+60

Strengths

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Concerns

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No strong criticism found.

Next steps

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What the report dwells on

Topics by how often they come up, coloured by how they are described. Open one for an example.

Anatomy of the report

How the report is built, against others of the same type and grade.

Pages: 16
Words of findings: 1,680; about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level: Hard; Flesch 43, typical 43
Average sentence: 14 words
Next steps: 3; typical 3
Hedged sentences: 12%; “some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 46%Leadership 8%Safeguarding 2%What needs to improve 2%About the inspection 42%

Full report text

Poppleton Road Primary School

Address: Poppleton Road, York, North Yorkshire, YO26 4UP Unique reference number (URN): 149648

p.1

Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

p.1

How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

p.1

Achievement Expected standard

By the end of key stage 2, pupils achieve at levels that are in line with the national average in mathematics and reading. More recently, writing outcomes have improved and are now above average compared to national benchmarks. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities generally achieve well from their starting points. Disadvantaged pupils progress through the curriculum alongside their peers and demonstrate their learning well in their workbooks. This is not fully reflected in historical outcomes.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

Pupils in the early years and key stage 1 develop a secure understanding of the basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Despite lower-than-average phonics outcomes last year, pupils do develop the knowledge and skills they need to learn to read. Additional support has ensured that pupils who did not historically meet the national phonics expectation are making progress and catching up.

p.2

Achievement Expected standard

Pupils develop a secure understanding of their learning in other subjects, such as history or geography. They demonstrate this in the work they produce and in discussions about recent learning opportunities.

p.2

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders, including those within the wider trust, focus carefully on ensuring that the quality of education pupils receive is of a high standard. They have ensured that curriculum subjects are well organised so pupils can learn new knowledge in a sensible order. Leaders have made further refinements to the curriculum to ensure pupils are given enough opportunities to revisit previous learning regularly. This supports pupils to secure important basic skills, such as writing sentences and counting accurately.

p.2

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Generally, teachers deliver this curriculum well. They use different agreed teaching approaches to allow pupils to practise and learn the curriculum. They also regularly check how well pupils have remembered this important knowledge. Learning new vocabulary is also woven into the school's curriculum. Pupils learn subject-specific words, such as 'periwinkle' and 'mountainous', and apply these in their learning.

p.2

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Teachers adapt learning in a way that is appropriate to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These adaptations allow pupils to learn the curriculum well alongside their peers. Some pupils receive additional support. This personalised support focuses on aspects of the curriculum, such as learning to write an accurate sentence or practising reading fluency. This helps pupils to develop and learn the knowledge they need.

p.2

Early years Expected standard

Children in the early years settle well into school life and achieve well. Recently, the school has opened a Nursery classroom. Leaders have refined the curriculum to identify the knowledge and skills nursery children need to learn. There is an appropriate focus on ensuring the youngest pupils secure their physical, social, emotional and communication skills. Children demonstrate these skills well.

p.2

Early years Expected standard

Throughout the early years, children are exposed to a range of songs and stories. Children recite these and engage positively in activities that teach them new words. Children also learn to develop a curiosity about books as soon as they start at nursery. They engage positively with a range of stories, and are enthusiastic in activities such as story time. Teachers deliver this well, demonstrating a secure understanding of the school's chosen phonics scheme. Generally, staff continue to support children in developing their reading and speaking skills through quality interactions. This helps children to practise and learn new words effectively.

p.3

Early years Expected standard

Staff know children well. When children join the setting, staff work positively with parents and carers and other nurseries to ensure the information they receive helps them to understand children's starting points. This also supports staff to identify any children who may require more specialist support, for example for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Relationships with parents are positive and ensure that pupils can settle and feel happy.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Leaders have identified and implemented a number of new strategies over recent years to ensure that the school is inclusive for all pupils. This includes how they identify effectively pupils with additional barriers to learning. Leaders' methods for identifying pupils' needs help them understand the challenges that these pupils face. They then implement appropriate strategies to support pupils in accessing their learning positively.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Recently, leaders have reviewed and changed the provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), particularly for pupils with social and emotional mental health needs. Consequently, this offer is now better tailored to pupils' needs and generally ensures those needs are met. Leaders continue to work positively with other agencies and the multi-academy trust to continue to refine this support. Careful adaptations ensure that pupils with SEND can access the curriculum well. Additional funding is spent appropriately to support the provision for disadvantaged pupils.

p.3

Inclusion Expected standard

Alternative provision is used appropriately. The school works closely with the local authority and the alternative provision to ensure that the needs of pupils are securely met. Leaders consider how this will support pupils in developing the skills needed to prepare for their next steps.

p.3

Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have developed a well-designed programme for personal development. The personal, social and health education curriculum is well considered. It meets the statutory requirements and teaches pupils the skills they need to prepare them for life beyond school. For example, pupils demonstrate a secure understanding of how they keep themselves safe, including online. They also develop their understanding of different types of relationships, including healthy and unhealthy ones. Leaders have identified possible risks for pupils in the local area in the form of rivers, rails and roads. The curriculum teaches

p.3

Needs attention

pupils how to stay safe in these areas effectively. Visitors, such as the riverboat safety team, enhance this teaching.

p.4

Needs attention

Leaders have also ensured that pupils benefit from a range of additional activities that enrich the curriculum. For example, pupils visit the local theatre and are offered opportunities to perform on a stage. This develops their confidence, while allowing them to learn about possible career opportunities. A number of pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and disadvantaged pupils, now have leadership roles, including playground leaders and eco councillors. This supports them to play a positive part in the wider life of the school.

p.4

Needs attention

Pupils are taught about a range of world religions and faiths. Generally, pupils can recall this learning positively. Assemblies regularly ask pupils to use and apply their learning through the weekly 'big question', which supports them in debating topical and global issues. Pupils demonstrate an understanding of the fundamental British values. For example, they speak confidently about laws and why it is important to follow them. However, some pupils are less sure about equality and why it is important to understand how discrimination may occur.

p.4

Needs attention

Leaders and staff know their pupils well. This helps them to identify individuals who need pastoral support. Staff ensure that pupils generally receive appropriate support and guidance to support their emotional health and wellbeing.

p.4

Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

While most pupils attend school well, there are some groups of pupils who attend less regularly. For example, disadvantaged pupils have attended less well over time. Rates of absence for disadvantaged pupils are increasing. Leaders use a range of approaches to support individual pupils' attendance. For some pupils, these have had a positive impact. However, there is a limited impact for some groups. Recent figures show that these pupils miss school more frequently than they should.

p.4

Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

In classrooms, pupils generally behave well. They follow instructions and complete their tasks in a timely manner. While most pupils demonstrate the school's high expectations for behaviour, others do not always meet these expectations. This leads to incidents of unkindness, which are sometimes repeated. While the school has taken steps to address this, this work is in the early stages. This means that the impact of this work is not evident in how pupils articulate their experiences of others' behaviour. Any forms of bullying are, however, addressed by leaders and carefully analysed. Leaders have identified further improvements that are needed to ensure that these incidents of unkindness reduce. It is too early to determine the impact of this work.

p.4

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders' actions in some areas of the school are demonstrating a positive impact on pupils' outcomes and experiences. A focus on ensuring pupils achieve well has been realised through ensuring the curriculum is taught well. Leaders have also ensured that those who face additional barriers are well supported to access the school's offer. However, the work to address gaps in pupils' attendance and behaviour is at an earlier stage. While leaders generally have the appropriate strategy to support improvement in these areas, it is too soon to see the impact of this work. The trust is providing additional support, which is building further capacity to address these areas and implement the appropriate actions.

p.4

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Trustees understand their statutory responsibilities. Both trustees and governors show a deep commitment to the school. They recognise that there is further work to do to demonstrate their high ambitions for attendance and behaviour.

p.5

Leadership and governance Needs attention

The school and the trust deeply value training and development as part of their offer. They provide a number of training opportunities. For example, subject leaders regularly meet with other leaders across the trust to explore subject-specific improvements. Leaders have provided recent training linked to behaviour. This is starting to show some impact, but it is too soon to see how well this is working over time.

p.5

Leadership and governance Needs attention

Staff are positive about the support they receive from leaders. They value how leaders care about their wellbeing and workload. Most parents and carers report that the school supports their child well.

p.5