Schools & FE · Report card

Richmond Hill Primary Academy

Inspected 23 Jun 2026 · published 11 Sept 2026 · URN 140585

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Summary

No overall grade in this frameworkSafeguarding met

Dughall McCormick (lead), Emmeline Ford, Michael Watson, Victoria Oddy

What we read, and from where

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Achievement verified
Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour verified
Strong standard
Curriculum and teaching verified
Expected standard
Early years verified
Expected standard
Inclusion verified
Strong standard
Leadership and governance verified
Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing verified
Strong standard
Framework verified
Report card
Inspection datesingle source
23 Jun 2026
Inspectors verified
Dughall McCormick, Emmeline Ford, Michael Watson, Victoria Oddy
Postcode verified
DN5 7SB
Name on report verified
Richmond Hill Primary Academy
Safeguarding verified
Met
URN verified
140585

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 behaviourStrong
Curriculum and teachingExpected
Early yearsExpected
InclusionStrong
Leadership and governanceExpected
Personal development and wellbeingStrong

Tone of the report

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

+78Very positivemore positive than 61% of reports of this type

In line with other reports of this type.

Praisepositiveclearhighly effectivefeel safevery wellrespectfulskilfullyproud

Criticismgapsconcernsnot consistentlypersistent absence

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

Findings1623w+79
Leadership254w+78
Safeguarding51w−11
What needs to improve30w+50

Strengths

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Concerns

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No strong criticism found.

Next steps

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Leaders should ensure that teachers make consistently effective choices about what to teach and how, across the curriculum, including in the early years, so that pupils achieve even more highly. p.6

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: 1,958; about usual (typical 1698)
Reading level: Hard; Flesch 50, typical 43
Average sentence: 15 words
Next steps: 1; typical 3
Hedged sentences: 8%; “some”, “not always”, “most”…

Where the words go

Findings 55%Leadership 9%Safeguarding 2%What needs to improve 1%About the inspection 34%

Full report text

Richmond Hill Primary Academy

Address: Melton Road, Sprotbrough, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN5 7SB Unique reference number (URN): 140585

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

Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Leaders give attendance a high priority. Overall attendance is above the national average, and persistent absence has fallen markedly this year. Leaders analyse attendance closely, looking at the whole school and at particular groups, and they identify and remove the barriers that pupils face. This work helps groups such as disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities to attend well. It helps individual pupils, including some who attend regularly despite considerable personal challenges. Staff work with families when attendance needs to improve. They treat a dip in attendance as a sign that a family may need support, which they offer quickly.

p.2

Attendance and behaviour Strong standard

Pupils behave very well. Behaviour is calm, orderly and purposeful, and routines are well established across the day. Pupils show highly positive attitudes, talk together productively and move around the school responsibly. Relationships between staff and pupils are kind and respectful. Incidents of bullying and discriminatory behaviour are rare, and leaders use them as opportunities to educate pupils and families in a supportive way. Where pupils need extra help with their attendance or behaviour, leaders put clear, compassionate plans in place, and these make a real difference.

p.2

Inclusion Strong standard

Inclusion is at the heart of the school’s deeply held vision. Leaders and staff have a firm understanding of pupils' needs and the barriers they may face. Staff identify these needs early and accurately, including for disadvantaged pupils, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those known to children's social care.

p.2

Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have designed the school environment around pupils' needs. They have created well-considered spaces, such as calm areas for pupils at playtime and places where pupils can take a short break before returning to their learning. Pupils with complex needs receive high-quality, expert help to develop their language and communication.

p.2

Inclusion Strong standard

In class, teachers adapt their teaching skilfully so that pupils with SEND work towards the same goals as their peers. Teachers make skilful use of appropriate practical equipment, visual prompts and other well-chosen support.

p.2

Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders work closely with families and outside agencies, and they deploy their skilled staff thoughtfully, so that the pupils who need the most help receive it.

p.2

Inclusion Strong standard

The pupil premium strategy is carefully thought out and rooted in research. Leaders use assessment to pinpoint gaps and direct funding precisely. They review its effect each year. Staff are trained to use the strategy well, so that disadvantaged pupils are not left behind their peers.

p.2

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Leaders have planned the personal development programme carefully and woven it through the curriculum and the wider life of the school. It makes a real difference to pupils' social, moral, spiritual and cultural development.

p.3

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils share the school's deeply held values. They know the importance of respect and tolerance. Pupils develop a secure knowledge of the protected characteristics. This is shown in their understanding of ideas such as stereotypes and insistence that discrimination of any kind is wrong. Pupils have learned about the fundamental British values in ways that connect to their own lives. Pupils are proud, active citizens of their school.

p.3

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

The school's personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum, including relationships and sex education (RSE), is well planned. Pupils learn about healthy relationships, different types of families, and, at an age-appropriate stage, about puberty and the changes their bodies go through. Pupils know how to keep themselves safe in the community and online. Leaders share online safety guidance with families.

p.3

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils have many opportunities to develop their talents and interests. Every pupil learns a musical instrument. The school offers a range of clubs and memorable trips and visits. Through the 'Richmond Hill Passport,' pupils broaden their experiences, including spending a night away from home. Some pupils also work towards bespoke personal targets that prepare them for the next stage of their lives.

p.3

Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard

Pupils take pride in their leadership roles, such as serving as ambassadors. Effective pastoral support meets pupils' needs. Parents and carers value the level of care that the school provides for their children highly.

p.3

Achievement Expected standard

Pupils achieve academic outcomes in national tests that are broadly in line with national averages. In the early years and in phonics, pupils make a positive start, and in the national multiplication tables check pupils have attained above the national average over time. In reading, writing and mathematics, pupils generally reach the standard expected for their age.

p.3

Achievement Expected standard

Pupils make progress from their starting points across the core subjects of reading, writing and mathematics. They secure the basics of reading, writing and mathematics in a timely way. Their writing develops in length and accuracy over time. Progress in other subjects can be seen in pupils’ books and, for example, in videos that clearly demonstrate pupils becoming more accomplished when performing music as a class over time. Disadvantaged pupils achieve well, and any gaps with other pupils nationally are narrowing. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those known to children's social care make suitable progress from their individual starting points. While many pupils develop detailed knowledge and skills across the curriculum, this is not the case for some pupils in some subjects.

p.3

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Leaders have introduced a coherent, well-ordered curriculum. It identifies the important knowledge and concepts that pupils learn, and clear end goals, from the early years to the end of Year 6. Leaders rigorously root teaching on what research shows works well. They have a systematic approach to evaluating the quality of pupils’ educational experience.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Reading and writing are planned carefully, so that pupils do not develop gaps in their learning. Phonics is taught well, and teachers check that pupils move through the programme securely. In writing, pupils build important knowledge over time, and their accuracy improves when teachers give them feedback. In mathematics, pupils begin the day with an activity that helps them recall earlier learning. In some classes, pupils take on challenges that make them think hard, and explain their reasoning with confidence, for example when working out how many triangles they can find in a diagram.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

Teachers typically explain new learning clearly and draw on secure subject knowledge. In the core subjects, pupils often build their knowledge and skills well. For example, in English, pupils explore ambitious vocabulary, discussing the meaning and origins of words such as 'earnestly' and 'apprehensively' and using them accurately in their writing.

p.4

Curriculum and teaching Expected standard

In some subjects, such as art and science, teachers make highly effective choices that lead to pupils learning particularly well. This is not engrained in some other subjects. Where this is the case, teachers’ choices do not consistently help pupils to learn the particular ways of thinking and working that those subjects demand. At times, pupils complete tasks that do not encourage them to think deeply for themselves.

p.4

Early years Expected standard

Leaders have a clear vision for the early years and high expectations of what children can achieve. They have planned a curriculum that sequences the knowledge and skills children learn from the nursery through to the end of Reception, so that children are ready for their next steps.

p.4

Early years Expected standard

The nursery provides a rich environment that helps children to learn. Adults design activities skilfully to develop the areas children most need, for example helping children build their fine motor control by using bulldog clips and padlocks. Relationships between adults and children are caring, joyful and positive. Children settle into well-established routines, cooperate with one another and play happily alongside their friends.

p.4

Early years Expected standard

Adults teach phonics well. They check children's understanding during teaching and as children write. They correct letter reversals. Children develop secure number knowledge and a comfortable pencil grip. Leaders plan carefully to address gaps in children's learning, rather than leaving this to chance.

p.4

Early years Expected standard

Transitions into school, and on into Year 1, are carefully organised. Adults get to know children's needs before they start, which helps children to settle and learn. The school sets aside time for children to learn through play, although providing more time for this would consistently deepen their learning further.

p.4

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders are clear and unequivocal in their commitment to improving the school, and they are proud of what they have achieved. They understand the school's context, its strengths and the areas it needs to develop. A determination that every pupil belongs, whatever their background or needs, runs through all the school's work. Leaders act on the findings of their careful monitoring, deploying staff and resources where they will help pupils most.

p.5

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Leaders take a careful, research-informed approach to the curriculum and to teaching. Subject leaders are involved in planning how learning builds and in checking its quality. Professional development is a clear priority, combining opportunities within the school and across the trust. Staff engage with these opportunities eagerly. Staff feel well supported with their workload and know they can always ask for help.

p.5

Leadership and governance Expected standard

The school is part of a collaborative trust that is committed to developing leaders. Executive leaders, trustees and governors take a strategic view of improvement. This view is informed by leaders' detailed systems for gathering, analysing and evaluating the school's performance. Those responsible for governance use this reliable evidence to support and challenge leaders. Those responsible for governance share the school's commitment to inclusion. Resources are directed to the school's priorities and where they will have the most impact. Trustees and governors understand their statutory duties and carry them out conscientiously.

p.5

Leadership and governance Expected standard

Parents are very positive about the school. Those who have pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are extremely complimentary about the nature of the support that their children receive.

p.5