A primary school in Lincoln is “surprised and disappointed” after a recent Ofsted rating of ‘requires improvement’.
Sir Francis Hill Community Primary School on Bristol Drive in Lincoln was the subject of an Ofsted inspection on November 8 and 9 last year, hoping to follow the trend of its last inspection – which saw the school score a ‘good’ rating in 2017.
The school did remain in the ‘good’ category for some of the criteria, including behaviour and attitudes and personal development, but areas such as education quality, early years provision and leadership were criticised by inspectors.
The latter three categories were deemed to require improvement by Ofsted, bringing the overall rating down to ‘requires improvement’ also, thus breaking a streak of three consecutive good scores for the school.
Inspectors recognised that the pupils at Sir Francis Hill are “happy and safe” thanks to the way teachers and support staff “show that they care” about them, as well as the “ambitious” curriculum and the “positive” behaviour in and around the classroom.
Arrangements for safeguarding are also considered to be effective by Ofsted, who reserved praise for the time pupils receive during the day to share how they are feeling or any worries they may have.
However, Ofsted’s inspection claims that the school curriculum is “not yet taught consistently well” and leaders are “not routinely checking how well the curriculum is being taught” – despite also saying it is clear and well-planned.
Inspectors suggest that a lack of consistency can be found in some aspects of teaching, namely in reading and phonics programmes for early year pupils.
The report (PDF) states: “In key stages 1 and 2, in some lessons, teachers impart too much knowledge for pupils to be able to remember it well enough.
“As a result, children and pupils do not always learn new knowledge in a way that helps them to know and remember more over time, including by building on what they already know.
“Leaders should ensure that teachers understand how best to teach knowledge across the different subjects in all year groups, so that children and pupils can securely build on their learning over time and are well prepared for their next stage of education.”
Gareth Nichols, Head Teacher at Sir Francis Hill Community Primary School, said in an email to parents and guardians: “We are sure that you will share our surprise and disappointment at how Ofsted assessed our school overall. However, whilst we will consider all points raised, we are pleased that Ofsted recognised the many positive and valuable aspects of SirFrancisHill.
“However, our plans to further develop the curriculum started in September and are a work in progress. So, whilst we were told by Ofsted that our current strategy and approach were strong, the inspection did not take account of this direction of travel and only reflected the snapshot of what was seen at the time of the visit.
“A significant amount of Ofsted time was focused on early years. Due to the impact of the pandemic and staff changes, this was already a priority for the school – and the very reason that we recruited Mr Fish-Clark into a new Assistant Head position at the start of the year. Those of you with children in early years will know the very positive impact that this change is starting to have.
“The good news is that we’ll have the chance to be re-inspected at some point within the next 12-30 months. We will reflect on all the areas identified in the report, but we look forward to the opportunity to show how the work we started at the beginning of this year will continue to deliver improvements across our school.
“We would like to thank all parents for their continued support of our school, staff and pupils.”
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
Exciting news for MyLocal app users and The Lincolnite readers! Our latest update is now available to download from your app store and comes packed with the best local news experience you can enjoy.
Revamped News Feed: Enjoy faster loading times and smoother scrolling that make catching up on local news a breeze.
New Play Video Feed: Dive into a dynamic video feed that brings local stories to life in a whole new way.
Enhanced In-App Browser: Access external links quickly and efficiently, right from the app, without any distractions.
Update your MyLocal app from your app store (version 2.73) now and start enjoying these great new features today!
P.S.: Start your MyLocal membership today to support MyLocal and The Lincolnite deliver you a better local news experience and honest journalism from across Lincolnshire.
P.P.S.: We have some huge things in the pipeline, stay tuned!
Exciting news for MyLocal app users and The Lincolnite readers! Our latest update is now available to download from your app store and comes packed with the best local news experience you can enjoy.
Revamped News Feed: Enjoy faster loading times and smoother scrolling that make catching up on local news a breeze.
New Play Video Feed: Dive into a dynamic video feed that brings local stories to life in a whole new way.
Enhanced In-App Browser: Access external links quickly and efficiently, right from the app, without any distractions.
Update your MyLocal app from your app store (version 2.73) now and start enjoying these great new features today!
P.S.: Start your MyLocal membership today to support MyLocal and The Lincolnite deliver you a better local news experience and honest journalism from across Lincolnshire.
P.P.S.: We have some huge things in the pipeline, stay tuned!