Ofsted concerned standards may be slipping at 'good' Sheffield primary school

Hillsborough Primary School, on Parkside Road, was visited by the education watchdog on January 29 and 30, when it managed to maintain its ‘good’ Ofsted rating.

In the report, Ofsted said the institution “continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that standards may be declining.”

Headteacher Nicola Wileman said: “We were really pleased that the work that we have done as a staff team over the past 18 months at Hillsborough was recognised during the inspection and I am particularly proud of the way our curriculum approach was received. The children, as always, did us proud too and could succinctly articulate what it was like to be a pupil at this school.”

Ms. Wileman added another inspection in 18 months will show how standards are continually improving.

Inspectors praised her for working with the Tapton School Academy Trust (TSAT), governors and seniors leaders to make a positive difference since joining the school in 2018.

Work to improve behaviour in classrooms has had a “positive impact” and teachers consistently follow the new behaviour system, which has seen the number of exclusions recently increase.

However, a few pupils do not always follow the rules during lunchtime which has caused some parents to express concern.

This issue, as stated in the report, is something leaders are aware of and are planning to tackle.

Inspectors also noted how the curriculum is “well planned” to ensure pupils remember and build on knowledge from previous years, highlighting maths in particular which is “taught well” across the school.

Pupils enjoy reading but when they fall behind, regular reading is not prioritised which can slow down their progress and books do not match the phonics knowledge of those pupils in Key Stage 1 (KS1) meaning they struggle to read as the books are too hard, which inhibits independence and confidence.

The school must now reduce the number of behaviour incidents over lunchtimes and ensure provision during this time meets the needs of all pupils.

Staff must continue to monitor exclusions closely and reduce the number of fixed-term exclusions, and improve reading to make sure all pupils succeed.