Deeping St Nicholas Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 17 November 2021

Pupils and staff at this small school are like one big family. Pupils say everyone gets to know everyone else quickly. Older pupils enjoy spending time with younger pupils and help them to play. There is an inclusive culture and pupils treat each other as they would want to be treated. Pupils say that they feel happy and safe at this school. Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve. Pupils engage well with, and enjoy, learning. Pupils develop a love for reading and mathematics. They like the fact that teachers can spend more time with them as individuals to help them to understand what they are learning. Pupils take pride in having wider responsibilities across the school. Many pupils are proud to be on the school council. They understand that this makes a positive contribution to the school and to all those that attend. Pupils are well behaved in classrooms and pay close attention to teachers during lessons. Pupils consider occasions of misbehaviour to be rare. When it does happen, teachers act quickly so that lessons are not interrupted. Pupils know what bullying is. They are confident that teachers deal with any bullying effectively.

What the school should improve

• Leaders have not ensured that teachers are teaching the most important knowledge explicitly enough in a few foundation subjects. As a result, pupils do not remember important knowledge well and struggle to recall it. Leaders must ensure that teachers know how to identify and explicitly teach the most important knowledge in all subjects.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)