Lincoln Gardens Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 4 May 2023

Pupils love attending this friendly and safe school. Leaders have high expectations for pupils. Leaders are committed to the school being an inclusive and welcoming place. They are successful in their aims. Leaders have strengthened the curriculum that pupils experience. This is improving pupils' achievement. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are disadvantaged are well supported and increasingly achieve well. Staff take time to teach pupils how to be successful learners by encouraging pupils to follow the 'Lincoln Gardens code'. As a result, pupils display positive attitudes to learning. Classrooms are alive with the buzz of enthusiastic pupils working hard. Leaders provide strong support for pupils and their families. Pupils feel confident that staff will help them if they have any worries. One pupil, who represented the views of many, said, 'Pupils feel safe and free. All worries are gone at school.' On the playground, pupil play leaders organise games for younger pupils, while the 'Blue Cap Crew' help other children to resolve occasional fallings-out. Rare reports of bullying are well managed by staff. Pupils celebrate the achievements of their friends in the weekly 'Out of This World' assembly, while their friends applaud their efforts. This is an inclusive and welcoming school where pupils are happy.

What the school should improve

• Rates of absence and persistent absence are high. This means that some pupils miss out on important learning alongside their peers. Leaders should continue to work with parents to secure further improvements in pupils' attendance and a reduction in the number of pupils who are persistently absent.
• The system to check that pupils have remembered what they are taught in subjects in the wider curriculum is not used well and adds to teachers' workload. Teachers and leaders do not consistently use the information that they gather to adapt the curriculum to help pupils recover any gaps in their knowledge. Leaders should refine the assessment system for these subjects and ensure that teachers use the information that they gather to address any gaps in pupils' knowledge.

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