The John Harrox Primary School, Moulton

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 18 March 2025

John Harrox Primary School is an inclusive and welcoming school. The school encourages all pupils to be caring, courteous, conscientious, considerate and cooperative. These core values are woven throughout the school. Pupils display them through their interactions and in their work. They are recognised for their achievements connected to the values and wear their reward badges with pride. The school has high expectations of all pupils. Most pupils live up to these expectations and achieve well. Behaviour in classrooms is calm. Pupils are welcoming to visitors and demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning. Older pupils enjoy supporting younger pupils. For example, the reading ambassadors relish the opportunity to read to children in the early years. They share stories with enthusiasm and delight. Pupils feel safe in school. They are confident that staff will deal with any worries or concerns that they have. Most pupils attend school well. They are enthusiastic about the enrichment opportunities on offer. Pupils enjoy attending a range of clubs and activities, including gardening club, chess club, hockey club and other sport-related clubs and activities.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects, the curriculum does not set out clearly the disciplinary knowledge that pupils should learn. This means that teaching does not consistently help pupils to develop the complexity of their thinking. The school should ensure that the curriculum sets out clearly the disciplinary knowledge that should be taught, and when.
• The strategic oversight of some aspects of the school's work does not provide the necessary information to the governing body. This includes work undertaken connected to a minority of pupils who need additional support with their behaviour. This means that the school does not provide the governing body with all the information that it needs to hold the school fully to account for its work. The school and the governing body should make sure that they maintain thorough oversight across all aspects of the provision to aid continual improvement.
• The school has not ensured that staff in the early years develop children's communication reliably during free-choice activities and imaginative play. This means that children in the early years do not consolidate and build their language skills as quickly as they might. The school must ensure that all staff maximise their interactions with children so that they can develop children's knowledge, skills and vocabulary consistently through talk.

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