Holt House Infant School: 'Highly inclusive' Sheffield primary gets first Ofsted inspection in over 10 years

Holt House Infant School, in Millhouses, was last visited by the education watchdog in 2009, where it was rated ‘outstanding’ in all areas. Previously, this meant inspectors would be not return for as many as five years at a time, except for ‘short inspections’ or if there were concerns.

As The Star reported in September, this and complications brought on by Covid-19 led to ‘Outsanding’ schools like Holt House and others not receiving a monitoring visit for a decade.

Now, parents at Holt House will be glad to know the school has not been tarnished in the past 13 years. In its newest report, based on a visit in October this year, the Millhouses school was rated ‘Good’ overall.

The report reads: “This is a welcoming and highly inclusive school [...]. Pupils understand why adults have high expectations of them to work hard and behave well. Pupils play harmoniously at breaktimes and lunchtimes.

"Pupils relish their roles and responsibilities. The school councillors develop their leadership qualities. All pupils fundraise for a range of charities. Many pupils access a healthy start to the day in breakfast club. Relationships between adults and pupils are extremely positive. Diversity of people and cultures is woven through the curriculum, including through stories.”

The school was also rated ‘Outstanding’ for personal development, with inspectors praising the range of clubs and extra-curricular activities on offer, including French, yoga, swimming, as well as noting all pupils take part in fundraising.

Inspectors wrote: “The curriculum to promote pupils’ personal development is exceptional. Leaders promote important values, such as democracy, rule of law, tolerance and mutual respect [...]. Pupils learn in an age-appropriate way to recognise healthy and unhealthy relationships. Adults support pupils to learn how to recognise and manage their feelings and their behaviour.”

The otherwise glowing report only noted that the outdoor learning environment for Reception was “not as well developed” as for pre-school children, and that governors were “overly positive” and therefore not scrutinising leaders fully to find room to improve.

Holt House is for children aged 3 – 7 and has 180 pupils on its roll.