Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School

Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School is a happy rural school where pupils feel safe and relationships are positive. Behaviour and attitudes are strong, leadership is effective, and the early years provision is good. Leaders have made many positive changes since the headteacher joined in September 2023, and staff feel valued. Pupils with SEND are supported well, reading has been prioritised, and the early years provision is a notable strength. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. However, the quality of education and personal development require improvement. The curriculum has been reviewed swiftly, but in some subjects essential knowledge is not sequenced clearly enough, leaving gaps in pupils' learning. Phonics teaching is not consistently sharp: mistakes are not always corrected, and some pupils read books that are too difficult. Pupils' understanding of protected characteristics and different cultures, faiths and beliefs is underdeveloped, and some language used at playtimes is inappropriate. Attendance is a continuing concern. The school's approach to tackling absence is thorough and robust and is having a positive impact, but persistent absenteeism remains stubbornly high. This inspection was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors took the pandemic's impact into account.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and feel safe in a positive, respectful school community.
• Staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour, and pupils are attentive and engaged in lessons.
• Leaders have made many positive changes in a short space of time and staff feel valued.
• Governors are well informed and check the impact of improvement actions.
• The mathematics curriculum is well established and carefully sequenced from the early years.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and supported well, including through 'The Den' provision.
• Reading has been prioritised, with staff trained in the phonics programme and extra help for pupils who fall behind.
• Early years provision is strong, with effective support, high-quality talk and a strong focus on books and rhymes.
• The school promotes STEM learning effectively through activities such as building go-karts and investigating wind turbines.
• The school's approach to analysing and tackling attendance is thorough and robust.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, knowledge is not sequenced clearly enough, so new learning does not build on what pupils already know.
• Phonics teaching is inconsistent: pupils' mistakes are not always corrected, and some pupils read books that are too difficult.
• The curriculum does not provide enough opportunities for pupils to experience the world beyond their immediate locality.
• Pupils' understanding of protected characteristics and different cultures, faiths and beliefs is underdeveloped.
• Some pupils use inappropriate language at playtimes and do not recognise the impact of their words on others.
• Persistent absenteeism remains stubbornly high, despite the school's robust attendance work.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.6% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.8% of pupils at Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School had 20.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 12.2% of pupils at Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School received £6,995 and spent £7,284 for each of its 212 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £477,000 (-£2,254 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in York (East Riding Of Yorkshire) · East Riding of Yorkshire local authority: places and applications

What is Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School have?

Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School has 221 pupils on roll.

What age range does Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School cover?

Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 40% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School?

Holme-upon-Spalding Moor Primary School is at High Street, Holme-upon-Spalding Moor, York, North Yorkshire, YO43 4HL.