The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy

The school is performing well overall, with inspectors finding good provision across education quality, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years. Pupils flourish in a lively and welcoming environment where staff know families well, behaviour expectations are high, and pupils feel safe and happy. The curriculum is well planned and builds progressively from early years to Year 2, and reading is a particular strength: phonics is taught expertly, pupils read books matched to their knowledge, and those needing help catch up effectively. Children in early years and pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported well, and pupils with SEND achieve well. Parents are overwhelmingly positive, staff feel supported, and trustees know the school and hold leaders to account effectively. Safeguarding is effective. Pupils’ personal development is generally strong, including their understanding of respect and safety, though their understanding of some British values is less secure. Attendance is improving but remains a concern for some groups of pupils who are persistently absent and therefore miss important learning. Inspectors also found that in some subjects, teaching activities occasionally do not focus sufficiently on the intended knowledge, which limits how well pupils remember what they have learned. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is a single-academy trust with an acting headteacher who has been in post since January.

Strengths

• Pupils flourish in a lively, welcoming school where staff know families well and build respectful relationships.
• High expectations of behaviour are met; pupils feel safe, happy and play well together.
• The curriculum identifies important knowledge and builds progressively from early years to the end of Year 2.
• Strong phonics and reading provision helps pupils become confident, fluent readers, with effective catch-up support.
• Children in early years and pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported effectively to access learning.
• Pupils with SEND achieve well, and support staff are knowledgeable about their needs.
• Pupils are enthusiastic learners with positive attitudes, and those who struggle to manage emotions receive effective support.
• Personal development is supported well, including safety, respect and understanding of different religions and cultures.
• Staff feel supported, leaders manage workload and well-being well, and trustees provide effective support and challenge.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, teaching activities do not focus sufficiently on the intended knowledge, so pupils do not remember learning as well as they could.
• Pupils’ understanding of some British values is not as strong as it could be, limiting their understanding of some aspects of life in modern Britain.
• Some groups of pupils remain persistently absent, missing important learning and achieving less well than they could.
• New attendance systems need to fully support pupils who require help to attend well.

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 The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy attended 93.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.9% 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, 1.4% of pupils at The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy 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 The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy had 21.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.5% 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, 8.2% of pupils at The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.3% 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 2024–25 The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy received £9,454 and spent £8,048 for each of its 189 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £357,000 (£1,894 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Gainsborough · Lincolnshire local authority: places and applications

What is The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy have?

The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy has 231 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy cover?

The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy for pupils aged 0 to 7.

Where is The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy?

The Gainsborough Hillcrest Early Years Academy is at Heapham Road, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, DN21 1SW.