Northrepps Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Raise achievement in English and mathematics in key stage 2 by ensuring that

teachers:

• fully implement the requirements of the national curriculum for English and mathematics
• have high expectations for what pupils are able to achieve and check that they are on track to achieve them
• check that pupils’ written work is neat and carefully presented.
• Improve the leadership of and management in the school by ensuring that:
  • governors understand what pupils can achieve and are able to challenge school leaders when this achievement is not good enough
  • governors monitor the school website to check it complies fully with government requirements
  • governors are clear about how the pupil premium grant is spent and the impact this is having on diminishing the difference between outcomes for pupils eligible for this funding and other pupils nationally
  • subject leaders support teachers across the school, particularly in improving achievement in English and mathematics in key stage 2
  • the broad curriculum the school offers is closely aligned with the requirements of the national curriculum
  • pupils understand how to apply the skills, knowledge and understanding they gain
  • in the wider curriculum across all curriculum subjects leadership of the early years foundation stage is secured so that children achieve their best, particularly in reading, writing and number, and are ready to start learning in Reception.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• The school federated with a nearby primary school in April 2016. The headteacher became the substantive head of both schools in September 2016. This has enabled governors to review the school’s staffing structure and appoint an assistant headteacher. She and the headteacher have accurately evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They are taking rapid action to address the weaknesses in key stage 2 but acknowledge that it is too soon to see the impact of these actions.
• The new non-negotiables for teaching ensure that teachers know precisely what is expected of them. These are being put into action in the classroom and teachers are now effectively held to account for the progress pupils make and the standards they achieve. The headteacher and governors acknowledge that this was not always the case prior to the federation, especially in key stage 2.
• Pupil progress meetings are rigorous and effective because they involve teachers and teaching assistants (TAs) getting together to discuss the achievement of each pupil in detail. This enables teachers and TAs to make sure every pupil gets the right help in class. The leader for special educational needs (SENCo) also attends these meetings and helps teachers identify if a pupil needs additional specialist support.
• Training for teachers and TAs has improved since the federation. The headteacher meets with TAs once a week to review their work and identify any specific training needs. Teachers are given the opportunity to visit other schools locally. This has been particularly helpful for key stage 2 teachers but it is too early to see the impact of these visits on teaching in the classroom or on pupil outcomes.
• Subject leadership is at a very early stage of development. The headteacher has identified teachers who will lead their subjects across both schools in the federation. The new mathematics leader has a clear plan of action with the right priorities to improve teaching and learning in her subject. She has identified that pupils at Northrepps are not consistently developing reasoning or problem-solving skills – a requirement of the national curriculum. She has started to work with teachers and TAs to make sure this is improved, but it is too soon to see the impact of this work.
• The school took over the pre-school provision in September 2016. However, senior leaders have not yet identified who will lead the early years foundation stage (EYFS). Consequently there is not a clear plan for the curriculum or teaching and learning from age two to five.
• The school provides many opportunities for pupils to develop their good spiritual, moral, social and cultural skills and to be effective citizens in modern Britain, through additional curriculum activities like Forest School. All pupils visit the nearby woodland every week and are taught how to work and play safely together. They are also taught about the environment and how to care for the plants, trees and wildlife they observe. For example, they have made detailed observations of the small river that runs through the woodland. However, senior leaders and teachers have not made clear links between the good work pupils carry out in Forest School and the national curriculum. Consequently pupils see Forest School as separate from their work back in school, saying ‘It’s mainly about experience; it’s about learning to take risks and how to manage risks.’ When asked if it helps them with science or technology or improving their writing skills, pupils do not understand how this is relevant. Hence the school’s curriculum is not effectively joined up and holds back pupils’ progress across all national curriculum subjects, especially in key stage 2.
• The school uses the pupil premium grant well to enable eligible pupils to catch up with other pupils nationally. The interventions programme is managed by the SENCo. This is particularly effective because the TAs, who lead the small-group and individual sessions, are carefully trained and pupil outcomes are closely monitored by the SENCo.
• The sport premium is used well to provide training for teachers and additional exciting opportunities for pupils provided by the school’s sports coach. Until recently some money had been used to transport pupils to and from swimming and for swimming lessons. The headteacher recognised that this was against the conditions set by the government for the use of these funds, and they are no longer used for this purpose.
• The local authority gives good support to the school. The recent audit highlighted the same weaknesses identified by the headteacher and assistant headteacher.

Governance of the school

• Governance of the school requires improvement.
• The federation in April 2016 resulted in the governing body being re-constituted and strengthened. Governors realise they are not yet fully effective and have commissioned an independent review of governance, which is scheduled to take place before the Easter holidays.
• Governors know the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They realise they have not been sufficiently challenging about pupils’ achievement in key stage 2 in the past. They have put in place a training plan to ensure they have the knowledge and skills they need; for example, recent training about how to evaluate pupil outcomes.
• The vice-chair attends a weekly leadership meeting with the headteacher and assistant headteacher. This provides information and an opportunity to check that improvements like the non-negotiables for teaching are having a good impact on improving teaching and learning.
• Governors acknowledge that they have not checked the school website and were not aware that it did not comply with government requirements.
• Governors know that pupil premium money is spent on small-group and individual support to improve pupils’ progress, particularly in key stage 2, but do not know how effective these approaches are. The headteacher is in the process of revising how pupil premium is reported on the school website but has not shared this with governors yet.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• All policies and procedures for safeguarding pupils are in place and staff have regular training and updates. All staff are clear about who the designated people are and what to do if there is an allegation against a member of staff or the headteacher.
• The single central register meets requirements. It has recently been audited by the local authority.
• The headteacher tracks and records issues very carefully. She works extremely effectively with external agencies and families to ensure they get the support they need. For example, she is dogged in her pursuit of the right services to support a family in need of early help.
• The yellow incident forms are used well to ensure that any behaviour issues are passed on to the headteacher. She uses this information effectively to analyse any patterns in behaviour or triggers that can be avoided, thus helping staff to manage pupils’ behaviour more effectively.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teachers have established very good relationships with pupils in key stage 2, and this has been instrumental in improving their learning behaviours from September. They come into class ready to learn and apply themselves with concentration to the tasks set.
• Pupils in key stage 2 love their visits to the local woodland for Forest School. Pupils listen attentively to the teacher and are silent when they are asked to listen out for specific bird calls. They set about finding fuel for the fire with care as well as enthusiasm. They know and understand how to be safe in this potentially very risky environment due to the good direction and support they receive from their teachers and TAs. Pupils are able to give reasons for safe behaviour in the woodland but teachers do not explain how they can transfer these good reasoning skills, for example to their mathematics work.
• Reasoning is developed well in mathematics lessons in key stage 1. This is because the teachers take every opportunity to ask pupils to explain their approach to calculation or solving problems.
• Teaching assistants give good support to groups of pupils in lessons in key stages 1 and 2. This is due to the good training they receive from the headteacher and clear instructions about how to work with pupils given by teachers. They know which pupils need extra support to behave appropriately in key stage 2. For example, during a Forest School lesson, the TA spotted two pupils who were at risk of being silly, walked directly to them and talked quietly to them both, refocusing them on the task they had been given.
• In key stage 1 TAs give effective support to small groups; for example in a writing session directing Year 1 pupils to use the spelling card and find words they need for themselves.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. The Forest School curriculum has been instrumental in supporting the development of pupils’ self-awareness, their ability and confidence to talk about their feelings and their ability to recognise safe and sensible behaviour, especially in key stage 2. This is because pupils are successfully taught how to look after themselves and others.
• Pupils love their school. They feel safe and say there is no bullying of any kind. Occasional name-calling is dealt with immediately by adults on duty or by the headteacher.
• Pupils say they can talk to adults about any concerns or worries they have. The school ‘worry box’ also provides a safe place to share concerns. The school council takes responsibility for this, opening it once a week and dealing with issues raised. For example, they talk to the person with the worry and with those causing the worry. The headteacher supervises and supports as required. This process effectively helps pupils take responsibility for their actions and behaviour towards others.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils play together happily at breaktimes and conduct themselves sensibly in the school. Pupils know and understand the school’s approach to behaviour management and say the rewards and sanctions system encourages good behaviour.
• Pupils listen attentively in lessons, particularly in Reception and key stage 1. Behaviour in key stage 2 has improved from September due to the good relationships with adults in the classroom, and incidents of poor behaviour have decreased.
• Parents say behaviour is good. One parent said, ‘My children are leaving school daily full of enthusiasm and are ready to return the next morning.’
• Attendance has improved since September because the headteacher works with the local authority attendance officer to make sure pupils are in school and on time every day. Robust action is taken when this is needed.
• Flexi-school pupils impact on overall attendance and persistent absence because the two days they are working at home are counted as authorised absence. When flexi-school pupils are taken out of the figures, attendance is slightly above average and persistent absence is low.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Work in pupils’ books in key stage 2 indicates considerable gaps in their knowledge, skills and understanding in English and mathematics due to a legacy of poor teaching. They are starting to make better progress from their starting points in September because they are more settled and apply themselves well to tasks set by teachers. However there are no pupils, identified as most-able, who are working at greater depth.
• Weaknesses in the curriculum also hold back pupils’ learning; for example in Year 3 mathematics, pupils are expected to tackle work set out in the Year 5 programme of study for mathematics although in Year 5 work is not in line with expectations for that year group.
• Pupils do not get sufficient opportunities to apply the skills they learn in English and mathematics in their topic work. For example, topic books are often untidy and there are no examples of pupils using the skills they learn in English and mathematics, for example to understand the problems of living in an African country or to write at length about life in Victorian times.
• Pupils read well in key stage 2 due to the good systematic phonics teaching they receive in key stage 1. However, their choice of reading book is not carefully monitored and some pupils are in a rush to read rather than thinking about what they are learning from the text as they read.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points because the SENCo ensures they get the right support for their learning and behaviour and monitors their progress carefully.
• Pupils eligible for pupil premium also make good progress because the small-group and one-to-one support they receive is helping them to catch up with other pupils.
• Pupils make good progress from their starting points in key stage 1. Work in pupils’ books from September indicates that this applies to all ability groups and disadvantaged pupils. For example the most able pupils in Year 2 are already working at greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Topic work is less well developed and progress in writing and mathematics is not as evident in these books.
• Pupils make good progress in subjects like music, art and languages because they have specialist teachers for these subjects.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• The manager of the pre-school unit provides good leadership to her team. She ensures they understand how to work with the children and support their learning. The manager and her staff all have the qualifications required by the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’. However, because there is no designated leader for the early years foundation stage there is not a carefully planned approach to developing all the areas of learning from age two to age five. This holds back learning in reading, writing and number.
• Provision is good in the pre-school, especially for two- and three-year-olds. There are a wide range of activities offered, providing good opportunities for children to develop their communications skills; talking to adults and to each other about their activities. There are good links between the Forest School work and activities in the outside area.
• Children start the pre-school with knowledge, skills and understanding similar to other children of their age. They make good progress in most of the areas of learning, especially speaking, understanding, self-confidence and awareness, making relationships, health and self-care, expressive arts and design, physical development and understanding the world.
• Children usually behave and concentrate well on the range of activities they choose but some can be over-boisterous because the expectations for listening and attention and learning behaviour are not always clear to them. For example, two boys were using a chalk board to create pictures but were not clear how to hold the chalk pens or how to use them safely and carefully.
• Three- and four-year-olds have just started to have phonics lessons with the Reception teacher to help them develop their reading skills, but there is no provision for writing and number as yet. Consequently children are not fully ready to start in Reception and have a lot of catching up to do in order to be ready for Year 1. For example, not all children can write their name or even the first letter of their name when they start in Reception.
• Children make good progress during their Reception Year due to the good provision and good teaching they receive. TAs are well trained and support learning in, for example, writing and phonics effectively. Children learn to read well due to the effective, systematic approach to phonics that continues into Year 1. However, their progress in developing their understanding of number is not as evident because there is no permanent record of their own recording of number work in their books.
• Children are well cared for in the pre-school and in Reception. The outdoor learning areas are suitably fenced in and children are taught to be safe and work safely together. All the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the early years framework are met.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 120836 Norfolk 10023503 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 2 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 27 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Alistair MacKay Angie Hamilton 01263 579396 http://www.northrepps.norfolk.sch.uk head@northrepps.norfolk.sch.uk Date of previous inspection May 2013

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information in the SEND Information Report because this does not specify staff expertise and training or how governors deal with complaints about the provision; the use and analysis of the impact of pupil premium grant; the use and analysis of the impact of the sport premium funding and the summary of pupil outcomes on its website.
• Since the last inspection there has been a complete change in teaching staff and a new headteacher. There is a temporary teacher in Year 6 covering the substantive teacher, who is on maternity leave. The school federated with Erpingham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School in a hard federation with one governing body for both schools from April 2016.
• The school took over the management of the on-site pre-school from September 2016. This is now part of the school and caters for children from two to four years old. This provision has a manager, qualified at Level 3, as required by the ‘Statutory framework for the early years foundation stage’.
• Northrepps is a very small primary school where most pupils are of White British heritage with none identified as speaking English as an additional language.
• There is no information about whether the school meets the government’s floor standards because there are fewer than 11 pupils in Year 6.
• There are average numbers of pupils eligible for free school meals and identified as having special educational needs and/or disabilities, with an above-average number of pupils who have an education, health and care plan.
• More pupils arrive at and leave the school at different times of the year than is found in most primary schools.
• The school works with parents who home-school their children using the flexi-school approach as set out in the Department for Education’s Elective Home Education Policy. This is negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Parents have a contract with the school and this can be terminated by the school at any time if parents do not meet the terms set out in the contract. The school can refuse to provide flexi-school if this is not appropriate for the child. This approach has an impact on the school’s attendance data because on the two days pupils are at home, this is recorded as an authorised absence.

Information about this inspection

• During the inspection meetings were held with the headteacher, assistant headteacher, teachers, teaching assistants and non-teaching staff, parents, pupils, governors and the local authority.
• The inspector scrutinised all pupils’ written work in mathematics, English and topic work with the headteacher and assistant headteacher.
• The inspector scrutinised the school website and a range of documentation including everything related to safeguarding pupils.
• The inspector visited five lessons or parts of lessons including Forest School. All these observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher or assistant headteacher. The inspector read with three pupils from key stage 2 and visited the breakfast club run by the school.
• The inspector analysed three responses from Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents, three free text messages from parents, 14 responses on the online questionnaire for staff and two responses on the online questionnaire for pupils.

Inspection team

Julie Winyard, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector