West Earlham Infant and Nursery School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that teachers provide more opportunities for children to develop and improve their writing skills in the early years so that more children achieve the national expectation at the end of Reception.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The headteacher’s vision of a strongly inclusive school where every pupil achieves their very best has been embraced by pupils and staff. This has led to all pupils, regardless of individual need or starting point, feeling safe and achieving outstanding results. All pupils make strong progress across a wide range of subjects, and standards continue to rise.
• Leaders know the school well and what they need to do to continually improve and maintain the high quality of provision and impressive pupils’ outcomes. The staff team states: ‘We are aspirational in this school. We don’t put a ceiling on what our pupils can achieve.’
• Staff receive highly supportive training, advice and guidance to maintain the high quality of teaching across the school. Teachers, including those new to the profession, set themselves high standards, reflect on their practice and are unfailing in their commitment to improve pupils’ outcomes. Staff morale is very high and their responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire show unanimously that they are proud to be working at the school.
• The leadership team has a very clear understanding of the strengths of the school and acts extremely quickly to address any potential weaknesses. They monitor the quality of teaching carefully and set targets for improvement if needed. Subject leaders are confident and knowledgeable. They have an extensive knowledge of effective teaching approaches in their areas and have supported all staff to develop and improve their practice.
• A strong feature of the school is the investment in the training of teaching assistants, and the emphasis on focused, and very regular, discussions about learning. As a result, teaching assistants are very effective in both conducting interventions with groups of pupils and supporting in class.
• Leaders’ systems for managing the performance of staff are exemplary. All members of staff agree ambitious targets that closely align with school development priorities. Staff receive high-quality training that enables them to achieve their targets and develop their practice.
• Pupils benefit from a very broad curriculum based around exciting, relevant experiences. This increases pupils’ understanding and helps them produce high-quality work. The school gives specific attention to basic skills but also provides pupils with a rich range of subjects and activities. Learning is enhanced by trips to places of interest, special events and visitors to school.
• Extra-curricular opportunities are extensive. These inspire pupils and contribute positively to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural understanding. Activities include visits, for example to Norwich Castle and the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Pupils learn to be responsible and caring citizens by litter-picking in the local community and making regular visits to a local care home for elderly people. Pupils’ mathematical skills are developed extremely well through the real-life experience of running a weekly market stall at the end of the school day. Pupils sort and price food items donated by a local supermarket and sell them to families and the local community. Pupils appreciate the rich experiences that the school provides for them. Pupils told inspectors that ‘This school is fantastic. We learn a lot here.’
• The pupil premium funding is used extremely well. Leaders and governors swiftly identify any barriers to learning and provide highly personalised and appropriate support. Leaders, including governors, regularly review the impact of spending. This ensures that disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, make rapid progress and often at a greater rate than other pupils in the school and other pupils nationally.
• The primary sport grant is used extremely effectively. Leaders are acutely aware of the importance of physical activity and provide pupils with an extensive range of opportunities. Enthusiastic sports coaches work alongside teachers to teach physical education and provide a wide range of physical activities, including many after-school clubs. Pupils readily participate in the school’s ‘daily mile’ challenge. They told inspectors that they ‘can run faster’ and are ‘getting better’. Leaders also encourage parents to take part in sporting events alongside their children so that families can develop a lifelong love of sport and enjoy a healthy lifestyle together.
• Leaders make skilful use of the additional funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is used very effectively to support pupils’ learning and to give them an equal opportunity to succeed. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and her dedicated team ensure that these pupils make rapid progress from their starting points. Leaders track pupils’ progress routinely. Teachers and teaching assistants provide high-quality support to these pupils and their parents. Leaders make sure that pupils’ welfare and well-being are given the highest priority.
• Leaders have worked hard to gain the trust and support of families and the local community. The school provides a free breakfast every day for children and their parents, which encourages families to enjoy a positive time together before the start of the school day. The school’s informative website, the workshops provided for parents and the support offered in all aspects of parenting enable parents to understand how they can better support their children’s learning at home.
• Parents appreciate the support they receive from the school and the hard work of staff who ‘go above and beyond’ to ensure that their children make strong progress in all areas. Parents describe the school as ‘brilliant’ and ‘really supportive’. One parent stated, ‘The school helps me to help my son with his behaviour and learning.’ Another commented: ‘I can’t fault the school, you can talk to anyone without them judging you. The teachers are very patient. I can see lots of positive changes in my children.’
• The local authority has provided effective support and challenge to the school since the previous inspection. The local authority uses the school to share its excellent practice with other local schools.

Governance of the school

• Governance is a great strength of the school. Governors share the leaders’ clear vision for raising pupils’ aspirations and are relentless in improving all aspects of the school for pupils because ‘only the best is good enough’.
• Governors have contributed to the school’s success through their knowledge about education and their understanding of and respect for the community.
• Governors are rigorous about evaluating the use of additional funding for both disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They receive frequent and detailed reports from leaders and governors hold them to account for the progress made by these groups. Governors use information about pupils’ achievement to decide which aspects of the school they will monitor for themselves.
• Governors keep themselves up to date with national changes in education and participate in local authority training. Consequently, they play a full and very effective role in determining the strategic work of the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are highly effective.
• Training is regular and thorough so that everyone plays their part in keeping pupils safe. All staff understand and use the safeguarding systems of the school. Leaders have successfully developed a culture of vigilance.
• The pastoral support team helps many vulnerable families by working closely with organisations which can provide focused and timely support. The mutual trust that has been built up between the school and the local community is helping this support to have an even stronger impact.
• The school staff are aware of possible local risks of radicalisation and child sexual exploitation. They are confident in making referrals if pupils are likely to be vulnerable.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is excellent. Teachers have high expectations for every pupil, whatever their ability. Teachers organise their lessons so that they focus on accelerating pupils’ learning and so pupils make excellent and sustained progress.
• Teachers and teaching assistants expertly plan lessons that engage pupils’ interests, capture their imagination and rapidly develop their skills. For example, when one pupil brought in a toy aeroplane, it led to the whole class researching aeroplanes on the internet, making models and constructing a giant runway out of paper.
• Teachers ensure that no learning time is lost. Pupils are quick to settle and eager to learn as a result of clear classroom routines and highly effective teaching. Time is used well and teachers manage transitions between initial discussion and group work very effectively.
• Teachers and teaching assistants have very strong subject knowledge due to the well- targeted and widespread professional development that they receive. They use this deep knowledge to precisely target questions that will develop pupils’ understanding and to use misconceptions and mistakes to further increase learning. Teachers use oral and written feedback to guide pupils’ learning. Pupils respond promptly to improve their work so that any gaps in understanding are addressed.
• Reading has a high profile in the school and is taught well. Teachers’ strong phonics knowledge is used to plan interesting activities for pupils. As a result, pupils quickly learn to use the letter sounds to work out unfamiliar words. Older pupils participate in focused lessons to develop their comprehension skills of different texts. Access to the many high-quality books in the school encourages pupils to enjoy reading for pleasure and to improve their reading skills. This is already making a positive difference to pupils’ outcomes in reading.
• Pupils were able to speak about their reading books and they understand the importance of learning to read. One pupil enthusiastically said that reading ‘inspires me to write stories, and that’s what I want to do when I grow up’. This demonstrates the typical love of reading that permeates throughout the school.
• The teaching of mathematics is highly effective. Pupils explore mathematical ideas and deepen their understanding. Teachers encourage pupils to talk through problems so that they can explain how to solve them. As a result, pupils’ written mathematical solutions to problems show excellent applications of their skills.
• The quality and quantity of work in pupils’ books from the previous academic year, and in displays around the school, indicate that the teaching of writing is rapidly improving over time. Evidence in pupils’ books shows that the teaching of writing effectively incorporates spelling, grammar and punctuation skills. However, teachers do not always ensure that children in the early years have sufficient opportunity to practise early writing skills in all areas of learning. As a result, not enough children reach the national expectations at the end of Reception.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Leaders have worked hard to make the school a stimulating and inviting place to be. As a result, pupils want to come to school and are keen to learn.
• Pupils are rightly proud of their school and they show this in their responses to questions and in their behaviour. They are kind, polite and welcome new pupils and visitors to the school. For example, when an inspector was visiting a classroom, a group of pupils said, ‘We love our school. Shall we show you around?’
• Leaders ensure that pupils lead healthy lives in school. Children in Reception are taught how to brush their teeth properly and this is built into their daily routine at school. School meals are nutritious and pupils take regular exercise.
• The school’s work to promote emotional well-being makes a strong contribution to pupils’ overall health. Pupils who experience emotional difficulties are extremely well supported by the emotional literacy support assistant and the inclusion team, who provide these pupils with regular opportunities to discuss their feelings. Staff work effectively with other agencies when the need arises so that all pupils can thrive and achieve well.
• Pupils have a strong understanding of how to stay safe. Staff teach pupils to identify named adults at school and at home who they can go to for help and support. Pupils told inspectors with great confidence who their ‘high 5’ adults are.
• Pupils know how to stay safe online. Pupils told inspectors that bullying is extremely rare in the school and that they have complete confidence in the staff to help them if they have any worries. This results in the happy and harmonious atmosphere seen around the school.
• Pupils look after each other very well and greatly enjoy the many opportunities they have to undertake additional roles, such as office and playground apprentices. Older pupils are taught how to write applications for these roles and prepare for interviews. This increases their understanding of the work environment and prepares them very well for the future.
• All staff and the overwhelming majority of parents who completed online questionnaires during the inspection agreed that pupils are safe and very well cared for at West Earlham Infant and Nursery School.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Leaders have established a school environment which is calm and purposeful. Interactions between pupils and staff are underpinned by warm relationships and mutual respect. Highly effective behaviour management by all staff means that pupils behave consistently well in lessons and around the school. Playtimes and lunchtimes are well-supervised occasions that ensure that pupils play and socialise very happily together.
• Pupils have exceedingly high expectations of themselves and, consequently, are eager to make as much progress as possible. Pupils are rightly proud of their achievements and keen to demonstrate their learning in their work. In this highly ambitious learning environment, current pupils make outstanding progress across a range of subject areas and achieve highly.
• Attendance has been rising over the past few years to be in line with national figures. The attendance team is very effective in reducing absence, particularly for those pupils whose attendance was quite low in the past. No groups of pupils are now affected by low attendance.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Pupils make outstanding progress during their time at this school so that, at the end of key stage 1, attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is above national figures. Children join the school in the early years with much lower starting points than are typical and, due to the outstanding teaching and care that they receive, they catch up year on year.
• Across the school, the teaching of phonics is very effective. The proportion of pupils in Year 1 who reach the expected standard in the phonics screening check has been on an upward trend since the previous inspection. In 2016, results were above the national average. The provisional results for 2017 are not as strong because of the high proportion of pupils with additional needs. However, work in pupils’ books and observations in lessons during the inspection demonstrate that pupils make excellent progress and apply their phonics skills very effectively in reading and writing.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make excellent progress from their different starting points, both academically and personally. This is because of leaders’ and teachers’ close attention and the varying types of support implemented to accurately match their needs.
• Leaders are ensuring that the differences between the outcomes of pupils who are disadvantaged and other pupils nationally are diminishing. Leaders and staff know the academic and welfare needs of these pupils very well and give them individual attention. Any barriers to learning are accurately identified and interventions ensure that they achieve as highly as others in the school and nationally. As a result, disadvantaged pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, make outstanding progress.
• The most able pupils achieve very well at the end of key stage 1. This is because learning activities are providing effective challenge to pupils, requiring them to apply their skills in a wide range of situations. The unvalidated results for 2017 show that all of the most able pupils in Year 2 reached the higher standards in reading, writing and mathematics.
• As well as in English and mathematics, pupils’ work in almost all other areas of the curriculum shows that they are making at least good progress. Work seen in art, science, history, geography and design and technology is impressive and demonstrates that pupils are developing high levels of skill in these subjects.

Early years provision Outstanding

• The early years leader, who is also the deputy headteacher, is highly ambitious and has driven improvements in the setting, while establishing an effective team that works together extremely well. This has enhanced the consistency of provision between the Nursery and Reception classes and improved outcomes for children. As a result, the early years provision is outstanding.
• Staff have very high expectations for what pupils can achieve. They carefully assess children’s strengths and the gaps in their knowledge and understanding to plan interesting and challenging learning activities. They regularly review the learning needs of each child and rapidly adjust plans to ensure that all children make strong progress. Consequently, no matter what their level of need, children very quickly settle into the highly nurturing environment created by staff.
• When they arrive at the school, many children have limited speech, language and communication skills. Because of this, leaders have provided a language-rich learning environment with a wide range of opportunities for children to develop their communication skills. Children benefit from support from the highly effective speech and language therapist, who has provided excellent training for the staff team. This ensures that all staff are able to develop children’s speech and language exceptionally well and, consequently, children rapidly improve their communication skills.
• Children are excited by a range of engaging activities, particularly in the exceptionally well-resourced outdoor area, and so they persevere in their learning. They show curiosity and imagination, and this is further stimulated by skilful questioning from staff. Children quickly develop independence because routines are established effectively. This contributes to a calm and orderly environment where children are taught, right from the start, to learn and play well together.
• Leaders have successfully developed the early years curriculum to include activities that appeal to boys’ interests and effectively promote their enjoyment of learning. This is because boys have not always achieved as well as girls in the early years. For example, I observed a group of boys enthusiastically counting the number of jumps they were making while scrunching through some leaves, and placing conkers in order of size. The teaching assistant was using effective questioning skills to help the boys develop language to describe what they were doing. As a result of a stimulating environment and targeted support, more boys make rapid progress, so that their achievement is moving closer to that of the girls.
• Staff are supportive and watchful. They ensure that children are safe at all times. The correct staffing ratios and qualifications are maintained, and all welfare requirements are fully met. Safeguarding practices are secure.
• Children are taught very well how to keep themselves safe. Adults carefully demonstrate how to use equipment safely and remind children of important safety rules. One child in a Nursery class confidently said, ‘I need to put the lid on this pen so it keeps working.’ Another child in Reception commented, ‘I need to put my coat on so I don’t get cold outside’. This excellent training by staff ensures that children are able to fully access the extensive range of learning opportunities both indoors and outside.
• Parents know that their children are well looked after and kept safe. They are well informed about, and involved in, their children’s learning through a range of methods. These include home visits before children join the school, workshops and opportunities to spend time with their children during reading and writing activities in school.
• Children enter the early years with skills that are well below typical for their age. Through accurate assessment, leaders quickly identify the children’s needs and develop highly appropriate learning experiences for them. Consequently, children make excellent progress from their starting points.
• The unvalidated results for 2017 show a dip in children’s attainment in writing compared to national figures and this brought the overall figure for the number of children achieving a good level of development to below the national average. However, leaders have responded swiftly to this and are currently enhancing the teaching of early writing to include many opportunities for children to develop these skills in a variety of activities, both indoors and outside.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 120954 Norfolk 10036209 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 Infant School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Community 2 to 7 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 259 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Pamela Turnbull Binks Neate-Evans 01603 451 299 www.weins.co.uk office@westearlhaminfant.norfolk.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 4–5 July 2013

Information about this school

• West Earlham Infant and Nursery School is an average-sized infant school.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is well above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is below the national average, as is the proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language.
• The proportion of pupils who receive special educational needs support is above the national average. The proportion of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is below the national average.
• The headteacher is a board member of the Norwich Opportunity Area initiative, working with the Department for Education.
• The school shares its outstanding practice by providing training and support for other schools.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed learning in every class. Several of the observations were carried out jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher.
• A wide range of pupils’ workbooks were looked at by inspectors throughout the inspection.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, senior and middle leaders, the SENCo, newly qualified and trainee teachers, the chair of the governing body and other governors. The lead inspector also met with the improvement partner from the local authority.
• Inspectors spoke to pupils informally in class and around the school at break and lunchtimes to seek their views about the school.
• Inspectors met with several groups of pupils more formally to discuss many aspects of school life.
• Pupils in Reception and Year 2 read to inspectors. Inspectors talked to pupils about their reading habits and looked at their reading records.
• Inspectors scrutinised the school’s website and a range of school documents, including assessment information, minutes from the governing body meetings, the school’s own evaluation, improvement plans and records about behaviour, safeguarding children and attendance.
• Inspectors considered seven texts from parents, the 17 responses made by parents to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and three written responses from parents. Inspectors also spoke to some parents before and after school, and considered the 46 responses made by parents to the school’s own recent survey.
• Additionally, inspectors took account of the 24 views expressed by members of staff to Ofsted’s online survey.

Inspection team

Fiona Webb, lead inspector Liz Chaplin Robert Greatrex Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector