Suffield Park Infant and Nursery School, Cromer

Suffield Park Infant and Nursery School, Cromer Inspection report

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Unique Reference Number 120908 Local Authority Norfolk Inspection number 358876 Inspection dates 16–17 September 2010 Reporting inspector Nick Butt

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. The registered childcare provision, managed by the governing body, was inspected under section 49 of the Childcare Act 2006.

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Type of school Infant School category Community Age range of pupils 3–7 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 212 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Vivienne Lennox Headteacher Jacqueline Bradford Date of previous school inspection 13 November 2007 School address Mill Road Cromer NR27 0AD Telephone number 01263 513296 Fax number 01263 512106 Email address office@suffieldpark.norfolk.sch.uk

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Age group 3–7 Inspection dates 16–17 September 2010 Inspection number 358876 Registered Childcare provision Suffield Park Children's Centre

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childcare provision

Age group 3–7 Inspection dates 16–17 September 2010 Inspection number 358876 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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childcare provision

Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 1234 234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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childcare provision

You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the documentation in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to 'Subscribe'. Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann's Square Manchester M2 7LA T: 0300 1234 234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Introduction

This inspection was carried out by three additional inspectors. The inspectors visited 15 lessons and observed eight teachers. They held meetings with governors, staff and groups of pupils. They observed the school's work and looked at a selection of documentation, including planning, evidence of monitoring such as lesson observations, and analyses of pupils' work and other assessment information. Inspectors scrutinised inspection questionnaires returned by 113 parents and carers, and by staff and pupils. The inspection team reviewed many aspects of the school's work. It looked in detail at the following.  What the school is doing to raise standards in reading and writing, especially for boys  How effectively the new marking policy is being implemented  The impact of the new headteacher's changes on provision and outcomes for pupils.

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Information about the school

This is an average sized infant school. Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is below average. The number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average. The school has a specialist resource base for pupils with language and communication difficulties. The governing body manages a children's centre on the site, which includes day care for children aged from 0-3. This is integrated with the school's Nursery provision. The headteacher took up her post in September 2009.

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Main findings

Suffield Park Infant and Nursery is a good school. Since her appointment the headteacher has built on the school's many strengths and provided clear direction and inspirational leadership to unite staff, governors, parents and carers in working together for rapid improvement. As a result of the many changes she has introduced, pupils' progress is good and attainment has risen rapidly; in the 2010 national assessment pupils reached above average levels in reading, writing and mathematics. In particular, the gap in attainment between boys and girls has narrowed, with boys catching up in reading and writing. This is because of a clear focus on how well individual pupils are doing, with early intervention to support them if they show signs of falling behind. Parents and carers speak of a 'very happy school' where they know their children receive outstanding pastoral care, with individual's needs catered for extremely well. This is

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Main findings

particularly the case in the specialist resource base, where pupils often make rapid gains in their communication and acquisition of basic skills due to the outstanding teaching and learning. This, in turn, enables them to integrate into the mainstream classes very well for part of each day. The quality of teaching is typically good. The school has introduced a new approach to marking, which is at an early stage of development but is beginning to iron out inconsistencies in the ways pupils understand how to improve their work. However, pupils do not have enough opportunities to assess their own or others' work on a regular basis. Pupils sometimes exceed their individual targets because these are not always challenging enough. Pupils are well behaved and friendly, polite to visitors and keen to apply themselves to their work. Improvements to the curriculum mean lessons actively involve pupils in their

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Main findings

learning and are planned in response to their interests and aspirations. Pupils go on many visits and take part in a wide range of clubs. Their appreciation of living healthily is outstanding, as they take plenty of exercise, grow their own food and know all about how to keep well. Pupils enjoy school and the vast majority attend well, having a good understanding of how to stay safe. The outstanding governing body provides excellent support for the school, with a high level of expertise and full involvement in giving a strategic lead. The governing body has been particularly key in establishing the children's centre as a successful and sustainable operation, with good quality day care and a wide range of extended services. The school's self-evaluation is good, with rigorous monitoring ensuring that strengths and areas to develop are well known by all staff. Subject leaders have a clear understanding of their

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Main findings

areas of responsibility because of their thorough and consistent approach to monitoring. With a strong leadership team in place, rapidly rising attainment and improving provision, the school is well placed to continue to improve.

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Build on work to involve pupils in their own learning by: ensuring marking consistently shows pupils how to improve encouraging pupils to assess their own work and that of others.  Ensure targets for all pupils are sufficiently challenging to reflect their full potential.

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

Pupils make good progress and achieve well as they work through the school. In the 2010 unvalidated national assessments, pupils did particularly well in attaining the higher levels in reading, writing and mathematics, and boys came close to matching girls, narrowing the gap considerably from previous years. While almost all pupils reach or exceed their individual targets over the year, at times targets are not challenging enough. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve well because of a good match of support to their requirements, and high expectations of what they can do. Pupils settle happily into the specialist resource base and relate well to each other and to their teachers. They hugely enjoyed predicting words in a well known story, eagerly contributing. Elsewhere, Year 1 pupils enjoyed writing sentences linked to a story and coming up with their own ideas. Pupils in Year 2 were able to work independently, playing

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Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils 2

word games and cooperating well. Pupils said they liked to 'let your imagination go wild' and relish the opportunities to be active in their learning. Older pupils take seriously their role as buddies to the younger children, and make a good contribution to life in school as councillors and running errands. Pupils take responsibility, for example changing their own reading books, and submitting a request for a grant from the town council to fund gardening equipment. With good basic skills and an enthusiasm for learning, pupils are well equipped for the move to junior school. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. They gain an extensive understanding of other cultures through special events such as 'India Week' and meeting parents who talk to them about their heritage and traditions.

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

These are the grades for pupils' outcomes

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Pupils' achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning 2

Taking into account: Pupils' attainment¹

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Pupils' achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning 2

The quality of pupils' learning and their progress 2

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Pupils' achievement and the extent to which they enjoy their learning 2

The quality of learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their progress

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2

Taking into account: Pupils' attendance¹

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The extent of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2

1 The grades for attainment and attendance are: 1 is high; 2 is above average; 3 is broadly average; and 4

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How effective is the provision?

Very positive relationships with adults ensure pupils are motivated to learn in class. Effective joint planning between teachers of parallel classes provides similar experiences for pupils of the same age, which are tailored carefully to meet their differing levels of ability. Good use is made of technology to interest and engage pupils, as when Year 2 played an interactive game to consolidate their understanding of place value. While most teaching is good, at times the pace can slacken when pupils have to spend too long listening to the introduction of a lesson, or when they do not fully grasp what they have to do when working independently. Good assessment is based on a clear analysis of pupils' progress, which is measured at half-termly intervals, with support put in place as required for those who may show signs of struggling. Marking has improved, although it is not fully consistent across the school as the implementation of the new policy is at an early stage.

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How effective is the provision?

Pupils benefit from a good curriculum that helps them to acquire skills in an incremental manner and offers a wide range of memorable experiences that promote their learning and enjoyment of school. The curriculum is enriched by many visits and a variety of visitors, including an archaeologist who brought in dinosaur bones for the pupils to examine. There are some good examples of links across subjects, such as the project based on Cromer lighthouse that used points of the compass and model-making. This aspect of the curriculum is still developing.

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

The needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are met well through good provision of resources, individual and small group support and a well-adapted curriculum to support learning. The progress of pupils in the specialist resource base is often exceptional due to the highly skilled and knowledgeable support available with speech, signing and symbols employed to meet very individual needs. Excellent pastoral support ensures all pupils feel included and are able to grow in confidence both personally and academically. This is reflected in the day care and extended services provided in the children's centre.

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

These are the grades for the quality of provision

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The quality of teaching 2

Taking into account: The use of assessment to support learning

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How effective are leadership and management?

A member of staff commented, 'The new headteacher has worked so hard to create a whole school vision and effectively lead our school.' The headteacher's clear expectations have equipped staff with a focused sense of direction, and all are working together to accelerate progress and drive improvement forward. The school has really taken off in the past year, with subject leaders very confident about their areas as a result of intensive monitoring. Strategic plans set out what still needs to improve and explain how this will be achieved. Regular monitoring of teaching has ensured that good practice is maintained and developed, and areas for improvement tackled swiftly. The school promotes equality of opportunity well, successfully narrowing the gap in attainment between boys and girls. Safeguarding procedures are well established, with all staff kept up to date with training and careful records kept. The school has completed an extensive audit of its local context

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How effective are leadership and management?

and community, and put in place a detailed action plan to promote cohesion. It works very well with its local community and has started to make links further afield to help pupils understand the diversity of the national and global communities. Excellent links with a range of partners enhance pupils' experiences, including counselling services, sports providers, the other schools on the campus and outreach through the children's centre. The governing body is highly effective in discharging its duties and is fully involved in evaluating the work of the school and holding leaders to account.

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

These are the grades for leadership and management

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1

Taking into account: The leadership and management of teaching and learning

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Early Years Foundation Stage

Children settle quickly into the Nursery and Reception classes because of the stimulating and caring environment, which makes them feel at home straight away. Good teaching provides children with a wide range of interesting learning opportunities, with excellent use of the extensive outdoor areas. Children enjoyed delving in corn flour to count stars, while others made models of spiders with clay and straws. Adults work well together as a team and promote children's language skills. Children make good progress because of the high expectations of staff and careful assessments of how they are doing. 'Learning stories' provide an attractive pictorial record of children's achievements, but there is some variation in how evaluative they are. Good provision of day care, which is integrated with the Nursery, and care of babies helps all children to thrive, whatever their age or stage of development. Occasionally babies are not given sufficient opportunity to explore their safe

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Early Years Foundation Stage

environment independently. All requirements of registration are met. The Early Years Foundation Stage, including the 0-3 day care, is led and managed well, with a good shared understanding of how young children learn.

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Early Years Foundation Stage

These are the grades for the Early Years Foundation Stage

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Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage 2

Taking into account: Outcomes for children in the Early Years Foundation Stage

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Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage 2

The quality of provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage 2

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Overall effectiveness of the Early Years Foundation Stage 2

The effectiveness of leadership and management of the Early Years Foundation 2

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Inspection grades: 1 is outstanding, 2 is good, 3 is satisfactory, and 4 is inadequate

Please turn to the glossary for a description of the grades and inspection terms

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Views of parents and carers

The vast majority of parents and carers support the work of the school and say their children enjoy coming. A large number of questionnaires were returned, and they were overwhelmingly positive. A typical comment was, 'I find all staff friendly and approachable and my child is making good progress.' A few parents and carers were unsure about behaviour but inspectors found this to be good.

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Responses from parents and carers to Ofsted's questionnaire

Ofsted invited all the registered parents and carers of pupils registered at Suffield Park Infant and Nursery School, Cromer to complete a questionnaire about their views of the school. In the questionnaire, parents and carers were asked to record how strongly they agreed with 13 statements about the school. The inspection team received 113 completed questionnaires by the end of the on-site inspection. In total, there are 212 pupils registered at the school.

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

My child enjoys school 72 64 40 35 1 1 0 0 The school keeps my child safe 67 59 45 40 1 1 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

My school informs me about my child's progress 59 52 49 43 2 2 1 1

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

My child is making enough progress at this school 55 49 50 44 2 2 1 1

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The teaching is good at this school 57 50 52 46 2 2 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school helps me to support my child's learning 60 53 49 43 3 3 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school helps my child to have a healthy lifestyle 58 51 53 47 1 1 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school makes sure that my child is well prepared for the future (for example changing year group, changing school, and for children who are finishing school, entering further or higher education, or entering employment) 50 44 51 45 1 1 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school meets my child's particular needs 53 47 54 48 3 3 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school deals effectively with unacceptable behaviour 44 39 59 52 3 3 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school takes account of my suggestions and concerns 43 38 60 53 4 4 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The school is led and managed effectively 52 46 54 48 6 5 0 0

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

Overall, I am happy with my child's experience at this school 61 54 50 44 1 1 1 1

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Total % Total % Total % Total %

The table above summarises the responses that parents and carers made to each statement. The percentages indicate the proportion of parents and carers giving that response out of the total number of completed questionnaires. Where one or more parents and carers chose not to answer a particular question, the percentages will not add up to 100%.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding These features are highly effective. An outstanding school provides exceptionally well for all its pupils' needs.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 2 Good These are very positive features of a school. A school that is good is serving its pupils well.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 3 Satisfactory These features are of reasonable quality. A satisfactory school is providing adequately for its pupils.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 4 Inadequate These features are not of an acceptable standard. An inadequate school needs to make significant improvement in order to meet the needs of its pupils. Ofsted inspectors will make further visits until it improves.

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Type of school Outstanding Good Satisfactory Inadequate

New school inspection arrangements were introduced on 1 September 2009. This means that inspectors now make some additional judgements that were not made previously. The data in the table above are for the period 1 September 2009 to 31 March 2010 and are the most recently published data available (see www.ofsted.gov.uk ). Please note that the sample of schools inspected during the autumn and spring terms 2009/10 was not representative of all schools nationally, as weaker schools are inspected more frequently than good or outstanding schools. Percentages are rounded and do not always add exactly to 100. Secondary school figures include those that have sixth forms, and sixth form figures include only the data specifically for sixth form inspection judgements.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Achievement: the progress and success of a pupil in their learning, development or training.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Attainment: the standard of the pupils' work shown by test and examination results and in lessons.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Capacity to improve: the proven ability of the school to continue improving. Inspectors base this judgement on what the school has accomplished so far and on the quality of its systems to maintain improvement.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Leadership and management: the contribution of all the staff with responsibilities, not just the headteacher, to identifying priorities, directing and motivating staff and running the school.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Learning: how well pupils acquire knowledge, develop their understanding, learn and practise skills and are developing their competence as learners.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Overall effectiveness: inspectors form a judgement on a school's overall effectiveness based on the findings from their inspection of the school. The following judgements, in particular, influence what the overall effectiveness judgement will be.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

 The school's capacity for sustained improvement.  Outcomes for individuals and groups of pupils.  The quality of teaching.  The extent to which the curriculum meets pupils' needs, including, where relevant, through partnerships.  The effectiveness of care, guidance and support.

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Common terminology used by inspectors

Progress: the rate at which pupils are learning in lessons and over longer periods of time. It is often measured by comparing the pupils' attainment at the end of a key stage with their attainment when they started.

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carers to share with their children. It describes Ofsted's

main findings from the inspection of their school.

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Inspection of Suffield Park Infant and Nursery School, Cromer, NR27 0AD

Thank you for making us so welcome when we visited your good school, and helping by telling us your views. Here are some of the things that are special about it. You have an excellent understanding about how to be healthy. You make good progress in your work. The school cares for you extremely well. You enjoy your lessons and your good attendance supports this. There are lots of trips for you to go on. The new headteacher has got off to a flying start. The governing body is very good at checking things are going well. We have asked your teachers to encourage you to say how you think you are doing in your work, and to look at one another's work. We have asked them to make sure you all understand what you need to do to improve, and to set targets that are not too easy to reach. You all can help by doing your best and telling your teachers what you most enjoy about your learning. With best wishes for the future,

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www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please

telephone 0300 1234 234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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