Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Aslacton Road, Forncett St Peter, Norwich, NR16 1LT

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Outstanding 1 Achievement of pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of teaching Outstanding 1 Behaviour and safety of pupils Outstanding 1 Leadership and management Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.  The very effective headteacher has formed an incredibly strong and dedicated team of staff and governors who share responsibility for school improvement and work together to drive the school forward; as a result achievement is outstanding.  Pupils love to learn; they find lessons inspirational because teachers plan lessons carefully. Pupils come away from lessons always wanting to know even more.  Teachers’ marking is excellent, especially in writing. Pupils use their teachers’ comments to make their work better.  Reading is taught exceptionally well; pupils develop a passion for reading books at a very early age and this continues in all classes.  Teaching assistants are highly skilled; they provided excellent support for pupils’ individual needs.  Behaviour is exemplary; pupils work and play together harmoniously. They feel very safe in school.  Parents are unreservedly supportive of the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

school. All of those who responded to Parent view would recommend the school.  Morale is extremely high. Staff benefit from and appreciate extensive opportunities to attend training courses. These bring frequent improvements to teaching in all classes.  Leaders make excellent use of information about how well pupils are doing to write effective plans that further improve the school and help pupils make very fast progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  The school’s curriculum provides rich and varied opportunities for pupils to acquire new knowledge and develop wide-ranging skills. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is very strong.  The governing body has an excellent understanding of the school. Their challenge, support and monitoring has helped improve standards. Inspection report: Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 5–6 June 2014 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching and learning in all classes. She saw five lessons, all of which were jointly observed with the headteacher.  The inspector listened to pupils read in Year 1 and Year 4 and observed the teaching of phonics (the sounds letters make).  Meetings were held with the headteacher, subject leaders, a group of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and four other governors, a representative of the local authority was spoken to on the telephone.  The 28 responses to the online survey, Parent View, were considered, together with 14 responses to the staff questionnaire.  The inspector and the headteacher looked at the work in pupils’ books as well as their work displayed in all classrooms.  A number of documents were examined, including: the school’s evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses; improvement plans; records of meetings of the governing body; safeguarding files;

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Information about this inspection

data on pupils’ current progress and information on the management of teachers’ performance and the monitoring of teaching.

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Inspection team

Emily Simpson, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Inspection report: Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 5–6 June 2014 3 of 10

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Information about this school

 This is a smaller-than-average primary school. It has increased in size since the previous inspection  Pupils are taught in mixed-age classes in Reception and Year 1; Years 3 and 4; Years 5 and 6. There is a separate class for Year 2 pupils.  The proportions of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action, school action plus are below average. No pupils currently on roll have a statement of special educational needs.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals or in local authority care, is below average.  In 2013, the school met the government’s floor standards. (Floor standards are the government’s current minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.)  One third of the 2013 Year 6 class joined the school at a very late stage of their primary

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Further accelerate progress in mathematics by providing more opportunities for pupils to use and apply their mathematical skills in investigative and problem solving activities. Inspection report: Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 5–6 June 2014 4 of 10

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children make outstanding progress in Reception. In their first few months at school they develop a thirst for knowledge and a curiosity to find out more these positive learning attitudes remain as they journey through the school. When asked what they think the best thing about their school is, one child in Reception replied ‘We learn lots and I always want to learn even more.’

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Pupils are incredibly well prepared to begin Year 1 and continue through Key Stage 1 as eager and responsive learners. They work hard in all their activities. Positive attitudes combined with carefully planned and interesting lessons have together contributed to the rise in attainment over the last three years. Pupils leave Key Stage 1 with skills which are two terms ahead of those typically found for their age.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Achievement in reading is outstanding. Pupils quickly develop their understanding of the sounds letters make in daily phonics sessions. In the phonics screening check they have attained results above the national average for the last two years and are on track to do so again this year. The reading of books is given an equally high priority in school and pupils love to listen to and read stories. Pupils in all year groups enjoy taking their reading books home and sharing fiction and non-fiction texts with their families. This solid early foundation in reading makes it easier for pupils to then learn well in all their school subjects.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Attainment has risen at Key Stage 2, especially for pupils who were at the school in Key Stage 1. Published results for 2013 Year 6 tests do not provide an accurate reflection of the schools’ achievement; small cohort numbers mean that results change considerably year-on-year, in addition many pupils were new to the school in Year 5 and 6. Looking at data on a pupil-by-pupil basis shows pupils made at least good progress. Pupils who started in Reception and continued until the end of year 6 left school with levels well above the national average. Pupils new to the school still made good progress during their short time at the school.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 On inspection school information about how well pupils are doing was checked against the work in pupils’ books. This showed the vast majority of pupils in all classes are making at least good progress; almost half of these pupils are making outstanding progress in reading and writing.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Teachers make excellent use of their assessments of pupil progress and national test results to change what and how they teach to enable faster progress. For example pupils currently in Year 6 are on track to attain considerably more Level 5’s than in the past.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Progress is good in mathematics. Pupils develop their understanding of calculation skills very well but do not have enough opportunities to use them in mathematical investigations or problem solving activities to help them attain the highest levels.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The group of pupils supported by the pupil premium is too small to comment on their attainment without identifying individuals. They made good progress in 2013. Across the year groups the school has successfully narrowed the gap in achievement between these pupils and their classmates; in some classes and subjects they have overtaken their classmates.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs receive outstanding support in school. Extra help is specifically tailored to pupils’ individual needs. This support, coupled with excellent teaching, pupils’ positive attitudes to learning and strong relationships with parents helps this group of pupils make outstanding progress. Inspection report: Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 5–6 June 2014 5 of 10

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have excellent subject knowledge. They use this together with their detailed understanding of how well pupils are doing to plan lessons that interest and engage pupils and enable them to make fast progress in their learning.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers are highly skilled at asking questions that make pupils think very carefully about what they are learning. Pupils are set demanding work that enables them to demonstrate how well they are doing.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 In lessons pupils are totally absorbed in their learning. They listen carefully so they can use their new skills well; for example in a Year 3 and 4 writing lesson pupils enjoyed brainstorming similes and powerful phrases in preparation for extended writing. Pupils have the same eagerness to learn in all subjects and for all teachers.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Pupils make excellent use of ICT skills to support their learning. In an Art lesson Year 5 and 6 pupils were making Ancient Egyptian canopic jars from clay; pupils used tablet computers to research pictures of original jars so they could make their clay engravings as accurate as possible. Pupils did this without prompting as using technologies is an integral part of daily learning in lessons.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching assistants are highly skilled. They provide excellent individual support to pupils, depending on their learning needs. This helps pupils at risk of falling behind to catch up with their learning. In lessons teaching assistants are unobtrusive and encourage pupils to tackle work by themselves before providing support. This approach encourages pupils to listen carefully to their teachers and not be over reliant on their teaching assistants and thus promotes faster progress.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Marking is exemplary; it provides pupils with clear and detailed information about how to make their work better. Teachers write helpful comments on pupils’ work and take time to talk to pupils about suggested improvements. Pupils say these discussions help them to clearly understand the comments and quickly make improvements. Such clear marking and feedback leads to pupils making fast progress, especially in writing.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers plan excellent links between subjects and make sure these lessons encourage pupils to further develop and use their basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils present data in Science lessons to an equally high standard as in the daily mathematics lesson.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 In all classes pupils thoroughly enjoy their work. Pupils develop enquiring minds from the youngest age and they eagerly pursue their quest for greater knowledge and skills as they progress through the school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils display the highest levels of politeness and respect for themselves, each other, staff and visitors. They conduct themselves exceedingly well at work and at play. They treat the school’s resources and facilities with great care, showing they are appreciative of what they have.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Staff and governors work Inspection report: Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 5–6 June 2014 6 of 10

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

together to ensure policies are followed correctly and pupils are kept as safe as possible.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils love their school and love coming every day. This is reflected in their high attendance and that there is no persistent absence. They arrive punctually every morning, excited by the day’s activities which lie ahead.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 Pupils fully trust adults in school and have no doubt that they would help them should a problem arise. Pupils are very clear about the difference between bullying and falling out with a friend. They are confident that there is not bullying in school. Pupils are extremely friendly to each other and pupils new to the school were eager to share with the inspector that they have made good friendships very quickly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school has a well-established philosophy scheme. This is taught in all classes and provides pupils with frequent opportunities to consider wide-ranging consequences of certain actions; for example whether it is ever right to lie. Pupils’ excellent contributions to discussions help them develop a clear sense of right and wrong.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school places high priority to the teaching of tolerance and successfully works with outside agencies and charities to ensure there are no racist or homophobic attitudes in school.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are outstanding

 The school has responded well to the ever-changing technological age. It understands that very young pupils make full use of the internet at home and in school; therefore E-safety is given high curriculum priority and taught very effectively to all pupils who use this knowledge and understanding to help keep themselves safe online.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher is a very effective leader who has the full confidence and support of pupils, parents, staff and governors. She has successfully created a culture in which everybody works as a team to be the best they possibly can. As a result improvement since the previous inspection has been rapid.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Leadership in the Early Years Foundation Stage is outstanding. Staff make pertinent use of assessments of the children to plan learning that will further develop their skills in all areas. Excellent links are established with parents. Close partnership between home and school continues throughout the school and children develop as confident and happy learners.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 English is very well managed. Initiatives to improve the teaching of reading and marking of writing have led to far better teaching and learning and pupils making considerably faster progress. Leadership of mathematics is improving; the new calculations policy has helped pupils develop fast skills in mental arithmetic and has helped more pupils attain higher levels this year however more investigative and problem solving activities are needed.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school has an accurate view of its strengths and areas for developments. The headteacher, teachers and governors use this analysis alongside their outstanding analysis of data to collectively write plans than will bring about further improvements.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school’s curriculum is exciting and engaging. Pupils experience a wide range of visits and visitors to support their learning. Children in Reception and Year 1 experienced a visit to a local farm as part of their topic about growing. They loved this experience and spoke enthusiastically about all the additional things they learnt whilst at the farm. The school uses trips to provide Inspection report: Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 5–6 June 2014 7 of 10

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The leadership and management are outstanding

extra experiences for their pupils. For example, Year 5 and 6 spend a day in London on a river boat identifying places of historic and cultural interest. Pupils also visit a local synagogue to find out what it means to be part of the Jewish faith. These experiences all contribute towards pupils’ outstanding spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Additional funding for primary school sport allocated as part of the Olympic legacy is being used well. Additional resources have been purchased and training courses are used to improve teachers’ skills when leading gymnastics sessions. In addition the school runs a number of sports clubs, including get-fit sessions before school each day, which are attended by pupils and their parents. The high priority given to sport and fitness means pupils have very positive attitudes towards maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The local authority has rightly recognised the strength of the school and its continued improvement so have provided minimal support to the school.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher sets very clear targets for teachers to continue to develop their teaching. Targets are linked to improving achievement for all pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. The headteacher checks the progress teachers are making each term and provides training courses to help teachers meet their targets. Staff appreciate the extensive opportunities available for their professional development.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Responses to the parental and staff questionnaire were exceedingly positive about the strength of the school’s leadership showing staff morale and parental confidence to both be exceptionally high.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  The governing body has improved since the previous inspection. Under the guidance of an outstanding Chair, governors are thoroughly committed to their own develop so they can challenge and support the headteacher and drive further improvements in all areas of the schools’ work.  Governors receive excellent information from the headteacher about the quality of teaching, which they check against school performance data and their own regular monitoring. They understand data can be very variable due to small numbers in each cohort but are able to use it to ask challenging questions.  Governors have adapted the pay policy to ensure teachers who achieve outstanding progress can be rewarded financially.  Governors ensure pupil premium funding is spent appropriately and check how well this group of pupils are doing.  The governing body attends frequent training to keep their skills up to date, for example,

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The leadership and management are outstanding

safeguarding training. They also complete and annual review of their own effectiveness from which they identify future training needs.  The chair of governors conducts frequent parental surveys and writes back with the findings and planned actions thus keeping parents fully appraised of school improvements. Inspection report: Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 5–6 June 2014 8 of 10

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. Inspection report: Forncett St Peter Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School, 5–6 June 2014 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 121117 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 443905

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 101 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Sally Richards Headteacher Judith Jones Date of previous school inspection 22 October 2009 Telephone number 01508 530506 Email address head@forncett.norfolk.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

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 and 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. 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

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . 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 information 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’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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