Aldborough Primary School

Aldborough Primary School Alby Hill, Aldborough, Norwich, NR11 7PH

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The determined, good leadership and management of the headteacher and senior staff has led to the development of an effective and calm learning environment where pupils thrive, both academically and socially.  The strong teamwork of all staff, together with the robust support and challenge from governors, have resulted in good quality teaching and learning. Pupils’ achievement is good as a result. In reading, it is particularly good.  The range of subjects is good and supports pupils’ learning effectively. The culturally rich provision of opportunities within lessons and clubs captures pupils’ interest. It makes an outstanding contribution to their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Pupils from all groups, including the most able, make good progress in developing self-esteem and confidence in their ability to succeed. Attendance has improved significantly. The impressive range of extra-curricular activities

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

makes a strong contribution to this.  Teachers take into careful consideration what pupils already know and can do when planning work. As a result, lessons have suitable challenge and enable pupils from all groups to make good progress.  Links with parents are very strong. Parents are kept very well informed, including by the school’s virtual learning environment website, which is kept up to date. Parents also contribute greatly to the progress pupils make in their reading, with large numbers acting as volunteers to hear pupils read each week.  School planning for improvement is relevant and linked to the most important things the school needs to do to improve. As a result, the school has a good capacity to continue to improve.  Provision for keeping pupils safe is outstanding. Great care is taken to ensure pupils’ well-being at all times.  The consistency with which all adults treat pupils and manage their behaviour, combined with the

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

regular routines of the school, ensures that the behaviour of pupils is outstanding. This contributes to their good progress.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 When teachers give pupils feedback and mark their work in subjects other than English and mathematics, they do not always explain exactly what needs to be done to improve pupils’ writing and numeracy skills.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspection took place over two days.  The inspector observed teaching and learning in seven sessions or part sessions, four of which were seen with the headteacher.  The inspector met with the Chair and six other representatives of the Governing Body.  The inspector took account of the 20 responses to the staff questionnaire and the 54 responses to the online parental questionnaire (Parent View).  The inspector analysed the school’s work and looked at a range of school documents, including records of the school’s checks on the quality of teaching, the school improvement plan and records relating to behaviour, attendance, safeguarding and the tracking of pupils’ progress.  The inspector also looked at pupils work in books, talked to pupils and heard some read.

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Inspection team

Sheelagh Barnes, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Virtually all pupils are from White British backgrounds and none speaks English as an additional language.  Children in the early years in the Reception class attend full time.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils eligible for support from the pupil premium is lower than national. The pupil premium is additional funding to support children who are in local authority care and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  A pre-school setting shares part of the school site. This is inspected separately.  The headteacher provides support to other schools in the area.  There have been a number of changes to staff since the school’s previous inspection in 2009.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for the

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Information about this school

attainment and progress of pupils in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise the quality of teaching and learning in numeracy and writing so that more is outstanding by:  ensuring that teachers always tell pupils clearly and explicitly how to improve their literacy and numeracy skills including in marking through all subjects.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has placed a resolute priority on creating an environment in which pupils can develop not only academically, but also in their creativity and their sporting, personal and social skills. School staff all work together effectively to this end.

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The leadership and management are good

 All adults who work with pupils in the school place consistent emphasis on the importance and expectation of good behaviour. Staff, pupils and parents all agree that this has resulted in pupils’ excellent conduct at all times and their good attendance. Discrimination in all forms is rigorously discouraged.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher, supported by governors and senior staff, has ensured that maintaining the good quality of teaching is an ongoing priority. As a result, staff training has helped to create a school culture fully centred on good achievement and effective teaching.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders’ evaluation of the school is accurate and incisive. Leaders know where further improvements are required. They tackle any underperformance swiftly.

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The leadership and management are good

 Subject and other leaders are rigorous in checking standards and making improvements. They share the commitment to high standards and understand how they contribute to the progress of the school. They make sure that staff used judgements about pupils’ progress effectively when planning work.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school has spent the pupil premium on providing additional teaching staff to provide disadvantaged pupils with all they need to remain fully engaged in their learning. This has proved effective. The school evaluates the impact of this provision carefully and can demonstrate the benefits it provides to enable these pupils to make the same good progress as their peers.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders ensure that disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs receive good support so that they achieve well. Staff also provide the most-able pupils with the challenge they need to make good progress. Equality of opportunity is promoted effectively.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s arrangements for safeguarding are rigorous and meet all statutory requirements. Staff keep meticulous records and react immediately to involve other agencies to help vulnerable pupils. They are well trained to identify pupils who may be at risk. Clear procedures are in place to keep the site safe. The school works effectively with parents; all those who responded to the questionnaire said they felt that their children were safe in school.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school’s curriculum is broad and covers all aspects with a good balance. Pupils have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities, both in lessons and after school. This makes learning exciting and interesting. The school provides a good range of clubs for sport, drama and dance activities. There are some exciting opportunities for pupils to take part in performances outside school, in the orchestra or a ‘pop-up choir’. As a result, pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school makes good use of its primary physical education and sport premium to increase pupils’ physical skills and improve their health and well-being. It has used the funding to employ dance and sports coaches to raise standards and increase the skills of school staff. It has purchased additional time for pupils to learn to swim, with the aim of every pupil becoming a confident swimmer.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development extremely well through lessons, assemblies, trips, visits and opportunities to take part in performing arts. The strong links with a school in Malawi and the exchange visits of teachers from both schools provide excellent opportunities for pupils from both schools to learn about diversity. The school ensures that pupils learn about democracy through visiting places such as the Houses of Parliament. The well-coordinated programme of activities ensures that the school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders evaluate teachers’ performance rigorously and they use the results to make decisions about pay rises and promotion. Staff who responded to the questionnaire say that training is helpful in their professional development in improving their skills.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has provided a suitable ‘light-touch’ support for the school following the previous inspection report. This has been in the form of regular visits from a school challenge partner who has helped the headteacher evaluate how well the school is progressing.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  Governors provide effective oversight of the school. They are fully involved with the school, visit regularly and report their findings to governing body meetings.  Governors have made sure that they are well trained and well informed. They ask challenging and detailed questions of the headteacher and other senior leaders about pupils’ attainment and attendance, the quality of teaching in the school and the impact of the pupil premium. They have a good understanding of school performance data.  Governors have worked effectively with the headteacher to establish a robust performance management scheme that rewards good teaching. This scheme also identifies and addresses issues where there is weaker performance.  Governors ensure that safeguarding requirements are met and implemented fully.  Management of finance is careful and well planned; governors ensure that they carefully consider

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The leadership and management are good

changes to the school’s number on roll year-on-year when making decisions about spending.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. The school has a very calm and purposeful atmosphere and pupils respond very well to the activities it provides. They say, ‘This is the best school ever’. They are proud that they do not have to have rules written up around the school because, ‘Everyone knows how they should behave, so we don’t need it on the walls!’

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Behaviour

 Staff and parents who expressed a view confirm pupils’ assertions that behaviour is consistently of the highest quality and the atmosphere is a happy one. Pupils in Year 6 are proud of the privileges they have and are very aware that others look to their good examples.

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Behaviour

 In lessons, pupils show that they are very eager to learn and willing to work hard. They are enthusiastic and readily concentrate on the tasks teachers set them, quickly settling to work and listening carefully to instructions. From the early years onwards, children concentrate extremely well and enjoy learning.

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Behaviour

 Pupils’ positive attitudes to learning extend outside the school day and parents report that their children are keen to undertake their homework tasks. This all has a very positive impact on their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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Behaviour

 Inappropriate behaviour is rare and none was observed during the inspection. The school is quick to take action if behaviour is less than good and all staff work to resolve any issues speedily. When pupils come together as a whole school, for instance in assemblies, they behave exceptionally well.

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Behaviour

 Visiting teachers and coaches, as well as representatives of the various places pupils visit, comment very favourably about pupils’ outstanding levels of concentration and commitment to learning.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils say that they feel very safe in school and they are confident that their teachers would always help them if they were concerned about anything. They say, ‘This is a very safe place to be and all our visitors have a badge to show that they are supposed to be here.’

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Safety

 Pupils are strongly aware of the importance of staying safe. They talk in detail about the talks that teachers and Childline representatives have given them about how to keep themselves safe. They are aware of the need to prevent discriminatory and derogatory language and to treat everyone with respect.  Pupils are adamant that bullying does not occur, although they say that they do not always agree with their friends. They say that any disagreements are swiftly resolved and that adults are always there if they need them. They know about different types of bullying and how to keep themselves safe on the internet.

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Safety

 All of the parents who responded to the online questionnaire agree that their children feel safe in school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good and pupils make good progress as a result. The wide range of extra-curricular activities, which promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development exceptionally well, reinforces work in lessons very effectively.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers plan lessons carefully to meet the needs and interests of all pupils. Teachers use the careful assessments of what pupils know and can do to ensure that work is suitably challenging but achievable. As a result, pupils develop their confidence in learning and successfully acquire and develop a range of skills, including a love of learning and the tenacity to keep trying.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers and support staff set out clearly their expectations in terms of behaviour and application to work. As a result, pupils settle quickly into lessons. Pupils develop good attitudes to work and the confidence to move onto the next stage of their learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers use questioning very effectively to check pupils’ understanding and to make them think more deeply. They make adjustments, if necessary, to ensure that learning progresses as swiftly as possible and aspects are reviewed, if needed. Pupils are used to evaluating how well they have understood a task and it is not unusual for them to ask for extra help at lunch and playtimes.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching places a strong emphasis on developing pupils’ skills in reading, writing and mathematics. The importance placed upon developing pupils’ reading skills, including the large numbers of volunteers to come into school to hear pupils read, results in pupils’ consistently good progress in this area of learning.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The school prepares pupils effectively for the next stage in their education. Teaching successfully promotes in pupils the belief that they can aspire to and attain the highest possible standards.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Support staff make a positive contribution to pupils’ learning. They are encouraging and friendly, which contributes to a calm working atmosphere in the school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers give information to pupils about how they can improve their work verbally and by marking. Although all work is regularly marked, teachers do not always let pupils know what they could do to make their written and numeracy work even better when marking in books other than English and mathematics. This contributes to pupils’ progress being good rather than outstanding.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Children’s skills and experiences on entry to school in the Reception class are broadly typical for their age but this varies year-on-year due to the small numbers in each year group. Children make a good start to their education and achieve well in Reception, particularly in their personal and social development and in their communication, language and literacy skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Throughout the school, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, all achieve well and make good progress.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The most-able pupils are given suitable challenge and so their achievement is good. On occasion, the progress of these pupils is excellent, particularly in reading. Pupils read with enthusiasm. One Year 2 pupil stated: ‘I read a whole thick book today! I wish we had more thick books in our class!’ As a result of the strong emphasis on reading, standards are consistently above average by the end of Year 6.  The school has spent the pupil premium funding well on providing extra adult support to accelerate progress in reading, writing and mathematics for disadvantaged pupils. Eligible pupils are making good progress. The gaps between their progress and standards compared with those of other pupils, both in school and nationally, have been virtually eliminated. As there were very few eligible pupils in Year 6 last year and in the previous year, no comment is made on their specific attainment to avoid the risk of

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Staff teach phonics effectively from Reception onwards. In the Year 1 national phonic screening check last year, the proportion of pupils reaching the required standard was broadly average. A higher proportion than nationally attained the expected level at the end of Year 2. Pupils make good progress in developing early reading skills and this has a positive impact on their writing and spelling.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Currently, the particular focus for improvement in standards identified by leaders is in writing and mathematics. Pupils from all groups are making good progress, although not yet as consistently or strongly as in reading. This is because pupils do not always know what to do to improve their work still further, particularly in writing and numeracy in subjects other than English and mathematics.

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The early years provision is good

 Leadership and management of the early years are good. Leaders check children’s progress carefully so that activities planned stretch children of all abilities. In 2014, a higher proportion than nationally reached a good level of development by the end of Reception and entered Year 1 well prepared for their continued learning. The physical and emotional health, safety and well-being of children are good and contribute to their good spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.

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The early years provision is good

 The school gives children a good start to their education in the Reception class. They enjoy their learning and develop stamina and resilience, so that they maintain concentration for good amounts of time, such as when working on the computer. Disabled children and those with special educational needs make the same good progress as others.

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The early years provision is good

 The small numbers entering the Reception class each year cause the pattern of children’s skills on entry to fluctuate. This year, children have skills which are broadly typical for their age. Children make good progress because they have interesting opportunities to explore indoors and out. The most-able children are enabled to achieve well.

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The early years provision is good

 Children make good progress in all areas of learning because teaching is good and provides interesting and exciting activities. They learn rapidly and develop listening, speaking, reading and writing skills well. Adults ask probing questions and provide good opportunities for children to develop skills in counting and ordering number.

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The early years provision is good

 Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. They develop good relationships and respect for others, behave well and enjoy their learning because of the high expectations of staff and the high level of care and support. Children learn well how to stay safe.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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.

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School details

Unique reference number 120777 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 448515

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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 Foundation Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 139 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair David Doak Headteacher Tina Casburn Date of previous school inspection 25 November 2009 Telephone number 01263 761264 Fax number N/A Email address head@aldborough.norfolk.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. 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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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