Alpington and Bergh Apton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Alpington and Bergh Apton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School Wheel Road, Alpington, Norwich, NR14 7NH

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Overall effectiveness

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

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Leaders set particularly high expectations for teaching, behaviour and achievement in the school.  The school’s governors are dedicated, well trained and hold senior leaders rigorously to account for the quality of teaching, behaviour and achievement.  The curriculum consists of a broad range of subjects. Teaching is creative and helps pupils form strong links between subjects.  British values of democracy, tolerance, respect and the rule of law are promoted very effectively through lessons and in the daily life of the school.  Behaviour is outstanding. Pupils are unreservedly polite, courteous and respectful.  Pupils are happy, enthusiastic learners who enjoy coming to school. They are kept extremely safe.  Mathematics is taught highly effectively, so that many achieve the higher levels and about a third the highest level possible this year.  Teaching is excellent. Teachers have a very good grasp of the subjects they teach and understand

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

how pupils learn effectively.  Teachers and teaching assistants use questions extremely effectively.  Teachers establish a very positive learning environment in the classroom. They listen to pupils, value their contributions and develop very good self-confidence.  Pupils make outstanding progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Disadvantaged pupils, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs, and the most- able pupils, make excellent progress.  The early years provision is outstanding because teaching is consistently good and ensures that children achieve or exceed the early learning goals.  In English, mathematics and science, teachers provide excellent advice and guidance about how to improve their work. However in other subjects, this is not always the case. July 2015 2 of 11

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed teaching in five lessons. All observations were completed jointly with the headteacher. The inspector observed breaks and lunchtimes, and attended registration.  Discussions were held with pupils, staff, governors, and the headteacher. Meetings were also held with a representative from the local authority and the diocese.  The inspector took account of the 48 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. She also took account of 16 responses to the Ofsted questionnaire for staff.  A wide range of documents were examined including samples of pupils’ work, information about pupils’ progress, the school’s development plan and self-evaluation summary, records of behaviour, a record of the challenge partner’s visit and documents relating to safeguarding children.  The inspector listened to pupils read, and observed reading support lessons and the teaching of phonics.

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Inspection team

Sherry Gladwin, Lead inspector Additional Inspector July 2015 3 of 11

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school and the size of some year groups is very small.  The vast majority of pupils are White British and speak English as their first language.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs is average.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is below average. This is additional funding for looked-after children and those known to be eligible for free school meals.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress by the end of Year 6.  Children attend the early years provision on a full time basis.  The headteacher has provided support to Seething and Mundham Primary School and Ditchingham Primary School as part of the local authority’s systems leadership programme.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Raise achievement still further by:  checking that teachers provide clear advice to pupils about how they should improve their work and that pupils act upon marking as the school’s marking policy requires. July 2015 4 of 11

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The headteacher provides clear leadership for the school. She receives very strong support from governors, staff, parents and pupils. Governors challenge the school’s leaders effectively which leads to very high expectations for the quality of teaching, behaviour and achievement in the school. Behaviour and teaching are outstanding.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The leadership of teaching is very strong. The headteacher provides effective support for colleagues to improve their classroom practice. The school’s development plan identifies many areas for improvement, linked to its self-evaluation.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 Disadvantaged pupils receive effective support as result of the use of the pupil premium. Access to after- school clubs, residential trips, educational visits, sport, art, music and academic tuition is possible through the funding. Pupils make excellent progress in their academic and social development so that outcomes are excellent.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The primary sport premium is used effectively. The school reports wider participation in after-school sports clubs. The quality of physical education teaching has improved due to good specialist input from a physical education coach. Pupils have a good understanding of the value of exercise in healthy life styles and their skill level has improved. Recently, pupils represented South Norfolk in tag rugby.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school promotes equality of opportunity very effectively. The school values each child and the vision statement of ‘let every light shine’ is realised in its daily life. Pupils of all abilities and backgrounds make excellent progress in their learning and personal development so they are prepared for the next stage in their education. Pupils enjoy working in a positive environment that is free of discrimination, bullying and harassment because they are taught tolerance and compassion.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The size of the school and changes in staffing mean that the headteacher and assistant headteacher co- ordinate several subject areas. The headteacher recognises the value of sharing leadership tasks. She is quickly developing other teachers to take responsibility for subject co-ordination. Governors and senior leaders are using professional development and links with the school’s cluster schools to ensure staff have the knowledge and skills required to lead subjects and improve teaching further.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The diocese and local authority support the school well. Several schools in the diocese and local authority are outstanding. There are opportunities for colleagues to observe outstanding teaching and link up with their counterparts in different subjects or phases. These have helped to improve teaching and build capacity in leadership.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Leaders ensure that statutory safeguarding requirements are met. Staff receive regular training in child protection and safeguarding in order to remain vigilant about abuse. There are good links with the local safeguarding board. Leaders attend training in relation to the ‘prevent strategy’ and communicate effectively to staff, pupils and parents, the dangers of online grooming and safe use of the internet.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The curriculum is broad and exciting. Subjects are delivered thematically so that pupils establish links between topics quickly. Educational visits, residential trips, after-school clubs and activities enhance classroom learning. British values are promoted effectively through classroom teaching, assemblies, school values, visiting speakers and daily interactions between adults and pupils. Pupils participate in democracy through school council ballots and visits by the local MP. Pupils are tolerant and understand the rule of British law. They are prepared well to be productive citizens in modern Britain. Strong spiritual, moral, social and cultural provision means that pupils have an excellent understanding of right and wrong.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is very effective. Governors are dedicated and bring a good range of experience and skills to the role. They are trained to interpret accurately pupils’ performance data and in July 2015 5 of 11

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The leadership and management are outstanding

safeguarding.  They ensure that staff are trained in safeguarding and child protection to keep pupils safe. Governors have good links with each class and meet with senior leaders to check the progress of the school’s improvement plan against the targets for improvement.  They meet with the headteacher and staff regularly to discuss pupils’ progress, and receive high quality reports from the headteacher ahead of meetings. They check attendance, safety, behaviour and academic progress regularly.  Governors accurately identify the school’s strengths and areas for development. They manage the headteacher’s performance well.  Performance targets for staff are linked to the targets set for the headteacher. Governors understand that high quality teaching is essential for pupils to make excellent progress. They monitor the quality of teaching through the information provided by the school and ask probing questions.

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The leadership and management are outstanding

 They check that school leaders support staff to improve their practice and only award pay increases where there is high quality teaching and where pupils make rapid progress.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. Pupils are unreservedly polite, courteous and respectful. They are considerate and helpful. Pupils are compassionate and considerate in their dealings with each other. This was particularly evident in the focus group meeting with the inspector where pupils listened carefully to each other and built on one another’s contributions to create a constructive dialogue.

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Behaviour

 Pupils have very positive attitudes to learning and a thirst for knowledge. They are enthusiastic and curious learners who work hard in lessons. They generally show much pride in their work. The school is calm and purposeful because pupils are highly collaborative and cooperate with adults and each other to create a harmonious and peaceful environment. Pupils wear their uniform smartly and they are proud to belong to the school.

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Behaviour

 Pupils embrace the school’s values in the way they treat one another. They are appreciative of difference through the effective work to promote other cultures and lifestyle. Pupils have a highly developed sense of morality. During a meeting with pupils, they articulated clearly the value of truth but understood that care should be taken not to hurt the feelings of others. Clearly, pupils can distinguish right from wrong.

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Behaviour

 Pupils value the different rewards they receive for effort, good work and kindness shown to others. Younger pupils spoke proudly of their ‘dojo’ points and the rewards of notebooks and pencils they get. Older pupils enjoy the ‘rest and relax’ time that accrues for good effort and work. Rewards effectively motivate and engage pupils.

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Behaviour

 There are opportunities for pupils to develop leadership skills and contribute to the life of the school. Pupils spoke to the inspector of ballots in each class for representatives to the school’s council. Pupils also explained that equipment monitors are responsible for distributing and collecting play equipment at break and lunchtimes. Older pupils take care to support younger pupils who find unstructured time challenging by providing friendship.

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Behaviour

 The school keeps records of any inappropriate behaviour and parents are informed about their children’s conduct. Exclusion of any type from the school is rare.

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Behaviour

 A number of case studies seen during the inspection, show that pupils prone to challenging behaviour, develop good self-awareness and learn to manage their own behaviour well.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is outstanding. Pupils understand how to assess a variety of risks. Pupils told the inspector about sessions in road safety, cycling proficiency, internet safety and the safe use of social media, and visits to assemblies from the police and fire service to raise awareness of July 2015 6 of 11

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Safety

 Good supervision at breaks and lunchtimes allows pupils to feel safe in the playground. Older pupils are on hand to support younger pupils who experience difficulty joining in, by befriending them and involving them in play and conversation.

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Safety

 Pupils understand bullying in its different forms. They understand the damage that bullying causes to the feelings of others and say that it is always wrong. Pupils say that bullying is rare. One boy said that you should not retaliate to the bully but walk away and tell a teacher. Pupils are confident that teachers will take swift action to resolve unpleasant name-calling or bullying.

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Safety

 Pupils are happy and enjoy coming to school. Attendance is above the national average for all groups of pupils. Good attendance is promoted because of efficient contact with home on the first day of unexplained absence and not authorising holidays in school time. The pupil premium is used effectively to ensure the good attendance of eligible pupils.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers have excellent subject knowledge. They are skilled practitioners who understand how pupils learn effectively. Teachers plan lessons that are interesting, engaging and appeal to pupils’ natural curiosity. Lessons have clear purpose and pupils work with clarity and understanding.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Mathematics is taught highly effectively across the key stages. Teachers use verbal reasoning to help pupils explore problem solving and explain how they arrived at answers. An emphasis on mental strategies in mathematics means that pupils are able to manipulate figures with ease and check answers quickly. All groups of pupils make outstanding progress.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers and teaching assistants use questions particularly effectively. They pose questions that considerably challenge pupils to recall knowledge learned in previous lessons and promote deeper thinking. Pupils engage readily with teachers’ questions and respond thoughtfully showing much maturity and understanding. Pupils are articulate and the effective use of questions further develops their speaking and listening skills.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers are very skilled at class management. They establish good routines for the early years so that activities change efficiently. Pupils follow teachers’ instructions quickly and sensibly. Classroom environments are positive because there are good relationships between adults and pupils. Teachers value pupils’ contributions, listen carefully to the thoughtful questions they pose and respond in ways that build their self-confidence.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers assess pupils thoroughly each term and track their progress towards targets rigorously. Teaching assistants are trained to provide small group and one-to-one support very successfully so that pupils stay closely on track.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Provision for pupils who are disabled or who have special educational needs is excellent. Teachers and teaching assistants work closely to plan support in class and in small groups. This consolidates pupils’ knowledge and understanding so that they perform exceptionally well in line with their abilities.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers teach reading, writing and communication extremely effectively. Information technology supports learning very well across the curriculum. Some excellent examples of the use of information technology were seen in Year 6 projects on the queen of the Iceni tribe, Boudicca.

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teaching in the early years is outstanding. Teachers and teaching assistants are highly skilled in exciting children’s curiosity, concentration and interest, so that they make outstanding progress in their learning and development. As a result, children have an excellent start to their education. July 2015 7 of 11

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The quality of teaching is outstanding

 Teachers mark pupils’ work very regularly. They provide highly constructive comments that help to develop pupils’ self-confidence. Good quality marking is seen in books in core subjects. However, this is not always replicated in the wider range of subjects. Teachers do not always provide specific guidance to help pupils improve their work as the school’s marking policy requires.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Children enter the school with skills and abilities that are broadly typical for children of their age. They make outstanding progress in the early years and across the school in Key Stage 1 and 2. As a result, pupils attain very high standards in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 In 2014, the proportion of children that achieved a good level of development by the end of Reception was well above the national average. A very few did not do so well in speaking, and listening, reading and writing. However, this still represented excellent progress from their varied starting points. Children are prepared extremely well for entry to Year 1. School information shows that even more children achieved a good level of development in 2015 than in 2014.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 The proportion of pupils who achieve the expected standard in the national phonics screening varies from year to year; this is because of the small numbers and pupils’ different starting points. Sometimes it is above that nationally and sometimes slightly below. However, excellent support for pupils’ phonic skills means that all pupils attain the required standard in the retake in Year 2. Additional training for teachers and teaching assistants has improved this further. As a result, Year 1 pupils achieved considerably above the national figures in 2015 and are learning to apply phonics extremely well in relation to their reading and writing.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 This all means that standards by the end of Year 2 in 2014 were above average in reading, writing and mathematics. Well above average proportions made better than expected progress. School information shows that, when compared with the national figures for 2014, above average proportions of pupils have similarly achieved better than expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics in 2015.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Above average proportions of Year 6 pupils reached the expected standard in reading and mathematics in 2014. A high proportion of pupils achieved better than the expected standard in reading and mathematics but not as many pupils did so in writing. School information shows that in 2015, greater proportions have achieved the higher standards in reading and writing. In mathematics, results were exceptional with nearly all pupils attaining the higher Level 5 and around a third the highest Level 6.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 In 2014, pupils' progress in all subjects was above average. In 2015, well above average proportions of Year 6 pupils made better than expected progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Disadvantaged pupils made much better progress than other pupils nationally. Because of the very low numbers of disadvantaged pupils, it is not possible to make exact comparisons without identifying individuals.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 In 2014, the most-able pupils made excellent progress. The most-able pupils in Year 6 made excellent progress in 2015, particularly in mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils is outstanding

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make excellent progress in line with their peers. This is because of the high level of support they receive to aid their learning.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 In 2014, the proportion of children that achieved a good level of development by the end of Reception was well above the national average. A very few did not achieve quite so highly in speaking, listening and attention and in reading and writing. However, these children made at least good and often better progress from their starting points on entry to the school. Children are prepared extremely well for entry to Year 1. School information shows that even more children achieved a good level of development in July 2015 8 of 11

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Teaching is outstanding because all staff have such a strong understanding of how to promote the learning and development of early years children. Adults plan learning activities that are stimulating and engage children’s natural curiosity. Children enjoy learning across all of the areas of the early years curriculum. Good use is made of the internal and external spaces to provide children with a rich range of experiences. A variety of educational visits enhances classroom learning and brings learning to life, such as visits to Norwich Castle.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Behaviour is outstanding because of the ways in which staff skilfully help children to develop their personal and social skills. Children are kept safe, feel safe and grow rapidly in confidence, so that they happily have-a-go at new experiences and try their best. From the earliest days in the Reception class, teachers establish classroom routines that set high expectations for work and behaviour. Children settle quickly and become friendly, polite and courteous.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Leadership and management are outstanding. Leaders check in detail on children’s learning and development and are quick to give any that need it very well targeted support, including any who have disabilities or special educational needs. They reflect very carefully on how to improve provision even more; for example introducing new opportunities for children to develop their writing skills further. They are meticulous at following local and national guidelines underpin leaders’ approaches to safeguarding and child protection.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Good communication with parents each day keeps channels between school and home open, and contributes very well to children’s well-being. Effective links and transition arrangements with parents and pre-school providers ensure children settle into school very quickly and so make the best of the rich opportunities to learn. July 2015 9 of 11

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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. July 2015 10 of 11

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School details

Unique reference number 121147 Local authority Norfolk Inspection number 448517

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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 103 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Katja Mahnkopf Headteacher Teresa Osborne Date of previous school inspection 26–27 January 2010 Telephone number 01508 492700 Email address office@alpington.norfolk.sch.uk July 2015 11 of 11

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School details

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

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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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