Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Ms Rachel Quick Executive Headteacher Fleggburgh Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Main Road Fleggburgh Great Yarmouth Norfolk NR29 3AG

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Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 25 January 2017, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in March 2012.

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Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection.

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Primary School

Since taking on the role of the executive headteacher, you have worked with vigour and determination to ensure that this small school is greater than its parts. You have used your expertise to support and develop staff, in particular the head of school, who works with you very effectively. You have ensured that, when you are at the partner school, Fleggburgh continues to flourish. This is because the head of school knows exactly what is expected of staff and pupils and what works well to ensure these expectations are met. However, you recognise that all staff need to take greater responsibility for leading aspects of this small school to extend leadership capacity further.

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Primary School

You have developed the partnership, between Fleggburgh primary and the other school that you lead, very effectively. This has helped to strengthen further aspects of the school’s work. For example, staff at both schools compare pupils’ work to gain a better understanding of expected standards in each year group. This partnership is being advanced further so that expertise from each school can be used even more effectively for the benefit of mutual support.

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Primary School

Teaching is good, and especially strong in upper key stage 2. Staff have risen to the challenges you have presented to them, particularly in raising their expectations and improving their practice. Teachers know pupils well and plan lessons which will enthuse and inspire them. Classrooms are well-organised and attractive learning environments, and you and your team make the very best use of the limited space you have available. For example, you have made sure that children in the Reception Year, who work within the mixed-aged first class, have an attractive outdoor space in which to play and learn. You carry out regular checks on teaching and learning, visiting lessons formally and informally and looking at work in pupils’ books. Consequently, you have a very accurate view of the quality of teaching and learning. You use this knowledge to plan well for further improvements, creating detailed plans which clearly set out what you will achieve and by when. You recognise that

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Primary School

there are many strengths in teaching, but you are determined to ensure that there is even more rigour in some teaching groups, so that all teaching is of the same high standard as the best.

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Primary School

You are well supported by the governing body. Governors recognised that in the past they had not provided sufficient challenge for leaders. You have worked with them well to develop their understanding of their roles. Governors visit regularly, sometimes watching teaching with you and discussing your judgements of the quality of teaching and learning, and the reasons for these. Governors look closely at pupils’ assessment information and ask pertinent questions about the achievement of individuals or certain groups. As a result, governors, while highly supportive of your leadership and of the school, are confident to question and challenge you to ensure that pupils continue to achieve well and enjoy their learning.

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Primary School

Parents are highly supportive of the school. Those who responded to the Ofsted online questionnaire were unanimous in their view that the school is well led and managed. All respondents said they would recommend the school to another parent. Those parents spoken to during the inspection were also very positive about the school. One parent said that, since starting school, her child had been extremely well cared for and enjoys school so much that ‘he even wants to come to school at the weekend!’ Other comments were equally positive including ‘fantastic school, brilliant teachers’ and ‘I have the greatest respect and admiration for all staff who always go the extra mile.’

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Primary School

There is a vibrant and interesting curriculum provided for pupils with a wide range of stimulating learning opportunities. For example, pupils told me enthusiastically about the work they had been doing outside, exploring the habitats of moths and how the moth’s colours help to expose or camouflage them. Pupils also enjoyed finding out about the journey of a potato from a local field, right through to the crisp factory which they visited. Lots of opportunities are provided for pupils to apply their literacy skills across the curriculum, for example writing about Anglo-Saxon artefacts in history and reflecting on their designs for memory boxes in design and technology. As a result, pupils told me that they enjoy their learning and the variety of activities provided, and they make good progress in a range of subjects. Safeguarding is effective.

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Primary School

You ensure that keeping pupils safe has a high priority in the school. Through regular training, staff are knowledgeable about what to look for that may indicate a child is at risk. Staff training is kept up to date, so that issues such as being at risk of radicalisation, or a victim of domestic violence, are understood and staff are vigilant for any indicators that this may be the case. All staff are carefully checked according to statutory requirements and you check that these records are kept up to date. Records for pupils, where concerns have been raised, are kept meticulously and all concerns are followed up swiftly. You are tenacious in ensuring that action is taken by other bodies when necessary to ensure that pupils are kept safe. You have established excellent systems for ensuring that, in your absence, no information is overlooked. You and the head of school work closely together checking with each

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Primary School

other to make sure that nothing is missed that could put a child at risk.

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Inspection findings

 The previous inspection identified the need to raise achievement in mathematics. We agreed to look at this during the inspection to evaluate how well this had been addressed. Work in pupils’ books shows that pupils are taught a good range of mathematics and that the majority of pupils now make good progress in mathematics.  You and the staff identified that pupils needed to have more frequent opportunities to develop their understanding of number and calculations to improve mathematical achievement. You have introduced a separate session for this where pupils practise these skills. This has had a positive effect on improving pupils’ ability to carry out calculations, and to do so at speed.  Work in pupils’ books shows that pupils in Years 5 and 6, particularly, are given challenging work to extend their skills. For example, pupils explored the algebraic formula for calculating diagonals in a given shape. Pupils are given opportunities

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Inspection findings

for problem solving through a weekly problem solving lesson and through regular challenges provided in day-to-day lessons. However, opportunities for reasoning about number are less well developed in some teaching groups.  In key stage 1, pupils enjoy lots of good practical mathematical tasks. However, adults sometimes do not record the learning that has taken place so that they can use this to plan subsequent tasks. Occasionally, adults miss important errors in pupils’ work, such as the misuse of signs, for example equals and plus. This means that some pupils do not develop a secure understanding of the importance of accuracy with these symbols.  At the start of the inspection we agreed that the progress made by the most able pupils in the school would form a line of enquiry to explore. We looked at pupils’ books together and with the head of school. I spoke with pupils about their work. We found that while in some groups the most able pupils are extended and

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Inspection findings

challenged well in their learning, some of the younger most able pupils do not make as rapid progress as they are capable of making.  Together we identified that there were some examples of good challenge being provided for the most able pupils, particularly in Years 5 and 6. Here pupils were expected, for example, to include in their writing a range of narrative features in their descriptive language, and also extended sentences and clauses. In mathematics, pupils in this group were regularly given challenging problems to solve, which made them think hard. The teacher’s feedback further extends learning by asking pupils to apply their knowledge within another context.  In some teaching groups, the most able were sometimes not given enough challenge, and not enough is expected of them. For example, we saw that, in key stage 1, some of the most able pupils sometimes produced work below the standard that they are capable of without the teacher challenging this.

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Inspection findings

Occasionally, pupils who are capable of more, choose tasks which are too easy for them and adults do not intervene swiftly enough to move them on.  We looked particularly at the progress of two specific groups: disadvantaged pupils and boys. This was because, in the past, outcomes for disadvantaged pupils have varied, and boys, particularly in key stage 1, did not achieve as well as they should. This was especially so in reading and mathematics.  Scrutiny of pupils’ work, and the school’s assessment information, shows that many disadvantaged pupils are now making good progress from their individual starting points. This is because work is usually carefully planned, and support for disadvantaged pupils is tailored well towards their needs. However, you recognise that sometimes support has not been provided soon enough to enable some disadvantaged pupils to make more rapid progress, so that they reach quickly, or

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Inspection findings

exceed, the expected standard for their age.  Boys’ writing is sometimes not presented to the same high standard as that of girls in some groups. However, work in pupils’ books shows that the content is of a similar standard to that of girls, and that boys make similar progress. Boys and girls both make good progress in their reading. Pupils spoken to during the inspection, both boys and girls, were equally enthusiastic about their learning. They felt that the curriculum was matched well to their interests.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  The most able pupils are challenged consistently in all groups and classes.  There is better early intervention for disadvantaged pupils so that they make more rapid progress in their first years at school.  Other staff are provided with opportunities to take a lead on aspects of the school’s work, so that there is greater shared responsibility for the schools’ continued improvement. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Norwich, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Norfolk. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I held meetings with you, a representative of the local authority and with three governors. I met with a small number of pupils from Years 2, 3, 4 and 5. I heard a sample of pupils read. I scrutinised a range of documents, including information on pupils’ progress, safeguarding, development planning and the school’s self-evaluation. I visited all classes and evaluated pupils’ work. I evaluated the school’s website and found it to meet requirements on the publication of specified information.

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