Setting

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

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Julie-Anne Purvis Acting Headteacher Raleigh Infant School and Nursery Admirals Way Thetford Norfolk IP24 2JT

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No formal designation inspection of Raleigh Infant School and Nursery

Following my visit to your school on 27 June 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings.

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No formal designation inspection of Raleigh Infant School and Nursery

This inspection was conducted under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and in accordance with Ofsted’s published procedures for inspecting schools with no formal designation. The inspection was carried out because Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector wished to determine the effectiveness of safeguarding arrangements at the school.

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Evidence

I scrutinised the single central record and other documents relating to safeguarding and child protection arrangements. I met with you, your acting deputy headteacher and four other designated leads for safeguarding, as well as your school business manager. I met with two representatives from the interim executive board (IEB), including the chair. I also scrutinised a wide range of documentation provided, including minutes of IEB meetings, external audits and reports, information about pupils’ behaviour and attendance and the actions taken to improve them. I observed pupils’ conduct at lunchtime and spoke with a group of pupils about their views of the school.

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Evidence

Having considered the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time: Safeguarding is effective.

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Context

The proportion of pupils who come from a minority ethnic background or who speak English as an additional language is above average. The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium funding provided to support disadvantaged pupils is below the national average. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities is below the national average, as is the proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan.

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Context

The school was inspected in November 2017 and placed in serious weaknesses. Leadership and management, safeguarding and the effectiveness of early years were found to be inadequate. The remaining aspects of the school’s work were found to require improvement. The headteacher who was in charge at the time of the previous inspection and on a phased retirement left the school at the end of 2017. You were already acting headteacher for some days during November 2017 and took up the full-time role in January 2018. You have support from an acting deputy headteacher.

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Context

Following the publication of the previous inspection report, the local authority chose to install an IEB. This has strengthened governance and generated additional capacity to oversee improvement. The school is well supported by the local authority and you have welcomed its continued involvement. The school is to join a multi-academy trust, and conversion to an academy is due to be completed by 2 July 2018. The trust is already working closely with the school and the local authority. The trust’s director of primary education is a member of the school’s IEB and was present during this inspection. A multi-academy trust has been identified which the school will join imminently and which is now working closely with the school and the local authority.

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Safeguarding

Action has been taken to resolve the issues raised in the last inspection relating to safeguarding. As full-time acting headteacher, you have ensured that the school operates smoothly on a daily basis. You have quickly identified personnel within the local authority on whom you can call for advice and guidance. You have made good use of those contacts and established very effective relationships. You are beginning to hold staff to account for improving the school. You quickly identified that the safeguarding and child protection concerns identified in the previous report were extensive. With the support of the IEB, you have employed additional designated safeguarding leads. You have defined their roles and responsibilities very clearly and it is evident that they are already having an impact both on improvements in procedures and processes and on your workload. All of the designated leads have now been trained and understand their responsibilities for managing the child

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Safeguarding

protection policy and procedures effectively, and for supporting the most vulnerable pupils. Following the review of the relevant policies, you have ensured that staff know the clear procedures that you have put in place for raising concerns about pupils’ safety and welfare. Concerns shared by staff with the designated leads are recorded meticulously and acted on promptly. The designated leads team has compiled a comprehensive induction booklet for all new staff, supply teachers and any staff who are not employed directly by the school. This has ensured that all staff are aware of the school’s procedures. As a result, pupils, who told me they feel safe, are indeed safe.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding has a higher profile. There is a culture of safeguarding throughout the school because action has been taken to raise awareness of safeguarding matters. As a result, staff are more vigilant about recognising and reporting signs that cause them concern. Furthermore, the quality of reporting is high. Records are detailed, fully completed and actions are carefully noted. Information is shared appropriately with other adults in key stage meetings. Consequently, staff are aware of potentially vulnerable pupils and patterns of incidents or behaviours are beginning to be analysed by senior leaders.

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Safeguarding

At the previous inspection, there were considerable gaps identified in the pre- employment checks that leaders completed and recorded. You and the chair of the IEB have been relentless in ensuring that all mandatory checks are undertaken with care and precision. Several members of staff are now trained in safer recruitment. During this inspection, random checks of the school’s computerised system, staff personnel files and certificates of training, demonstrated that the single central record is now fit for purpose. All relevant checks are rigorously and robustly undertaken. You have viewed all historical checks that were made and staff’s personal files. You and your staff have made every effort to collect evidence to ensure that records are as up to date as they can be. Where this has proved impossible, you have meticulously risk-assessed individual members of staff and reported your actions to the IEB.

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Safeguarding

All staff have received appropriate child protection and safeguarding training in accordance with ‘Keeping children safe in education 2016’ and other statutory guidance. Comprehensive records of staff’s attendance at training are maintained. Those members of staff who may not have been present when training took place are trained in ‘mop-up’ sessions. First aid training, including paediatric first aid, has also been delivered so that there are staff in the school who are now appropriately qualified. You have, therefore, ensured that all staff are aware of their statutory duty to report any concerns they have about pupils’ safety and well-being.

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Safeguarding

Since the previous inspection, you have made a number of referrals to the local authority’s designated lead for safeguarding. Advice and guidance that you have received have been followed meticulously. Although this has at times been challenging for you in your new role, you have not shied away from having difficult conversations with staff when necessary. All decisions made, and actions taken, are well recorded and information is shared appropriately with the chair of the IEB. You have appointed a member of staff to take the lead on pupils’ behaviour, along with monitoring pupils’ attendance. You have already identified some pupils whose behaviour, for example, regularly challenges the school’s behaviour policy. I had a meeting with a group of pupils and spoke to many others on the playground during the lunchtime break. Pupils know the behaviour system and understand the consequences of making poor choices and how good behaviour is rewarded. They

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Safeguarding

said that there is still some poor behaviour but that adults mostly deal with it quickly. The school’s programme to ensure that pupils thrive is effectively supporting the most vulnerable pupils to manage their feelings and behaviour.

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Safeguarding

You and your designated safeguarding leads are beginning to monitor pupils’ behaviour more regularly and analyse trends or concerns. However, this is at an early stage and not yet embedded. You have sensibly identified whether, as a result of unacceptable behaviour, there are potential serious safeguarding issues. The simple system you have put in place enables you to highlight, for example, that bullying is rare, while concerns about internet safety are more commonplace. You have used this information to identify a lead for this important area of the school’s work. The lead has held meetings to share your findings with parents and carers. Regular newsletters are sent out to parents to raise ongoing or new concerns. Furthermore, you have spoken individually to some parents about their children’s exposure to films and games that are not age-appropriate. Pupils I spoke to during the inspection know that their parents should be guiding them to games and films

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External support

Discussions with school leaders and with members of the IEB, and scrutiny of local authority reports, show that there is a collective understanding of the improvement that has been made since the previous inspection. The post-Ofsted action plan clearly details actions that have been taken and the impact these have had on pupils’ safety and well-being.

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External support

The local authority has supported the school extensively to ensure that safeguarding is now much more robust and fit for purpose. They have also made extensive health and safety checks of the school’s site and made recommendations. The very experienced chair of the IEB regularly checks systems and processes and other members visit the school regularly to see how systems work in practice. For example, they met with a group of disadvantaged pupils to see whether they felt safe and supported, which they confirmed they did.

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External support

The school is working closely with a multi-academy trust to ensure a smooth transition to becoming an academy. An executive headteacher appointed by the trust, who you have already met with, will be joining the school imminently and you will become head of school.

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Priorities for further improvement

 To embed systems to formally monitor the robustness of safeguarding and child protection processes.

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Priorities for further improvement

I am copying this letter to the chair of the IEB, 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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