Beeston Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Beeston Primary School Chapel Lane, Beeston, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE32 2NQ

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Outcome

Beeston Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Beeston Primary School and say learning is fun. They feel safe and say they have made many friends. They have good relationships with staff. They know that staff care for them and support them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave sensibly in class and around the school because expectations are high. Pupils understand that it is important that they treat one another with respect. There is a calm, purposeful atmosphere. Pupils care for each other well. Bullying happens rarely and when it does happen, it is dealt with quickly. If pupils are worried, they know they can talk to an adult who will listen to them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff are dedicated to providing pupils with a full and rich curriculum. Pupils value the thought-provoking activities that staff provide. Pupils are encouraged to think for themselves and to ask if unsure. The range of activities beyond the main curriculum is wide. Pupils are proud to be part of the school council, music productions and the Dereham carnival. They also enjoy competitions and camping.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the rewards they receive when they do well as it makes them feel proud of what they have achieved.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Since the school became part of the Unity Education Trust, the school has undergone significant improvement. Justifiably, leaders have concentrated on raising standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Leaders have worked closely with the multi-academy trust (MAT) to enrich the quality of teaching in these subjects. Since the appointment of the head of school in September 2018, improvements have gained momentum.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Teachers check their plans to make sure that they teach their subjects in a logical order. This is so that pupils can remember the knowledge they learn over time. There are differences in how well subjects are planned by subject leaders. The curriculum is not yet 21 January 2020

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coherently planned and sequenced well enough in some subjects, such as science, religious education and information technology. It is clear from the actions that the trust and school leaders have already taken that they are in the process of bringing the changes about.

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Teachers know their pupils well. Classrooms are vibrant, celebrating pupils’ work. The atmosphere in the classroom is purposeful and focused on learning. However, teachers’ expectations for the presentation of some pupils’ work is not high enough.

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Reading is a high priority. Pupils confidently use phonics and quickly become fluent readers. Reading lessons help pupils understand key words and phrases. Younger pupils are reading books that are carefully matched to their knowledge of phonics. Leaders have created well-resourced reading areas. Older pupils read fluently and understand texts that are considered appropriate for their age.

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Children get off to a good start in the Reception class. Staff are polite and caring, and know these young children well. Adults interact well with children to develop their language and other skills. Clear routines help children settle quickly. Children work and play together happily and develop good personal and social skills.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully integrated into school life. Staff identify any barriers to learning and put appropriate support in place. This means that pupils develop their knowledge and skills well throughout their time at the school.

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Leaders are proud of their school and its place in the local community, and staff are proud to work at the school. They feel well supported and staff morale is high. Everyone is like- minded in the drive to make sure that the pupils are ready for the next stage of education and future life. Staff agree that the MAT and the governing body consider their workload and manage change carefully.

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The MAT provides strong support to school leaders. The trust’s leaders are ambitious for pupils to do well. Governors provide good support and challenge to the school. They visit the school regularly and check on its work. Governors have attended training to help them carry out their roles. They understand their duties around safeguarding children.

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Parents and carers are overwhelmingly supportive of the school. They say their children are happy, well cared for and safe. Parents of children with SEND praise the support that their children receive.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that keeping children safe is everyone’s responsibility. Leaders carry out appropriate checks on adults before they begin to work or volunteer at the school. All staff receive training and regular updates so that they know how to identify any concerns about pupils’ welfare. They record any concerns in detail and store this information 21 January 2020

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securely. Leaders work well with outside agencies to help pupils get the support they need to keep them safe. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, for example when they use the internet, and they know about ‘stranger danger’.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s curriculum in a few subjects, for example in science, religious education and information technology, is not well sequenced. The plans do not allow pupils to build confidently on what they already know. Leaders need to make sure that all curriculum plans are effective in helping pupils to know and remember more as they move through the school. Subject leaders need to ensure that there is a logical approach to the teaching of their subjects across the key stages.  Teachers do not have high enough expectations for the quality of work that pupils produce. Some pupils do not take care with the presentation of their work. Leaders need to ensure that teachers’ expectations are consistently high across the school and that pupils do their best work.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good school or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that the school could now be better than good or that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Beeston Primary School, to be good on 19–20 June 2013.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 21 January 2020

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 21 January 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10133416 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 19–20 June 2013

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Information about this school

 Beeston Primary School converted to an academy in March 2017. The predecessor school (of the same name) was judged good in June 2013.  The school is part of the Unity Education Trust (UET). Governors constitute the school oversight committee. They are responsible for ensuring high standards of achievement, monitoring the progress of the school, supporting school improvement in line with UET policies and objectives and ensuring community engagement. They support the trust board by reviewing policies and by providing feedback to the board.  This school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

 We did deep dives in reading, mathematics and science. In these deep dives, we visited lessons, spoke with pupils and staff, and looked at pupils’ work. We met with subject leaders to talk about these subjects.  We held meetings with the head of school, a senior leader, leaders responsible for individual subjects and class teachers. We spoke with the chief executive officer of the 21 January 2020

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trust, the school improvement director, the chair of trustees and members of the governing body, including the chair of governors.  We considered a range of school documents.  We spoke to staff about their workload and well-being.  We considered the 12 responses to Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and 12 free-text responses.  We considered the four responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and the 22 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  We observed pupils’ behaviour during school lessons and around school. We spoke to pupils about bullying, behaviour and leaders’ expectations of pupils.  We scrutinised the single central record of staff suitability checks. We met with the designated safeguarding leader. We looked at documentation relating to safeguarding and spoke to pupils and staff about the school’s procedures for keeping pupils safe.  The transition arrangements for the quality of education apply to this inspection.

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Inspection team

Stefanie Lipinski-Barltrop, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Wendy Varney Her Majesty’s Inspector 21 January 2020

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regulates and inspects to 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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