Aldeburgh Primary School

Inspection of Aldeburgh Primary School Park Road, Aldeburgh, Suffolk IP15 5EU

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected 4–5 March 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Aldeburgh Primary is a small school, with four classes. Everybody knows everybody, and the school feels like a family. Classrooms are large, bright and inviting. Pupils enjoy coming to school and most say that they would recommend it to other people.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are expected to work hard and to do their best. As a result, pupils do well at Aldeburgh Primary. By the time they get to the end of Year 6, they are ready to move on to secondary school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Generally, pupils behave very well. They know that they are expected to follow the school’s rules and they usually do. Pupils say that bullying does not happen very often. They feel that the school is a safe place to be. Pupils told us that staff support them and help them when they need it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is in the popular seaside town of Adleburgh and is a short walk from the beach. The school takes advantage of all that the area has to offer. For example, pupils make short films in school, as part of their computing work, and these are shown in the small local cinema.

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better?

The school’s curriculum is wide-ranging and interesting. The school regularly has visits from musicians and authors. Pupils have opportunities to go on educational visits, such as to nearby Sutton Hoo or a residential visit to Derbyshire.

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better?

British values are a key part of the curriculum. The school uses well-chosen books to teach pupils about different values. For example, ‘The rainbow fish’ is used to teach about tolerance, while ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ is used to illustrate the rule of law.

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better?

Pupils learn about aspects of personal, social and health education through the curriculum and assemblies. Older pupils apply to become junior road safety officers. They carry out a range of tasks, including encouraging pupils to wear helmets when riding their bikes.

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better?

Reading is given a high priority at Aldeburgh. By the time they leave, pupils read fluently and with understanding. Pupils are encouraged to develop a love of reading and books. Every pupil has a ticket for the local library and each class visits once a month. Staff read to pupils regularly, in lessons, at home time and during assemblies. They recommend books to pupils and encourage pupils to make suggestions about books that others might like.

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better?

Children start learning phonics soon after they join the school. Staff know the general principles for teaching phonics. However, some staff do not have strong enough knowledge about the school’s chosen phonics scheme. This means that they 4–5 March 2020

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do not follow the scheme’s approach closely enough. When this is the case, some pupils do not progress as well as they could.

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The curriculum is well designed and implemented. The curriculum makes clear what should be taught and when. Pupils enjoy their learning because they are given interesting activities to do. They also know that support is always available when they need it.

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The curriculum is adapted well to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders know pupils with SEND very well. They have in-depth knowledge about each pupil. As a result, pupils with SEND make strong progress and achieve well.

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The early years curriculum is developing and provision has improved. Reception and Year 1 pupils form a single, mixed-age class. Teachers plan learning for children in the early years alongside that for their Year 1 classmates. The early years curriculum is less well-developed than the curriculum for Year 1. For example, the activities that children can choose for themselves do not contribute well enough to their learning.

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On the whole, pupils behave well during lessons. They listen carefully to what they are told and respond quickly to instructions. Pupils show interest in their learning and do their best. Where learning routines are less well established, there is a small amount of low-level disruption.

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Leaders and governors want the best for the school. They are focused on ensuring that the school continues to improve. However, the school’s self-evaluation and school development documents are not fully developed.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

The school’s record of pre-appointment checks includes all necessary information. Appropriate checks are made before anyone is allowed to work with pupils, whether as a volunteer or as a member of staff. The school’s designated safeguarding lead has a strong understanding of the role. Staff have been trained to recognise possible signs of abuse and neglect. Relationships between pupils and staff are strong. This helps to ensure that issues are noticed quickly. A suitable system is in place for reporting concerns that arise about pupils. The designated safeguarding lead takes prompt action, when necessary, to protect pupils.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The early years curriculum is less well developed than the curriculum in the rest of the school. For example, continuous provision is underdeveloped because it is not always challenging or well matched to children’s needs. As a result, children 4–5 March 2020

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become distracted and do not persevere with activities. Leaders need to ensure that they continue to develop the early years curriculum, including continuous provision.  Some staff do not have deep enough knowledge and understanding of the school’s chosen phonics scheme. Not all staff have had adequate training in the use of the school’s chosen scheme. Where this is the case, phonics teaching is less effective. Leaders should ensure that all staff are fully trained in, and have excellent knowledge about, the school’s approach to teaching phonics.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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 .

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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. 4–5 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10133413 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Aldeburgh Primary School converted to become an academy school on 1 May 2017. When its predecessor school, also called Aldeburgh Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, in March 2014, it was judged to be good overall.  The school is part of Avocet Academy Trust. Avocet is a small multi-academy trust, comprising five primary schools close to the Suffolk coast.  The headteacher joined the school in January 2016. Since January 2020, the headteacher has also been providing leadership support for another school in the trust.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We met with: the headteacher, assistant headteacher and other leaders; teachers and pupils; the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust; and a group of trustees and governors.  In order to check the effectiveness of safeguarding, we: checked the school’s single central record of pre-appointment checks; met the school’s designated 4–5 March 2020

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safeguarding lead; spoke with staff and pupils; and checked the school’s child protection records.  We observed and talked to pupils during their breaktimes and as they moved about the school.  We considered a range of school documents.  We took account of 20 responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey and two responses to the staff survey. We also considered 21 responses to Parent View, and 21 free- text comments from parents. We spoke with one parent on the telephone.  We did deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, geography and art. We met with the leaders of these subjects, visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work, spoke with pupils about their work, spoke to teachers, and listened to pupils read.

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Inspection team

Wendy Varney, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

David Milligan Ofsted Inspector 4–5 March 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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