Ditton Lodge Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Ditton Lodge Primary School St Johns Avenue, Newmarket, Suffolk CB8 8BL

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Outcome

Ditton Lodge Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a friendly, happy and safe place to be, where pupils and staff feel valued. From the moment pupils arrive in the morning, they enjoy spending time with their friends. Children in Reception settle in quickly. They swiftly become part of the school community. Pupils wear their uniforms with pride, and are proud of their school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high expectations of pupils, staff and themselves. They want every pupil to learn as well as possible. The vision ‘Together, we succeed as lifelong learners’ is known by all. Pupils support the values of Ditton Lodge’s ‘High-5’, where they listen, enjoy, aim high, respect and never give up.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils relish carrying out leadership activities which help prepare them for the future. Responsibilities such as head boy and head girl, prefects, school council representatives, class ambassadors, play leaders and eco-council members are all taken very seriously.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have positive relationships with adults, who support their well-being and promote their resilience. Pupils are not worried about bullying because they say it rarely happens. They know what bullying is and said that when it does happen, staff take it seriously and sort things out quickly.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious and well-thought-out curriculum that offers pupils a wide range of opportunities. The curriculum builds pupils’ learning in a logical way. It is very clear what pupils need to learn in each year group in each subject. In most subjects, carefully planned activities build pupils’ understanding. Teachers check if there are any concepts that pupils have not fully grasped. They adjust their teaching to make sure that any gaps in knowledge are filled, and that new learning is built on a firm foundation. Teachers receive focused training which helps them to become increasingly knowledgeable about the different subjects they are teaching. Staff are proud to work at the school and appreciate leaders’ consideration of workload. Some of these revised curriculum plans are still relatively new. This means that teachers are still becoming 2 and 3 November 2021

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familiar with these new plans. Leaders are only in the early stages of monitoring how well the improved curriculum plans are being delivered so that pupils continue to progress well in a range of subjects over time.

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Children learn the skills of reading from the start of Reception. Phonics lessons are taught well, books are well matched to what pupils are learning, and as a result, pupils learn to read successfully. Leaders want every child to be a fluent reader. Pupils particularly enjoy hearing their teachers read to them. Pupils told the inspector that they enjoy reading at home too.

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Reception children settle quickly because of the caring, supportive relationships that they have with staff. They listen carefully in lessons and join in the activities willingly. Subject leaders and staff understand how the early years foundation stage curriculum provides a foundation for what pupils are learning in later years.

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Leaders are ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff are well trained in meeting pupils’ needs. Planning for pupils is on an individual basis. Pupils are well supported in class and through additional interventions if needed. Parents who made their views known to the inspector praised the school’s work to support pupils with SEND.

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Staff have high expectations for behaviour and attendance. The school is a calm and welcoming place to be. Pupils are polite and courteous to visitors. Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. They are respectful of each other and of their teachers.

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Leaders have created a range of opportunities for pupils’ personal development. They are taught to take responsibility for their school by taking part in leadership opportunities, and do so exceptionally well. Many extra-curricular opportunities are available. Pupils respect others. They celebrate the differences between people. Pupils understand the values of democracy. Elected representatives on the school council contribute to decisions about how the school runs.

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The trust provides well-planned opportunities for staff development. The chief executive officer, governors and members of the trust board have an accurate view of the strengths and areas for ongoing improvement. This provides leaders with the necessary challenge and support to ensure that the school continues to improve. They work together as a strong team.

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Overall, parents and carers are overwhelmingly supportive of the school’s work.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All required checks are made when appointing new staff. Safeguarding training for staff, including the ‘Prevent’ duty, is up to date. Staff are vigilant for any signs of abuse, and understand how to report their concerns. Procedures for raising concerns about pupils are in place. Concerns raised are acted on quickly and appropriately. The school’s designated 2 and 3 November 2021

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safeguarding leads understand their role well. They work closely with external agencies, to support vulnerable pupils. Pupils learn how to stay safe in a range of different situations, including online, in ways that are appropriate for their age.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum in which they have identified the key knowledge that pupils will learn and the order in which they will learn it. In some subjects, this work has only been completed recently and the monitoring of this curriculum is in its early stages. Leaders have partially tested whether pupils are making the intended progress in these more recently developed curriculum areas. Leaders need to monitor and evaluate the implementation of curriculum planning in each subject to make sure that this is having the intended impact on pupils’ learning.

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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 or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, 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 deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Ditton Lodge Community Primary School, to be good in May 2015. 2 and 3 November 2021

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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. 2 and 3 November 2021

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School details

Inspection number 10200460 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

 Ditton Lodge Primary School is part of the Unity Schools Partnership multi-academy trust (the trust). It joined the trust in July 2017.  Since the school became an academy, there has been a change in the senior leadership team of the school. The headteacher took up her position in September 2018.  The school does not use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with school leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.  The inspector held meetings with members of the senior leadership team, the vice- chair of governors and a governor, the chief executive officer of the trust, the director of primary education at the trust and other staff who work for the trust.  The inspector did deep dives in these subjects: reading, art and mathematics. She talked to the curriculum leaders, visited lessons, met with pupils and staff, and looked 2 and 3 November 2021

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at pupils’ workbooks. The inspector also looked at curriculum planning in other subjects.  The inspector scrutinised the school’s single central record, talked to pupils and staff about safeguarding and met the deputy designated safeguarding leads. Discussions were also held with trust leaders and governors.  The inspector considered the 69 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, including 66 free-text responses. The inspector also considered ten responses to the staff questionnaire. There were no responses to the pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Stefanie Lipinski-Barltrop, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 2 and 3 November 2021

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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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