Gresham Village School and Nursery

Inspection of a good school: Gresham Village School Cromer Road, Gresham, Norwich, Norfolk NR11 8RF

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Outcome

Gresham Village School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Gresham Village School enjoy their learning. They find the curriculum interesting. They are keen to learn and contribute to class discussions. They are proud of what they know and can do, because of how the teachers have helped them in class. They say, ‘Teachers are friendly and will always help you.’ Pupils feel safe and well cared for at this school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand how to keep themselves safe both at school and when online. Bullying is rare, and if it does happen, adults take swift action. Pupils are well behaved and polite. Classroom routines help pupils to concentrate and make the most of their lessons. Pupils know the school’s values. They understand how these values can help them to get along with one another.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils can develop their cooperation skills through taking on jobs and roles in school. For example, they can become a librarian or serve on the school council. They have different opportunities to develop their interests and talents, such as through taking part in competitions with other schools. Pupils like receiving ‘rainbow awards’ in assemblies. They also enjoy learning from visitors to the school.

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

The curriculum is well sequenced and ambitious. Leaders have implemented schemes of work for teaching phonics and mathematics. These enable pupils to make good progress. They set out a path to reading and calculation success for all pupils. Teachers adapt the resources provided to meet the needs of pupils. Their explanations are clear and concise. Lessons have familiar routines that help pupils to concentrate. Leaders check the implementation of these curriculums to ensure that pupils have sufficient practice.

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

Staff regularly check children’s phonics knowledge. Pupils are given extra phonics lessons and practice if they need it. There are dedicated times to read quietly. Early readers have books that help them practise the sounds they have learned. Leaders have chosen a rich 8 February 2022

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variety of books for pupils to read as they gain in confidence and reading ability. Adults read regularly to pupils and promote books in their class.

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Leaders have recently redesigned the wider curriculum. They have chosen the essential content that pupils will learn. Leaders have also supported teachers to take on the role of subject leader. Teachers are enthusiastic about the curriculum, and they help each other with lesson planning. Visitors to the school further encourage children’s interest in learning. As a result of recent work on the curriculum, pupils are learning more and remembering more. They are finding their lessons interesting.

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While they do contain the key content leaders want pupils to learn, some subject plans lack precision. Some aspects of assessment are not fully developed. Teachers check that pupils understand the work and adapt what they teach accordingly. However, leaders do not have a full overview of how well the curriculum as a whole is being learned.

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In Nursery and Reception, children benefit from the improved school curriculum. Teachers focus on interactions and children’s opportunities to learn new vocabulary. They work with subject leaders to prepare children for learning in Year 1. As some of the curriculum is new, some content and vocabulary are not precisely identified.

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Pupils are well behaved in lessons. An emphasis on routines helps pupils to concentrate. Pupils are polite and well mannered. Teachers and leaders have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. As a result, pupils are confident to work hard in lessons. This is helping to prepare older pupils for secondary school.

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Leaders are keen to develop pupils’ interests and talents. There are different clubs that pupils can join. Pupils can also take on responsibilities, such as becoming a sporting captain. Leaders have thought carefully about how pupils can learn about the world beyond the local community. For example, assemblies teach pupils about ‘people to admire’. Leaders have ensured that the curriculum enables pupils to have greater cultural awareness.

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The special educational needs coordinator and the headteacher work together to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They ensure that pupils with SEND can flourish and take part in all that school life has to offer. Leaders have brought in specialists to provide additional speech and language support, for example. They also work closely with parents and carers to help prepare pupils with SEND for the next stage of their education.

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Trust leaders and the local governing body are very supportive of the work of staff at Gresham Village School. Centralised systems help ease leaders’ workload, give extra assurance of quality, and enable leaders to focus more on improving the quality of education at the school. Staff feel supported and listened to by leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 8 February 2022

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Leaders and teachers work closely together to identify and help pupils who need additional support. The school has recently started using an online platform for reporting and managing concerns. Leaders are using this to spot patterns and to enable the sharing of information between trusted parties. Leaders work closely with outside agencies in supporting pupils.

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Staff receive regular safeguarding training. Appropriate checks are completed to ensure the suitability of adults who work in the school. Pupils learn how they can keep themselves safe, including when online. They know that staff will listen and help them.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Assessment of the curriculum beyond mathematics and English is at an earlier stage of development. This means that leaders do not have as much information about the impact of the curriculum as they ought to. Leaders should develop their assessment of the wider curriculum so that they have a greater understanding of what pupils remember.  In some subject curriculum plans and for some year groups, there is less detail in terms of content and sequencing of content. In these subjects, essential content has been identified and sequenced, but there is not enough detail identified, particularly for younger year groups and for vocabulary to be learned. Leaders do not have as much assurance that pupils are being given the best foundations for learning in subjects such as art and history. For this reason, the transition arrangement has been applied. Leaders should continue to refine the curriculum by identifying more precisely the

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

content and vocabulary for pupils to learn.

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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 a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Gresham Village School, to be good in November 2011. 8 February 2022

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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. 8 February 2022

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Gresham Village School is a rural school that is smaller than average.  The school runs an on-site nursery for three- and four-year-olds.  The school runs a breakfast club and after-school provision.  Gresham Village School converted to become an academy in July 2017. When its predecessor school, also called Gresham Village School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school had received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders, and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with the headteacher, the primary executive lead, members of the local governing body, the special educational needs coordinator and the chief executive of the trust. 8 February 2022

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and art. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects.  To inspect safeguarding, the lead inspector checked the single central record of recruitment checks and talked to leaders responsible for safeguarding. Inspectors also talked to staff and pupils.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, and the additional free-text responses. They also considered the responses to the confidential staff survey and the pupil survey.  Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including the school’s self-evaluation and school improvement plans.

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Inspection team

Hannah Stoten, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Steve Mellors Her Majesty’s Inspector 8 February 2022

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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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