Drayton Community Infant School

Inspection of Drayton Community Infant School School Road, Drayton, Norwich, Norfolk NR8 6EP

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 11 and 12 May 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Drayton Community Infant School. The care and support that staff provide are of the highest quality. Pupils feel safe. They say they have several adults they can talk to if they have any worries. Their parents agree, stating that the school is a lovely, friendly and supportive environment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite and respectful towards each other, staff and visitors. They learn to appreciate and celebrate the differences between groups of people. Pupils feel safe from bullying. They understand what bullying is and when to ask for help.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy taking on extra responsibilities. These include being school councillors and eco-councillors. Pupils take these roles seriously. They like making the school better for each other. Pupils are keen to contribute to society. They speak enthusiastically about taking part in activities, such as fitness sessions, to raise money for charities.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), enjoy learning a broad and interesting curriculum. However, while the quality of education pupils receive is improving, it is not good. Pupils have gaps in their knowledge and understanding. Pupils do not know and remember as much as they need to.

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better?

The school has been through a substantial period of change. A new and effective senior leadership team is now in place. Leaders have accurately identified the key priorities and have made a good start to improving the overall effectiveness of the school. The curriculum, including in the early years, is developing. Leaders have begun to set out clearly the specific knowledge pupils must learn from Reception to Year 2. They know there is more to do to ensure consistency in how the curriculum is delivered.

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better?

Leaders are exploring new systems for assessment. Presently, teachers do not know how best to check and respond to what pupils know in all subjects. Also, some leaders have not had the training or opportunity to drive improvements in the curriculum. This means subject leaders do not know if plans are being consistently delivered across all year groups. As a result, learning is variable and some pupils are not able to remember what leaders want them to know.

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better?

Leaders prioritise reading. Pupils can choose from a wide range of appealing books. Pupils talk with pleasure about books they are reading. Staff receive training to plan and deliver the recently introduced phonics programme. Staff identify pupils who struggle to read, and offer extra support throughout the school day. This helps some pupils to catch up quickly. However, the teaching of phonics is not consistent. Some staff are less confident than others in teaching phonics. As a result, some pupils are not catching up as quickly as others. 11 and 12 May 2022

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The quality of support for pupils with SEND varies. Pupils with SEND have their needs identified. All pupils with SEND have support plans. However, leaders do not make sure all pupils with SEND have individual targets that are specific enough to ensure they get the right support to learn successfully. This means small steps of progress are difficult to measure and leaders cannot be sure all pupils with SEND are achieving as well as they should.

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In early years, the trust has provided guidance and support which has focused on developing the learning environment. Positive relationships between staff and children in the early years help to embed an eagerness to learn and play kindly. Teachers ensure that children have opportunities to do fun activities, but these do not always build on what they already know. As a result, some children are not fully challenged to develop the knowledge, skills and understanding that they need.

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Pupils’ wider development is at the heart of the school’s work. Leaders see pupils’ well-being as paramount. Pupils celebrate diversity and can explain how they value difference and uniqueness. They enjoy attending a range of clubs, including cake decorating, mad science and a number of sports clubs. Leaders make sure that pupils learn the importance of staying fit and healthy. The personal, social and health education curriculum sets out what pupils need to know about keeping safe and understanding and respect. The revised behaviour policy provides clarity in how staff support pupils’ behaviour. Pupils behave well and show respect and kindness to each other.

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Staff enjoy working at the school. They appreciate the stability in staffing since the appointment of the headteacher. They said that leaders and trustees consider their workload when they make changes at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff overseeing the checks on adults working or volunteering in the school do so carefully. Leaders ensure they and their staff receive regular training. Staff find the weekly partnership bulletin helpful in keeping them alert to the signs a pupil may be at risk of harm. Staff report any concerns readily. Leaders demonstrate tenacity in how they manage support for vulnerable pupils and their families.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that staff and outside agencies teach pupils how to stay safe on and offline. As a result, pupils are clear and confident about how to protect themselves and others. 11 and 12 May 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not completed the work to implement an ambitious curriculum. The way that the curriculum, including reading and in early years, is implemented is inconsistent across classes. Teachers do not all have the confidence or subject knowledge to deliver the intended outcomes. Consequently, pupils do not learn and remember as much as they should over time. Leaders need to ensure that a consistent approach is in place and that staff have appropriate training and support to improve their practice.  Teachers do not use assessment information well enough to adapt lessons to meet the needs of all pupils, including those in the early years and pupils with SEND. As a result, not all pupils achieve as well as they could. Leaders must provide effective training for teachers so they know how to check learning well, and then make sure that this is carried out effectively to ensure that pupils achieve well.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Individual intervention targets for pupils with SEND are not always specific. This means small steps of progress cannot be evidenced. Leaders need to ensure pupils’ individual targets are specific and measurable.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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. 11 and 12 May 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227589 Type of school Infant

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Since the previous inspection of the predecessor school, in December 2013, Drayton Community Infant School has undergone significant change. The school has joined the Inclusive Schools Trust. The school is partnered with another school in the trust and shares a headteacher, who became the substantive headteacher in January 2022.  Drayton Community Infant School currently uses two alternative provision settings.  The school runs a breakfast club and an after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

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

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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 of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, physical education and science. 11 and 12 May 2022

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 For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also listened to a sample of pupils read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors also looked at curriculum plans and spoke to leaders about some other subjects.  Inspectors held meetings with the partnership headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the leader for SEND and the early years lead.  The lead inspector held meetings with members of the trust.  The lead inspector reviewed a range of school documentation and policies, including records of governors’ meetings, the school’s self-evaluation document and information relating to pupils’ attendance and behaviour.  To inspect safeguarding, inspectors spoke to the designated safeguarding lead, teachers, support staff and pupils. An inspector met with the school business

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manager to scrutinise the single central record of recruitment and vetting checks.  Inspectors spent time observing and speaking to pupils, including at breaktimes and lunchtime.  Inspectors gathered parents’ views by speaking to several of them at the start of a school day and by reviewing the 47 responses and 42 free-text responses submitted to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors gathered staff members’ views by speaking to several of them. Inspectors took account of the 18 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Jo Nutbeam, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lynsey Holzer Ofsted Inspector 11 and 12 May 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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