Ixworth Church of England Primary School

Inspection of Ixworth Church of England Primary School Crown Lane, Ixworth, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP31 2EL

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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

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 17 and 18 May 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy to attend Ixworth Church of England Primary School. They arrive each day with positive attitudes, ready to learn. Pupils are courteous and polite. They are respectful of one another during lessons and at playtimes.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in school. They say that bullying is rare and leaders always deal with it so that it does not reoccur. Pupils know there is always an adult to talk to if they have any worries. Relationships between adults and pupils are positive. Pupils know that staff have high expectations of them. They try their best to live up to these expectations and they are encouraged to work hard by the school motto: ‘where learning has no limits’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a wide range of experiences that go beyond the taught curriculum. Recently, pupils planted trees in the local community. Pupils relish taking on a range of extra responsibilities. These include becoming ‘compassion champions’, serving on the collective council and helping younger pupils as play leaders.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. Pupils leave Year 6 well prepared for the challenges of secondary school.

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better?

Leaders have planned an ambitious curriculum. They have carefully considered the important skills and knowledge they want pupils to acquire in each year group. Teachers make lessons engaging and interesting, which inspires pupils to learn. Governors ensure that all pupils in the school benefit from an effective curriculum. They hold leaders to account for the quality of the education that pupils receive.

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better?

Staff know pupils well. This helps them to identify pupils’ additional needs at an early stage. In turn, pupils with SEND are given the support they need to access the same curriculum as their friends. Teaching assistants are well trained to support pupils’ learning to good effect.

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better?

Children in the early years get off to a positive start. What they learn sets the foundations for what leaders want pupils to learn in key stages 1 and 2. Adults are well trained. They place a strong emphasis on children using vocabulary correctly across the curriculum.

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better?

Subject leaders take part in regular, professional training. This helps them to keep their knowledge up to date. They give teachers the advice and support they need to deliver an effective curriculum in each subject.

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better?

Teachers have good subject knowledge. They introduce new learning carefully. Teachers ensure that lessons build on what pupils have learned before. Teaching 17 and 18 May 2022

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staff use assessment well to check that pupils understand what they are being taught. They are not as effective at assessing what pupils have remembered over time.

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The promotion of reading is a high priority across the school. Leaders have planned the phonics curriculum well. Teachers introduce new letter sounds to pupils in a logical order. The books that children in the early years and pupils in key stage 1 take home to practise build on the sounds they have learned in class. All staff follow leaders’ agreed approach to the delivery of the phonics curriculum. This means that pupils quickly develop confidence and fluency in reading. They thoroughly enjoy reading. Pupils talk about their favourite books with enthusiasm.

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Classrooms are productive environments. Pupils develop positive attitudes to learning. They settle quickly to tasks set by their teachers because they are interested in the subjects they learn. Teachers establish clear routines and expectations. They provide plenty of opportunities for pupils to work cooperatively. During lessons, most pupils behave well. However, on occasions a few pupils find it hard to regulate their behaviour.

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Leaders ensure that pupils learn about other faiths and cultures and about equality and diversity. Pupils are tolerant of views and opinions that may differ to their own. They have many opportunities to develop their citizenship skills, for example by recycling, and organising events to improve their local environment.

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Staff are extremely positive about school leaders. Staff told inspectors that leaders really do consider their workload and well-being. Staff said that they feel very well supported. They said that they have the time and training they need to do their jobs well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is an established culture of safeguarding at Ixworth Church of England Primary School. Leaders ensure that all staff receive regular training to keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date. Staff know how to raise and respond to safeguarding concerns.

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Safeguarding

Leaders are vigilant and determined in their safeguarding duties. They follow up concerns swiftly. Leaders work in close partnership with a range of expert services. They provide suitable support for vulnerable pupils and their families.

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Safeguarding

Members of the local governing body and trustees have a secure oversight and knowledge of safeguarding procedures in the school. 17 and 18 May 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Teachers use assessment well to check on pupils’ learning as they go along. Assessing how effectively pupils have retained knowledge and skills in the longer term, across the wider curriculum, is not fully developed. As a result, teachers cannot be sure how well pupils are remembering their learning over time. Leaders should ensure that the information teachers gather when assessing pupils’ learning is used to inform longer-term curriculum planning.  Some pupils have significant behavioural needs and find it hard to manage their own behaviour in lessons. This leads to occasional disruptive behaviour. Leaders are introducing new approaches to support staff and pupils but these are not used consistently across the whole school. Leaders should ensure that staff are given more training and support to manage challenging behaviour when it occurs.

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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. 17 and 18 May 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10227584 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

 Ixworth Church of England Primary School opened on 1 December 2017. It is an academy sponsored by The Tilian Partnership.  The current headteacher took up the post in April 2018.  The school has a Nursery class for three- and four-year-olds, and offers places for 15 hours or 30 hours a week.  The school runs a breakfast and an after-school club providing childcare.

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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. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with the headteacher, the office manager and members of the school’s leadership team. Inspectors met with the chief executive officer of the trust and four members of the governing body, including the chair of governors. 17 and 18 May 2022

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, science and history. For each deep dive, the inspectors met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at pupils’ work.  Inspectors met with the special educational needs coordinator and with leaders who have responsibility for disadvantaged pupils, physical education and sports grant, and personal development.  Inspectors looked at the single central record of pre-employment checks. They spoke to leaders, school staff, governors and pupils to review the school’s arrangements for safeguarding.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the start of the school day. They considered the 15 responses made by parents to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, including seven free-text responses. Inspectors also considered the 13 responses

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to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff and the one response to Ofsted’s pupil questionnaire.

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Inspection team

Nick Rudman, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Joseph Figg Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 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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