Snettisham Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Snettisham Primary School School Road, Snettisham, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE31 7LT

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Outcome

Snettisham Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to Snettisham Primary School. They like seeing their friends and their teachers. During play time, pupils enjoy playing in the large, well-equipped, outdoor space. Pupils interact well with each other and with staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils experience an ambitious curriculum which includes well-planned enrichment opportunities and trips. They share their love of reading. They enjoy borrowing books from the school library. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the same curriculum as other pupils in the school. Suitable adaptations mean that they get the support they need to succeed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are friendly and polite. They appreciate the positive praise and encouragement that staff regularly give them. Pupils are kept safe in the school. They say that sometimes other pupils can be unkind, but they would go to an adult if this happened. Pupils feel that this would normally rectify the problem.

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What is it like to attend this school?

In the early years, children experience a supportive and ambitious curriculum. They follow routines well and benefit from a well-planned learning environment that includes a range of indoor and outdoor activity areas. This supports their development and means they are well prepared for Year 1.

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

From early years onwards, children and pupils enjoy a challenging curriculum that is well planned and sequenced. This helps pupils to build knowledge and to remember topics that they learned earlier in the year. Leaders ensure that any gaps in pupils’ knowledge are identified. Pupils are then supported by well-trained staff to ensure they usually do not fall behind their peers. On occasion, teachers have not made sure that pupils have improved their work or securely learned something that they initially found hard. This means that a small minority of pupils achieve less well than their peers. 20 July 2022

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Teachers are well trained and have a good knowledge of the subjects they teach. This ensures that they successfully help pupils to make good progress through the curriculum. Pupils with SEND are fully included in school life. Staff are supported in making appropriate adaptations where necessary to support all pupils to access the curriculum.

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Leaders prioritise reading in the school. A well-planned reading curriculum builds on pupils’ knowledge and enables them to make strong progress in their reading as soon as they join the school. Leaders have set up robust systems that identify all pupils’ reading levels. Support is in place to ensure pupils catch up quickly if they fall behind. The school library offers a variety of suitable books for pupils to enjoy. Pupils read daily in school or at home, and this helps them to quickly develop fluency in their reading.

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Leaders have trained staff to focus on recognising pupils’ positive behaviour and to model high expectations. As a result, there is little disruption to learning. However, some pupils say that low-level disruption can be distracting and that this affects their learning on occasion.

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Pupils benefit from leaders’ plans to enhance their social and cultural development. Pupils can participate in a range of clubs and have the opportunity to learn a musical instrument and take part in sports. A variety of trips and visits, as well as assemblies and lesson topics, help pupils to learn about other communities. Despite this, some pupils do not yet have a secure understanding of similarities and differences in modern Britain.

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Governors and leaders have effectively evaluated what is working well in the school. They have closely monitored leaders’ work to ensure that the quality of education for all pupils is good.

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Staff training is of high quality, and this ensures that almost all pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well. Staff are complimentary about the support they receive from leaders, the trust and governors. The majority of parents are positive about their children’s experiences within the school.

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In discussion with the headteacher, the inspectors agreed that building on the school’s personal development programme, pupils’ behaviour, and developing pupils’ response to feedback may usefully serve as a focus for the next inspection.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding is prioritised by leaders and governors. Leaders have ensured that effective training is in place so that pupils who are at risk of harm are accurately identified by staff. Action taken by leaders is timely and appropriate. When needed, leaders liaise effectively with external agencies. This ensures that the appropriate help is secured for pupils identified as being in need. Pupils learn how to stay safe both on and offline. 20 July 2022

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Leaders and governors have ensured that the single central record of recruitment and vetting checks is accurate.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils’ misconceptions are accurately identified by teachers and usually addressed well. However, sometimes pupils do not learn or develop key knowledge that has been identified by teachers as an area for development. Teachers need to ensure that when their assessment shows a pupil has struggled with a topic, pupils are given sufficient help to plug the gaps in their knowledge.  In some instances, there is low-level disruption in lessons. This frustrates some pupils and impacts their ability to learn. Leaders need to ensure that all pupils are supported to behave appropriately in all lessons.  Leaders have implemented a personal development programme to support pupils’ development and teach them how to be safe. However, some pupils do not have an appropriate understanding of similarities and differences within communities. Leaders need to build on this programme to make sure that all pupils are well prepared for life

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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 school to be good in May 2017.

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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. If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted . 20 July 2022

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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. 20 July 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10241657 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10–11 May 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a new executive headteacher and executive deputy headteacher, appointed since the previous inspection in 2017.

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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 leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors spoke with subject leaders, visited a range of lessons, looked at a sample of pupils’ books, spoke to staff and spoke to pupils about their learning. Inspectors listened to a range of pupils read aloud.  Inspectors also sampled the quality of the curriculum in music, science and art.  Inspectors evaluated the single central record and met with the designated safeguarding lead. They discussed safeguarding culture and examined records of staff training and pupil logs. 20 July 2022

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 Inspectors observed pupils throughout the day, including at playtime, during assembly and at the end of the day as they left school.  Inspectors considered 26 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including 26 free-text responses, as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

Bessie Owen, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Charlie Fordham Her Majesty’s Inspector 20 July 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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