Sprites Primary Academy

Inspection of Sprites Primary Academy Stonechat Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 0SA

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early Years Good Previous inspection grade Inadequate 8 and 9 November 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils experience a rich and varied curriculum at Sprites, which goes well beyond the academic. They have access to a very wide range of extra-curricular experiences. Pupils love their learning and talk very excitedly about the topics covered and activities done.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are expected to behave, and they do. They are clear about the school’s ‘life values’, which encourage them to be ‘safe, polite and aspirational’. Pupils understand how these will help them to be good citizens of the future. The school has grown to be a close-knit community. Pupils really enjoy events such as their ‘colour run’ and fireworks, which involve parents as well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is very little bullying. Pupils are clear that the adults would treat this very seriously and sort it out quickly if it happened. Pupils feel valued by staff. If they are worried, or finding things too much, pupils enjoy spending time in the ‘Thrive’ room or reading and playing with the school dog. Children in the early years learn the skills to be independent and enthusiastic learners quickly.

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better?

Over the last few years, leaders have transformed this school. It has moved from providing a very poor education to a strong one. Leaders at all levels now share the same vision of providing a ‘great’ education. They work well with staff to ensure they teach the curriculum to a high standard. Staff feel very well supported by leaders. Weak provision in the past means that some pupils are still not achieving as well as they could, but they are now catching up fast.

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better?

The curriculum, and the delivery of it, is of high quality. Direct links are made between topics learned, from earlier year groups or subjects. Pupils can explain how learning from previous lessons helps them with new learning. Teachers make sure that pupils can revisit learning. They check regularly to see how much pupils can remember. In Reception, for example, children confidently played a game that they had learned the previous week without needing adult help.

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better?

Reading is taught using consistently effective methods from class to class. Pupils are taught in groups that are closely linked to the sounds they need to learn next. The books that pupils take home are well matched to the sounds they need to practise. There is extra support for pupils who are at risk of falling behind. As pupils move through the school, they are motivated to read by the rewards on offer. There are a wide range of good-quality books for them to choose from.

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better?

Although the way that pupils lay out their work is of a high standard, their handwriting is too often positioned wrongly on the line, and capital letters are used incorrectly. Pupils’ writing in subjects such as history and science is not always of 8 and 9 November 2022

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good quality. It does not demonstrate their excellent understanding of what they learn.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well provided for. Teachers ensure that adaptations to learning enable most pupils to access the same curriculum as others. They use clear visual timetables, word banks and starter sentences well. A very small number of pupils have personalised curriculums and timetables, but they are included in the rest of school life whenever possible. However, the plans that are written for most pupils with SEND are not precise enough about how their individual needs will be met. While there are changes planned, these have not yet been implemented.

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Leaders seek out new ways to supplement pupils’ experience. They ensure that pupils can learn musical instruments. Disadvantaged pupils are encouraged and funded to attend after-school clubs, such as robotics, kickboxing and ‘junk band’. The cookery club adds to the main kitchen’s work in providing meals for a community fridge for families in need. Pupils volunteer out in the community, recently planting 300 trees locally.

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Pupils are clear that everyone is welcome at Sprites. They do not accept any discrimination in any way. They really enjoy assemblies and have good recall of their learning about different significant people and current issues. The curriculum has key concepts such as ‘democracy’ and ‘climate change’ woven throughout. Even the very youngest children learn about these at an appropriate level.

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The governing body is highly active. All members have accessed appropriate training for their role. Governors regularly visit the school to look at specific areas. They offer a high level of supportive challenge for school leaders. They check that staff’s workload is acceptable.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are well trained. Leaders regularly check on staff’s understanding of safeguarding. They ensure that there are short training updates where needed. Consequently, staff are highly vigilant in recording any concerns they might have about a pupil. Leaders and the pastoral team work effectively with parents and other agencies to provide support as needed.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are regularly taught about keeping safe when out and about and when online. They feel safe in school.

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Safeguarding

All appropriate checks are made on adults in the school. 8 and 9 November 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils’ writing is not always of good quality. Their handwriting is too often erratic, and what they write does not always reflect their level of understanding. Leaders need to ensure that pupils are taught to write neatly, and in enough detail to show what they know.  The individual ‘maps to success’ plans for pupils with SEND are not precise enough. They do not clearly show how the needs of pupils are to be met. This means that what teachers plan for does not always exactly match pupils’ intended next step. Leaders need to ensure that staff are trained to develop plans that specify more precisely how staff will support pupils.

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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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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 and 9 November 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10230894 Type of school Primary

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roll

Dates of previous inspection 1 and 2 March 2022, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school was previously graded inadequate in October 2019.  The nursery provides part-time places for up to 26 children at a time.  The school has its own breakfast and after-school clubs.  The school does not use any alternative provision.  The local governing body replaced an interim executive board in September 2021.  The school opened as an academy, replacing the predecessor school, Sprites Primary School, in 2015. It is part of the Reach2 multi-academy trust.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a graded (section 5) inspection under the same Act.

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Information about this inspection

In accordance with section 13(4) of the Education Act 2005, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that the school no longer requires special measures. 8 and 9 November 2022

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 This was the third routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, senior leaders and other members of staff. They met with members of the local governing body and the multi-academy trust’s deputy director of education.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, art, history and science. For each subject, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers and pupils, and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also looked at a range of pupils’ writing and visited some lessons in other subjects.  To inspect safeguarding, inspectors scrutinised the single central record of pre- employment checks and a wide range of safeguarding files. They spoke with

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leaders, including the designated safeguarding leads, staff and pupils.  Inspectors considered the 52 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View. They also took the 52 responses to the staff survey into account.

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Inspection team

Tessa Holledge, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Nicola Shadbolt Ofsted Inspector 8 and 9 November 2022

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