Little Snoring Community Primary Academy

Inspection of Little Snoring Community Primary Academy Thursford Road, Little Snoring, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 0JN

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Inspection dates: 23 and 24 November 2022

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Requires improvement 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 23 and 24 November 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe and know that their teachers care about them. They say that staff immediately help them should they ever have a problem. Therefore, pupils are happy. They enjoy their time at school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that their teachers expect them to behave well. They are attentive in lessons. Pupils take turns and are eager to learn. They listen to each other and reply respectfully. Pupils play well at lunchtime. Older pupils look out for younger children and help them to feel secure and safe. Most pupils say that bullying never happens. If it should, teachers deal with it swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are enthusiastic about their learning. Most learn to read well. In some lessons, pupils learn quickly. At other times, learning is slower. This is because pupils have gaps in their learning and some teachers do not regularly pick up on this.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have opportunities to learn outside of school. They visit the sea, local areas of natural beauty and museums. Pupils do not have the opportunity to take part in a range of clubs. They also do not gain much experience of contributing to school life and the local community.

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better?

Leaders are implementing a new curriculum because the previous curriculum did not allow pupils to learn well. In some subjects, leaders have precisely identified the knowledge pupils should learn. Teachers present new knowledge clearly so that pupils understand well. They break learning into small steps to help pupils learn better. Teachers’ questions enable pupils to practise and develop what they have learned. Staff, at their best, identify where there are gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

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better?

Leaders are still refining other areas of the curriculum. In some subjects, they have not clearly selected the knowledge they want pupils to learn. Pupils’ learning does not build well on previous knowledge. As a result of this, pupils do not acquire some more complex knowledge and understanding.

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better?

Leaders have introduced a new reading curriculum. Teachers’ implementation of this is uneven. Children in reception practise new sounds well. They blend words and read familiar language. Some older children read with fluency and expression. They apply reading strategies to help them read unfamiliar words. Teachers ensure reading books are closely suited to the level at which pupils are reading. Some teachers do not adopt a consistent approach to the teaching of reading. This means some pupils do not receive regular practise of previously learned sounds. Some teachers do not frequently pick up on mistakes. As a result of this, pupils continue to make the same errors and learning slows. 23 and 24 November 2022

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Leaders accurately identify pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, leaders do not provide teachers with the precise guidance on how to support some pupils with SEND. As a result of this, teachers are unable to adapt the curriculum appropriately to enable these pupils to learn well.

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Children in the early years are polite and inquisitive. They have opportunities to build language and develop their understanding of the world. At times, they do not have enough practise of what they are learning to help them remember their knowledge.

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Pupils are kind, compassionate and considerate of others. Pupils speak enthusiastically about how they look after each other. They have some understanding of other religions and of different types of family. However, older pupils do not confidently understand how they will change as they become older. Pupils’ understanding of British values such as democracy is limited. Leaders are in the early stages of putting this right. They have now carefully identified age- appropriate knowledge pupils must acquire in the personal, social and health education curriculum.

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Pupils take part in extra-curricular activities which help them to build on knowledge they have learned in school. Older pupils recently visited Gressenhall Museum. They explored what life was like for evacuees in the Second World War. These experiences help them to develop empathy towards others whatever their background. Leaders acknowledge the need to provide more opportunities to enrich pupils’ personal development.

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Leaders accurately evaluate how well the school is performing. Leaders have brought about swift changes to the curriculum and in other areas of school life. While this work has led to some recent improvement, there is much still to do. The trust and the local governing body concur. They hold leaders to account. However, the trust does not consistently provide leaders with the exact support they need to ensure rapid improvement.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have established robust systems for ensuring pupils are kept safe. They provide staff with appropriate training. As a result of this, leaders have created a vigilant culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff swiftly report any concerns that a pupil may be at risk. Leaders make timely referrals to outside agencies to ensure pupils receive the help they need.

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Safeguarding

Pupils understand the potential risks of using the internet. They know how to keep themselves safe outside of school. Leaders make rigorous checks on new staff to ensure they are safe to work with children. 23 and 24 November 2022

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not completed their work to select the important knowledge pupils need to acquire in some areas of the curriculum and in the early years. Pupils are not building knowledge as well as they might. What they learn does not link well to what they have learned before. Leaders need to ensure that teachers have sufficiently precise subject knowledge so that they know exactly what pupils need to learn in each year group, to ensure that pupils learn better over time.  Teachers do not systematically pick up on misconceptions, mistakes and gaps in pupils’ learning. As a result of this, pupils continue to misunderstand ideas and make the same mistakes. Furthermore, important knowledge remains missing. Leaders need to ensure that all teachers have the subject knowledge to identify key misconceptions and gaps in learning, so they provide pupils with the support to build knowledge better over time.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders do not provide staff with sufficiently precise guidance to support pupils with SEND. As a result of this, teachers and other adults do not know how best to help these pupils to learn better. Leaders need to equip teachers and support staff with the precise information to help them adapt the curriculum so that pupils with SEND learn as well as they can.

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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. 23 and 24 November 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10254248 Type of school Primary

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School details

Website www.unityfederation.co.uk/little-snoring

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is a member of The Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust (DNEAT).  The school is part of the Unity Federation.  The executive headteacher of the Unity Federation, the head of school and the majority of teaching staff have been recruited since April 2022.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector(s) carried out this graded 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 leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the chief executive officer, trustees, vice-chair of the local governing body, the executive headteacher, the head of school, senior leaders, teachers and support staff. 23 and 24 November 2022

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics, history and science. These included discussions with subject leaders, visits to lessons, meetings with staff and pupils, and scrutiny of pupils’ work. Inspectors scrutinised other curriculum documentation.  Inspectors scrutinised the school’s single central record and met with the designated safeguarding leader. Inspectors also scrutinised safeguarding records and spoke with pupils and staff.  Inspectors considered the views of pupils, staff and parents. There were five responses to Ofsted’s staff survey. Inspectors also spoke to eight parents at the school gate. There were three responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors considered the three free-text responses from parents.

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Inspection team

Adam Cooke, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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Inspection team

Sally Garrett Ofsted Inspector 23 and 24 November 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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