Ormesby Village Infant School

Inspection of a good school: Ormesby Village Infant School Spruce Avenue, Ormesby St Margaret, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR29 3RY

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Outcome

Ormesby Village Infant School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love their school because they enjoy learning. They say teachers are kind and make learning fun. Leaders have high expectations for what pupils can achieve in their learning and development. Pupils achieve well in all the subjects they study. They make a strong contribution to the running of the school, for example through the pupil safety committee.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents are overwhelmingly positive. They are rightly pleased with how quickly their children learn to read and how well they are cared for.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Classrooms are calm and purposeful places for learning. Behaviour is typically good in lessons, around the school and on the playground. There is no bullying, and ‘playground pals’, as well as adults, help pupils to play well together.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are safe at school. They are confident to talk to an adult if they are worried about anything.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take an active part in class and school council, often raising money for charity. Infant leaders pick a project every year to help their local community to improve. This year they took part in a beach clean. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their education and life in modern Britain.

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

Leaders are ambitious for what pupils can achieve. Over the last three years, they have revised and improved the curriculum. Within each topic, leaders make sure pupils know what national curriculum subject they are studying and develop a strong body of knowledge. Careful planning ensures that pupils know, understand and can do more year on year.

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

Teachers have good subject knowledge because leaders provide them with effective training. Leaders make sure teachers have time to plan and assess pupils’ work together 13 December 2022

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in year groups. This reduces workload and enables leaders to monitor the accuracy of teacher assessment. Teachers do not have any concerns about their workload.

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Reading is given the highest priority by leaders. Over the past two years, they introduced a new phonics programme which is suited to their pupils. Teachers and teaching assistants received detailed training. The new phonics programme is having a significant impact on how well and how rapidly pupils learn to read.

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Reading books are well matched to pupils’ phonic knowledge. From the moment they start school, pupils develop a love of reading. They cannot wait to read their books and are keen to use their phonic knowledge. Pupils enjoy talking about the stories they are reading.

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Pupils behave well in class. They listen attentively to their teachers and are fascinated by what they are learning. Pupils play and work happily together.

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Teachers often adapt the curriculum well for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils can join in well in lessons and make strong progress with their learning. Leaders work well with external experts so that pupils receive any specialist help they need. However, leaders do not always make sure that new staff have up-to-date, detailed training in how to support pupils’ specific needs.

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Strong provision is made for children’s learning in the early years. They settle quickly due to high expectations for their behaviour and learning. The early years curriculum is well planned and interesting, so children are keen to learn. For example, they were enthralled when examining their plastic animals frozen in bowls of ice. They could not wait to find out which bowl would thaw first.

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A wide range of exciting visits and visitors enhance the curriculum, for example a residential visit for Year 2 and taking part in the Norfolk County Music Festival. Leaders provide sports clubs for pupils after school.

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Governors know the school well. They make regular visits to find out about the curriculum and how well pupils are learning. They are aware that the school has some financial challenges and are working with the local authority to address them. Governors give effective support and challenge to school leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Strong systems are in place to ensure all pupils are safe, including safer recruitment. Staff are well trained and are clear about when to make a referral. They complete referral forms with appropriate detail. Leaders stringently follow up on any concerns and work effectively with parents and external agencies. Safeguarding processes and procedures are carefully scrutinised by governors. 13 December 2022

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Leaders ensure that the curriculum includes everything that pupils need to know about keeping themselves safe. For example, pupils are taught about internet safety in their computing lessons. The pupils’ safety committee helps leaders to spot any potentially unsafe areas of the school and playground.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some staff do not have up-to-date, detailed knowledge of how to support pupils with specific SEND. This means that changes and adaptations to the curriculum and provision are not always tailored as precisely as they might be. Leaders should ensure that new staff have up-to-date, detailed training to enable them to meet the specific needs of the pupils they work with.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 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.

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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. 13 December 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.ormesbyvillageinfantschool.org/

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School details

Date of previous inspection 10 January 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average infant school.  Most staff were at the school at the time of the last inspection.

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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 headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the reading and curriculum leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, subject leaders for science and mathematics, the early years leader, teachers, support staff and groups of pupils.  The lead inspector met with the chair of the governing body and a parent governor.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and science. This included discussions with subject leaders, visits to lessons, meetings with staff and pupils and scrutinising pupils’ books. 13 December 2022

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 The lead inspector spoke to leaders and scrutinised curriculum design and pupils’ work for art and design, history and geography.  The inspector focused on other aspects of the school’s work, including safeguarding, pupils’ wider development, staff’s workload and off-rolling.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey and Ofsted’s staff survey. They considered responses to the parent survey, Ofsted Parent View, including free- text messages, and spoke to a group of parents.

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Inspection team

Julie Winyard, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Sally Garrett Ofsted Inspector 13 December 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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