Britannia Primary School and Nursery

Inspection of Britannia Primary School and Nursery Britannia Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP4 5HE

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Inspection dates: 18 and 19 January 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 18 and 19 January 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Britannia pupils love their school. It is a kind and caring place for them to learn. Pupils understand the importance of respecting everyone. They take their responsibilities to their friends and the community seriously.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe and cared about. They have confidence in their friends and the staff who support them when they are worried or upset. They know there are a lot of adults they can turn to for help if they need it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand what bullying is. They know it can happen, but they also know that adults will deal with it quickly if it does.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. The school is calm and organised. Staff have consistently high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and attitudes to learning. As a result, pupils learn well. They listen carefully to their teachers and each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thoroughly enjoy, and are very proud of, the wide range of clubs and activities they attend. These allow pupils to develop their own interests, take part in sport or represent the school in musical performances.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Adults are ambitious for them. Pupils believe in themselves and work hard.

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better?

School and trust leaders have developed well-considered and aspirational curriculum plans. These plans are from early years to year 6 and lay out clearly what teachers need to teach and when. The plans contain important knowledge, such as key vocabulary. Teachers use these plans to teach sequences of lessons. They ensure that pupils build their knowledge systematically across the curriculum. Teachers check that pupils remember the knowledge they learn. They go over prior learning and spend time during ‘Flashback Fridays’ reviewing what children know. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

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better?

Teachers undertake training to ensure they have good subject knowledge of the subjects that they teach. Some teachers are subject specialists. These specialists support and model expectations for other staff. As a result, teachers teach with confidence and explain things clearly to pupils. They provide familiar resources and routines that help pupils to navigate new learning. Pupils enjoy their learning and develop the confidence to answer questions and contribute in class. They learn well.

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better?

The curriculum for early reading is planned thoroughly. Pupils enjoy reading. They become confident and fluent readers. This is because teachers follow the same routines in lessons and repeat important knowledge often. The books that pupils use to learn to read are well matched to the knowledge pupils have. Leaders and 18 and 19 January 2023 teachers check that pupils have retained the knowledge that they should. They provide extra support and time for pupils who do not remember the sounds they have learned. Leaders recognise that the curriculum for handwriting is at an earlier stage of development. As a result, some pupils do not learn to form their letters correctly or confidently. This makes it difficult for them, at times, to read their own writing or write fluently and with confidence.

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better?

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Leaders identify their individual needs quickly. They have adapted activities where needed. This ensures they are successful and can join the same lessons as their friends.

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better?

Leaders and staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. Pupils behave very well. They enjoy receiving merits for their work and for their positive attitudes. Pupils understand the rules and are independent and keen learners. Learning is rarely interrupted by poor behaviour. However, the policy for attendance does not guide leaders to take consistent and swift steps when pupils do not attend school. There are some pupils who are persistently absent or have low attendance. This is impacting on some pupils’ learning and progress through the curriculum.

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better?

Trustees and governors know the school and its community well. They work in effective partnership with the school leaders. They focus on school improvement and key priorities for the school, including the curriculum. They seek external expertise in order to ensure that their views about the school are accurate. Leaders support staff well with their workload. For example, they give extra time for tasks and listening when there are concerns.

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better?

Leaders prioritise pupils’ personal development as well as their academic progress. Pupils feel strongly about their roles as global citizens. They want to help others and understand how they can do this. The curriculum gives pupils the opportunity to think and reflect. This supports them to be respectful of others and aware of people who have different beliefs and lifestyles to them.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff understand the risks that pupils may face. They are trained to spot them and report them quickly. Leaders provide effective and persistent support for pupils and families in need of help. Leaders ensure that appropriate pre-employment checks are carried out so that the staff in school are suitable to work with children.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including how to stay safe when working online and how to lead healthy lives.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

18 and 19 January 2023  Leaders have not created a clear approach to developing children’s fine motor skills and handwriting. As a result, children do not develop the skills and knowledge to form legible letters and numbers with precision. At times, pupils find it hard to read their own writing, which hampers their access to the curriculum. Leaders must ensure that the curriculum for physical development of handwriting in the early years and key stage 1 supports children to form letters precisely and present their work clearly and legibly.  A small but significant group of pupils are persistently absent from the school. The current attendance policy does not support leaders to ensure good attendance. Leaders should review their approach so that they can take effective action to work with families to reduce persistent absence rates.

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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. 18 and 19 January 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10254983 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

 The school does not use any alternative provision for its pupils.  The school has joined the Gippeswyk Community Educational Trust since its previous inspection.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors 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.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, science, religious education, music and art. For each deep dive, inspectors considered the design of the curriculum, spoke with subject leaders, visited lessons, scrutinised pupils’ books and work and listened to children reading. They also spoke with teachers and pupils.  Inspectors spoke with leaders of other subjects in the curriculum. 18 and 19 January 2023  Inspectors spoke with the chief executive officer, the chair of the board of trustees, trustees and local governors.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, meetings were held with the designated safeguarding lead, teachers and pupils. Inspectors also reviewed records, policies and documents related to safeguarding.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors spoke with leaders with responsibility for SEND.  Inspectors spoke with leaders with responsibility for attendance.  To gather pupils’ views, inspectors spoke with pupils, including at breaktimes and lunchtime.  Inspectors reviewed the 96 responses and 65 free-text comments submitted to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire for parents and carers.

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Inspection team

Debbie Rogan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Simon Harbrow Ofsted Inspector Michael Thomas Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Amy Luu Ofsted Inspector 18 and 19 January 2023 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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