Ormiston Herman Academy

Inspection of a good school: Ormiston Herman Academy Oriel Avenue, Gorleston, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR31 7JL

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Outcome

Ormiston Herman Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Ormiston Herman. They are enthusiastic about the opportunities provided by the school. Pupils enjoy the after-school clubs. They also enjoy how they are involved in school council and new roles being developed, for example gender ambassadors. Almost all parents would recommend the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff and pupils share a sense of community, in which they all feel safe and respected. Pupils feel able to talk to trusted adults if they are worried, and they know how to do this. Pupils understand what bullying is, but it is rare at the school. When it does happen, pupils report it and appropriate action is taken. One pupil said, ‘We treat everyone like we would want to be treated.’ The pupils are clear that being different is celebrated.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well. Lessons are calm. There are high expectations in the school, and the pupils are polite and welcoming. While most pupils work hard and achieve well, some pupils do not remember important information from their lessons.

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

The curriculum is generally well planned and enables most pupils to achieve well. Pupils are regularly and accurately assessed, meaning that staff pick up on the small gaps in pupils’ knowledge before they grow into bigger misconceptions. In some foundation subjects, the curriculum does not always build on pupils’ prior knowledge, meaning that pupils do not always remember what they have learned.

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

School leaders prioritise early reading. Younger pupils say they enjoy listening to stories and that they often practise reading in school. Parents listen to their children read very frequently. These opportunities enable pupils to be confident. For pupils who fall behind, the school provides daily intervention. Older pupils read well.

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

Leaders’ ambition is that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have full access to the curriculum. The SEND team identifies pupils with additional needs 8 and 9 March 2023

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very early on. Planning for pupils’ additional needs is effective and benefits from close communication with parents and external agencies. Where additional support is required, this is provided. As a result of this support, pupils with SEND access the curriculum effectively.

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The school is a calm place where pupils behave well. Such behaviour ensures that children are not often distracted and they can learn effectively. There are consistent expectations in the classroom and almost all children respond to these. Where behaviour is not acceptable, staff use clear systems to address this well. Movement between lessons is orderly. At social times, pupils are kind to one another and respectful to adults.

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Pupils have access to a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. These include a weekly enrichment session. Over three quarters of pupils take part at least once per week. While the number of educational visits was reduced because of the pandemic, ensuring that these restart is a priority for subject leaders. Leadership opportunities are available for children across most year groups. The school council is active and is working on several projects, with one school representative sitting on a national committee. The school has recently combined National Careers Week with pupil leadership by challenging pupils to construct the job descriptions for new school council roles. The themes of democracy run from Reception, where pupils vote on their class reading book, to the election of pupil representatives.

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The school is well led and managed. Leaders consider the workload of staff as a priority, and staff feel well looked after.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils feel safe and are confident to report any concerns to a trusted adult. They know that their worries will be taken seriously. Pupils talk confidently about keeping themselves safe online. Staff understand the school processes for reporting concerns about pupils or adults. Staff can identify those leaders in the school with a specific responsibility for safeguarding. Leaders work effectively with outside agencies and the trust to ensure safeguarding concerns are resolved effectively. Governors understand their responsibilities and hold the school to account. The link safeguarding governor meets the principal regularly to provide challenge and support in ensuring children are always safe.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The sequence of some foundation subjects' curriculum for older pupils does not fully enable them to build sufficient knowledge for future learning. As a result, older pupils are not adequately prepared for their next steps in learning. Leaders need to review the curriculum in some foundation subjects to ensure older pupils are prepared for their next steps. 8 and 9 March 2023

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 Over the course of their studies, a small proportion of pupils retain limited subject knowledge. This prevents them from achieving the aims of the curriculum. Leaders should consider the opportunities available for pupils to revisit subject content to support long-term retention of knowledge.

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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 first 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. 8 and 9 March 2023

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 18 and 19 January 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Ormiston Academy Trust.  Staff retention rates at Ormiston Herman are high.  The school is currently oversubscribed.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the principal and other staff. The inspector also met representatives from the local governing board and academy trust.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum planning, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 8 and 9 March 2023

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 To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector spoke with staff and pupils. The inspector met with the designated safeguarding lead to review their knowledge, records and actions. The inspector also looked at safeguarding records and actions and reviewed information about the safer recruitment of staff.  The inspector met with pupils from different year groups to talk about their learning and experiences at school.  The inspector reviewed a wide range of documents provided by the school. These included the school improvement plan, curriculum documentation and school policies.  There were 32 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, and 20 free-text comments from parents.

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Inspection team

Jonathan Rockey, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 8 and 9 March 2023

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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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