Newton Flotman Church of England Primary Academy

Inspection of Newton Flotman Church of England Primary Academy School Road, Newton Flotman, Norwich, Norfolk NR15 1PR

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Inspection dates: 17 and 18 October 2023

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Requires improvement Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Early years provision Good

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The executive headteacher of this school is Adam Riley. This school is part of The Diocese of Norwich St Benet’s Multi-Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Richard Cranmer, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Fred Corbett. The executive headteacher is responsible for this school and one other. 17 and 18 October 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend Newton Flotman Church of England Primary Academy. Each day pupils are welcomed into an environment where warmth and a sense of care radiates from everyone. Pupils feel safe. They trust adults to help them resolve problems. They know that there is always someone to support them if they need help.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The majority of pupils are polite, respectful and behave well. They want to learn. However, too often, their learning is disrupted by the behaviour of a significant minority of pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that adults want them to do well. Many pupils try their hardest to achieve the aspirational goals that are set for them. However, the curriculum is not taught consistently well enough. As a result, the learning of some pupils is not as secure as it could be.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from close links with the village church. This helps them to understand key values such as tolerance. They understand that other people’s views or appearance may be different to their own, but this is not a reason to treat them unkindly. Consequently, everyone, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are fully involved in school life.

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better?

The school has invested significant time and resources to plan an ambitious curriculum. A partnership model with another trust school has added valuable capacity for subject leadership. As a result, curriculum plans set out precisely what should be taught and when.

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better?

While teachers understand the curriculum aims, there are inconsistencies in its delivery. Teachers present the key information to pupils as planned. However, their checks on how well it has been understood are not effective. Teachers do not ask questions that accurately pinpoint misconceptions or gaps. As a result, it is not clear to teachers which pupils have understood what they have been taught. Teachers do not accurately determine who may need support to complete learning. This means that time and resources are not routinely used effectively. Suitable activities are not given to pupils to deepen their understanding, and some pupils struggle to complete activities. While pupils may be able to answer questions in the lesson, they struggle to remember information over time.

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better?

Reading is a key priority. In the early years, the adopted phonics scheme is taught well. Children start to learn to read at an early stage. As pupils move through the school, they learn and develop the ability to blend sounds together to read new words. The books they read are well matched to these sounds. As a result, pupils develop fluency and confidence in their reading. Those who struggle are quickly identified and supported to keep up. 17 and 18 October 2023

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Children in the early years access a well-planned curriculum. Learning is reinforced by carefully crafted play opportunities. Children learn important routines that mean they work and play well together. They are exposed to a rich vocabulary that prepares them well for key stage 1. They are enthusiastic and want to share what they have done with adults.

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The school accurately identifies the specific barriers to learning for pupils with SEND. Precise plans address these barriers with well-considered adjustments. These are easy for teachers to implement. As a result, pupils with SEND successfully learn alongside their peers. Pupils with SEND achieve well.

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Not all adults maintain the school’s high expectations in relation to pupils’ conduct. This results in learning being interrupted by low-level disruption too often. Some adults do not act quickly enough to identify and manage disruptive behaviour. Many pupils are frustrated by this, as it stops them from learning.

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Well-planned personal, social and health education and relationships and sex education and health education curriculums helps pupils to learn an age-appropriate understanding of what they need to know to be a valued citizen in the future. They learn tolerance, respect and the importance of making a positive contribution. Carefully chosen books and stories help pupils understand and value difference.

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The trust has provided critical support since the school opened. Valuable expertise has helped the school to develop its curriculum and secure improvements in, for example, the early years. Without this input from experienced leaders these gains would have taken longer to secure. The board and executives work closely with school leaders to ensure that staff are well cared for. Staff value this.

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Parents are happy with the improvements the school has made. They can see how it is better and understand that some elements of provision take longer to catch up.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Assessment strategies are not refined enough for teachers to accurately identify gaps and misconceptions and to determine what pupils know and if they are ready to move on. This means that teachers cannot adapt their approaches to support those who need help and deepen the understanding of others. Consequently, pupils do not learn as well as they should. The school should ensure that all teachers are trained to understand and use the most effective assessment strategies for individual situations. 17 and 18 October 2023

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 Not all adults maintain the school’s high expectations in relation to pupils’ behaviour. Adults do not consistently apply the systems in place to manage pupils’ behaviour. This means that, too often, learning is disrupted by a small number of pupils. The school should ensure that all adults are clear about the expectations and that the behaviour management processes are applied consistently and fairly by everyone at all times.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 17 and 18 October 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 December 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 Newton Flotman Church of England Primary Academy is smaller than the average- sized primary school.  Newton Flotman Church of England Primary Academy is part of The Diocese of Norwich St Benet’s Multi-Academy Trust. It joined the trust as a sponsored academy in November 2020. When Ofsted last inspected its predecessor school, Newton Flotman Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School, it was judged as inadequate.  The executive headteacher took up his post in the predecessor school in April 2020.  The school uses one alternative provider. This provider is registered and inspected separately by Ofsted.  A local governance committee, which will include representatives from the local community, has taken over from a transitional governing committee.  The school has a religious character, Church of England, and was last inspected under section 48 of the Education Act 2005 on 17 May 2023. The school’s next

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Information about this school

section 48 inspection will be within eight school years. 17 and 18 October 2023

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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

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.

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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 held meetings with leaders, including the executive headteacher, executive deputy headteacher, early years leader and special educational needs coordinator. They met with the chair of the trust board, other trustees, the CEO and representatives from the trust executive team.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to staff, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also listened to a sample of pupils read to a familiar adult.  To further inspect the curriculum, inspectors looked at examples of pupils’ work

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Information about this inspection

from other subjects, reviewed curriculum documentation for geography and science, and reviewed documentation setting out support for pupils with SEND.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record, took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils, and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  To gather pupils’ views, inspectors spent time observing and speaking to pupils. The lead inspector reviewed the 24 responses to the pupil survey.  To gather parents’ views, the lead inspector reviewed the 38 responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the 28 free-text responses submitted to the online survey, as well as an email submitted by a parent.  Inspectors spoke with several staff and reviewed the 11 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.  Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documents, including curriculum plans,

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Information about this inspection

school development plans and school policies.

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Inspection team

Dave Gibson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Joanna Pedlow Ofsted Inspector 17 and 18 October 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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