Dersingham Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Dersingham Primary School Admirals Drive, Dersingham, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE31 6LR

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Inspection dates: 14 and 15 November 2023

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Outcome

Dersingham Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like their school because it is a caring community that ‘nourishes them to thrive and flourish’. They are happy and enjoy learning. Pupils are safe because their teachers have pupils’ well-being at the forefront of their minds. If pupils have a concern, they know they can always turn to an adult for help.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn, behave and attend well because of their teachers’ high expectations. They learn to read confidently, and they quickly develop a love of reading. Pupils appreciate how their teachers support them to gain important knowledge. Pupils play fairly and look out for each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are kind and compassionate towards others because their teachers help nurture highly positive values. Pupils participate in a range of extra-curricular activities. They develop leadership skills through organising sporting events. They raise money for charities, which helps them to gain an understanding of those less fortunate than themselves. They learn about democracy by representing their friends’ views. Pupils on the eco-council show their friends how to care for the local community and the environment.

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

The school has constructed a new and ambitious curriculum. Teachers have strong subject knowledge because of the training they receive. They present new knowledge in small stages. Teachers ensure pupils regularly revisit what they have learned before. This helps pupils to understand and remember knowledge better. The knowledge pupils learn builds logically on what they have learned before. This ensures pupils grasp more complex ideas. They apply their knowledge independently to solve problems in maths and to investigate in science, for example. Children in the Nursery and Reception Year participate in carefully planned activities. As a result, they build their vocabulary and make sense of the world around them. 14 and 15 November 2023

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Leaders understand that some recent standards in key stage 1 and 2 were low when compared nationally. Leaders have taken swift action in response to this. They have ensured that teachers rigorously check for misunderstanding or gaps in pupils’ learning. When teachers identify gaps, pupils receive help so that they gain the knowledge they need. Current pupils remember and draw on the key knowledge they need for future success.

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Teachers adapt the curriculum well for the majority of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). However, leaders do not check regularly how well support for some pupils with SEND is working. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not receive the precise support they need to help them learn as well as they could.

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The school has prioritised the teaching of reading. The number of children in Year 1 who meet the phonics standard is significantly above the national average. Teachers adopt a consistent approach to the teaching of reading. They introduce new sounds clearly. They provide pupils with plenty of practice of previously learned sounds. This helps children in Reception to blend familiar sounds, and they quickly begin to read fluently. They can re- tell stories in their own words. Pupils read with expression. They apply reading strategies to understand more demanding texts. Teachers carefully check how well pupils are learning to read. Teachers support pupils who fall behind. As a result, pupils swiftly catch up.

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The school caters well for pupils’ personal development. The personal, social and health education curriculum ensures pupils understand how their bodies will mature and the responsibilities this will bring. Pupils know how to build positive relationships founded on respect and kindness. They understand the impact of negative behaviours on others. From Reception, children learn about different types of family. Pupils are open-minded and embrace diversity. This equips them well for their future lives. However, their knowledge of some of the major world religions is limited.

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Pupils have opportunities to hone their singing, dancing and sporting prowess in a variety of school clubs. Leaders enhance pupils’ knowledge of local history through trips to museums and places of regional interest. Leaders are keen to enrich the curriculum further with additional educational trips.

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The local governing body and the local authority have established reliable systems to hold leaders to account. The local authority and the diocese have supported leaders to improve the curriculum and other areas of school life. Staff find their workload manageable. Teachers think highly of those who lead the school. They appreciate the support they receive to develop their subject knowledge. The school is well placed to improve further.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 14 and 15 November 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders do not systematically evaluate the support given to some pupils with SEND. As a result, leaders do not know well enough how this support is helping these pupils to access the curriculum. Leaders need to ensure that they regularly check how well support for pupils with SEND is helping pupils overcome barriers to learning. This will help leaders to provide more precise support to ensure pupils with SEND learn as well as they should.

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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 July 2014.

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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’ 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). 14 and 15 November 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection 11 January 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher has been in post since September 2023.  The school is part of the Diocese of Norwich.  The school has nursery provision for 25 children.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the chair of governors, a representative from local authority, the headteacher, subject leaders, teachers and support staff.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics and science. These included discussions with subject leaders, visits to lessons, meetings with staff and 14 and 15 November 2023

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pupils, scrutiny of pupils’ work and a review of any curriculum documentation. The inspector also scrutinised other curriculum plans.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: 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.  The inspector considered the views of pupils, staff and parents. There were 22 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and 14 responses to the Ofsted pupil survey. There were 23 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View. The inspector considered 22 free-text responses from parents and also spoke to parents at the school gate.

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Inspection team

Adam Cooke, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 14 and 15 November 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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