The Beeches Community Primary School

Inspection of a good school: The Beeches Community Primary School Shakespeare Road, Ipswich, Suffolk IP1 6ET

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Outcome

The Beeches Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteachers of this school are Stephen Capper and Rachel Walker. This school is part of Asset Education, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Clare Flintoff, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Simon Evans-Evans.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at The Beeches enjoy learning and achieve well in most subjects. Lessons are interesting, so pupils listen respectfully to their teachers and concentrate well. Pupils like their teachers because they explain things well. Pupils are confident to ask for help when they need it. They know that their teachers expect them to try hard and achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has a calm and purposeful atmosphere. Pupils who sometimes find it difficult to manage their behaviour receive effective support. This means all pupils can get on with their learning in lessons.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are friendly and play happily together. Play and lunchtimes are enjoyable social times. Pupils can resolve small disagreements sensibly and know there is always an adult to help if needed.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe at school. They are confident to talk to an adult if they have any worries. The school has an exceptional range of provision to support pupils’ personal development. Pupils love working through the ‘50 things to do before you leave The Beeches’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children make a strong start to their education in Nursery. From the age of two, children learn how to play and work together.

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

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the school implemented a well-structured and sequenced curriculum. Over the last 18 months, the school has begun a full review of how well pupils are learning in all subjects. The majority of subjects have been improved, so pupils learn 5 and 6 December 2023

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effectively. These subjects are taught consistently well, and pupils achieve well. New ideas are introduced in small steps. Teachers check that pupils understand each step before moving on. There is additional challenge for those who grasp learning more quickly.

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In a few subjects, the school knows there is more work to be done. In these subjects, there is too much content for pupils to readily learn and remember. Pupils cannot tell a clear story of what they have learned by the end of a unit of work. For example, in art, pupils do not always learn the individual skills they need to make, paint, or draw something proficiently.

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Children in Nursery love sharing books and stories with staff. They start to learn phonics and develop their reading skills as they move through school. Staff have the training they need to teach reading effectively. Those pupils who are slower to learn to read are quickly spotted and well supported. They catch up rapidly. Consequently, all pupils are fluent readers by the end of Year 3.

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Pupils start to develop a love of reading as soon as they start school. Older pupils talk confidently about their favourite authors and the types of books they prefer. Pupils enjoy reading time in the library and daily opportunities to read in their classes.

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The school ensures that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the curriculum successfully. There are carefully designed adaptations to the curriculum and lessons to meet pupils’ needs. Consequently, pupils with SEND achieve well from their starting points. The school has a strong and effective focus on pupils’ emotional well-being. Carefully structured programmes ensure all pupils are ready to learn.

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Pupils behave well in lessons and around the school. The school’s focus on ‘reflection time’ helps pupils understand how to behave appropriately in all situations. Attendance remains an issue. The school is doing everything they possibly can, including working with external agencies, to ensure pupils are in school, on time, every day.

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Children in the early years love coming to school. Children enjoy taking part in interesting learning provision inside and outside the classroom. Children rapidly settle down and feel safe due to well-established routines. Adults have high expectations for all children. They take every opportunity to develop children’s understanding, talking with them about their learning and their behaviour. Consequently, children make strong progress from their starting points and are ready for Year 1.

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The school are determined that every pupil will have opportunities to enhance their learning and personal development. There are many curriculum visits and visitors, such as the Stone Age immersion day for Year 3 and 4.

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Staff are proud to work at the school. Most appreciate the training and support they receive to develop their teaching skills and feel supported to manage their workload. 5 and 6 December 2023

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Local governors know the school well. They regularly visit the school to check that pupils are safe and learning well. They provide appropriate challenge as well as support to the school.

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The school works closely with parents. Parents attend regular events organised by the school. They are supportive of the school’s work and the support for their children.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects there is too much content for pupils to readily learn and remember. Teachers do not plan sequences of lessons that emphasise and help pupils remember important subject knowledge. The school should ensure that curriculum planning in all subjects identifies precisely the knowledge that pupils should learn at the end of each unit of work, so that they gain the subject specific skills they need to achieve their best.

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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 predecessor school, Whitton Community Primary School, to be good in February 2018.

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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. 5 and 6 December 2023

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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). 5 and 6 December 2023

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School details

Headteacher Stephen Capper and Rachel Walker (Co- headteachers) Website www.beechescps.org.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 8 February 2018

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Information about this school

 The school joined Asset Education, a multi-academy trust, in March 2015. The school changed its name to The Beeches Community Primary on 1 January 2020. The predecessor school, Whitton Community Primary School, became an academy in March 2015.  There have been changes in leadership since the previous inspection. The Trust appointed two co-headteachers.  The school does not currently use any registered or unregistered providers of alternative provision.

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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. 5 and 6 December 2023

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 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  During the inspection the inspector met with senior leaders, teachers, a group of governors and representatives from Asset Education.  The inspector met with the school’s designated safeguarding leads and the school’s parent support worker. 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 met with the special educational needs coordinator and scrutinised provision for pupils with SEND.  The inspector carried out deep dives in early reading, mathematics, and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, looked at

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curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector also talked to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects.  The inspector considered responses to Ofsted’s staff survey and responses to the online parent survey, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text messages. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.

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Inspection team

Julie Winyard, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 December 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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