Norman Street Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Norman Street Primary School Norman Street, Carlisle, Cumbria CA1 2BQ

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Outcome

Norman Street Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and their families are proud to be part of the positive learning community at Norman Street Primary School. Staff know children and their families well. This enables staff to successfully remove any barriers to pupils attending and enjoying school. Pupils trust the staff who work with them. They are confident that they can talk to staff if they have any worries, and that staff will resolve issues quickly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the diverse range of extra-curricular activities that enhance their learning of the curriculum. Pupils benefit from the well-thought-out trips and visits that successfully build on the skills and knowledge that they are learning in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the wide range of opportunities that they have to contribute to their school and local community. For example, the school council has improved the resources used at playtimes. Pupils readily engage with the residents in a local care home, through music, games and conversation.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including children in the early years, understand the high expectations that staff have of their behaviour and achievement. Pupils exemplify this by being ready, safe and respectful. Teachers commend pupils when they model these values. This supports pupils to better understand the impact of their behaviour on others. Pupils engage well in lessons, and they enjoy learning new knowledge and skills. Typically, pupils achieve well.

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

The school has recently been through a considerable change in staffing. This has prompted the school, including those responsible for governance, to make effective decisions to improve the quality of education that pupils receive.

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

The school has designed a well-thought-out and ambitious curriculum. It has carefully considered which knowledge and skills to deliver in each year group. While implementing changes to the curriculum, the school has been mindful of staff’s workload. This is 17 and 18 April 2024

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enabling staff to focus on delivering high-quality lessons. As a result, in many subjects, staff deliver the curriculums effectively. However, in a few subjects, changes to the curriculum are more recent. From time to time, this hinders some staff from choosing the most appropriate activities to support pupils to learn as deeply as they could.

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In subjects where improvements are more recent, the school’s current assessment strategies are not as well matched to the curriculum as they could be. Occasionally, this means that staff do not know where some pupils have gaps in their learning in these subjects.

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The school has prioritised the teaching of reading. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of how pupils learn to read. In the early years, staff reinforce children’s learning through songs, games and rhymes. The delivery of the phonics scheme begins at the start of the Reception Year and staff have received appropriate training that enables them to deliver the scheme successfully. Suitable assessments enable staff to identify any gaps in phonics knowledge to ensure that pupils keep up or catch up quickly. This is particularly evident in pupils who speak English as an additional language. These pupils are making rapid progress with their reading knowledge.

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A love of reading permeates the school. Pupils benefit from regularly listening to, and sharing, stories with their class. Pupils read widely, and they are well informed about a range of genres and authors who interest them.

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The provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength of this school. The school has effective processes in place to swiftly identify any additional needs that pupils may have. Knowledgeable staff build strong relationships with families and local agencies to ensure that they can provide the best support possible for pupils with SEND.

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The school’s new approach to managing behaviour focuses on celebrating the positive behaviour that pupils demonstrate, while supporting them to understand and learn from their mistakes. This approach has been well received by staff, pupils, and their parents and carers. The school is a calm learning environment where pupils respect each other and staff. Pupils attend school regularly.

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The school provides an extensive offer for pupils to develop their skills beyond their academic learning. This offer is well considered, and the school listens to pupils to find out what they would like to experience. Pupils value the school’s recognition of how well they treat each other, or their resilience when they find things difficult. The school ensures that pupils explore a diverse range of contexts and cultures, providing them with a strong understanding of what it is like to live in modern Britain.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 17 and 18 April 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a small number of subjects, some staff do not select the most appropriate activities to help pupils to acquire the knowledge in the curriculum. From time to time, this means that some pupils do not learn as deeply as they could. The school should ensure that, in these remaining subjects, staff are supported to deliver the revised curriculum consistently well.  In a few subjects, the school is still developing its approaches to assessment. On occasion, this hinders teachers from accurately identifying what pupils know and can remember from previous learning. The school should ensure that staff are well equipped to check that pupils’ prior knowledge is secure before introducing new learning.

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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 November 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. 17 and 18 April 2024

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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 April 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Reverend Keith Teasdale

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 20 and 21 November 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher was appointed in September 2023.  The school does not use any alternative providers.  The school provides before- and after-school childcare.

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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 headteacher, subject leaders and staff. The inspector also spoke with a representative of the local authority.  The inspector met with governors, including the chair of the governing body.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, 17 and 18 April 2024

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visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector listened to pupils read to a familiar adult.  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 observed pupils’ behaviour in a range of situations, including in corridors, at breaktimes, at lunchtimes and during lessons. The inspector also spoke to pupils about their views on behaviour and bullying.  The inspector scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s self- evaluation document, leaders’ improvement plans, minutes of governing body meetings and records of pupils’ behaviour and attendance.

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 The inspector spoke with pupils about their programme of wider personal development.  The inspector considered the responses from parents to Ofsted Parent View. This included the free-text comments. The inspector also spoke to parents.  The inspector considered the responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey. The inspector also spoke with staff about the school’s support for their workload and well-being.  There were no responses to Ofsted’s online pupil survey. The inspector spoke to a range of pupils during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Elaine Mawson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 17 and 18 April 2024

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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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