Bressingham Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Bressingham Primary School School Road, Bressingham, Diss, Norfolk IP22 2AR

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Outcome

Bressingham Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils live and breathe the school’s ‘ACORN’ values. Adult’s high expectations of pupils ensure they ‘Aspire’ to be the best they can. Similarly, pupils ‘Collaborate’ with, and ‘Respect’, one another. This means the school is a happy and harmonious place for pupils of all ages to learn, play and have fun together. Pupils know that when play stops and work starts it is time to focus and do their best. They take pride in their learning and know right from wrong.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils trust that adults will do their best for them. They know it’s okay to share worries or concerns with adults. When they do, adults help and support pupils to overcome issues and make things better. Pupils know everyone is an individual and it is okay to be yourself. They celebrate differences between themselves and others. Pupils develop a rich appreciation of different cultures, religions and beliefs.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils experience many memorable moments. These include growing vegetables in the allotment, visiting the Houses of Parliament and developing a keen sporting interest. By the end of Year 6, pupils are extremely well prepared, both academically and socially, to fly the nest as they head to secondary school. They leave the school as confident, well- rounded young people.

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

The school has ensured pupils learn an ambitious curriculum. Consequently, pupils develop rich and detailed knowledge in many subjects. Pupils remember a great deal about what they have learned. This is because teachers explain concepts and ideas clearly. Teachers support pupils to revise and recap their learning regularly. This further supports how well pupils retain important knowledge.

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

Teachers have strong subject knowledge of the subjects they teach. They use this knowledge well, for example to provide pupils with precise guidance to develop their vocabulary in different subjects. Pupils across the school produce high-quality artwork 2 July 2024

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because they learn the specific skills and techniques they need to achieve well. Tasks become more complex as pupils know more and remember more. In mathematics, pupils tackle tricky problems successfully because they have learned the important knowledge they need to solve them.

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Adults provide effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They make careful adaptations to activities in lessons where these are needed. The individual plans for pupils with SEND clearly set out the extra help and support they receive. At times, it is not always clear precisely what pupils need to know, remember or be able to do as a result of this extra work. This means teachers and leaders cannot always check if pupils have learned exactly what they need to learn.

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Children in Reception learn to read well. They build on their knowledge of phonics effectively into Year 1. Almost all become accurate and confident readers. Those who find reading tricky, and need more help, receive this from skilled adults. Pupils have ample opportunity to read books that are closely matched to the sounds they know. Older pupils confidently read rich and thought-provoking books. They know the importance of reading. Pupils value and enjoy reading books from a range of cultures that help broaden their understanding of the wider world.

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Pupils behave extremely well in school. They are kind and courteous to one another, and to adults. If pupils need additional help with their behaviour, adults provide this extremely well. Pupils’ attendance is high. The school do all they can to promote high attendance. If pupils miss too much school, they are well supported to improve their attendance.

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The school has ensured pupils have rich and meaningful opportunities to learn about people from different cultures, backgrounds and with different beliefs. Much of this is through the well-established relationships, sex and health education programme. Pupils are well guided to learn about different relationships and how to stay healthy, including looking after their physical and mental health. The ‘operation exercise’ initiative ensures pupils see the benefits of regular exercise. They are inspired to be active. Members of the school council are proud of their roles and contribute positively to the life of the school.

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Leaders take great care to look after staff’s well-being. They consider the workload of staff before making any changes. Staff feel valued, and consequently enjoy working in school.

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Governors hold a clear and accurate oversight of the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They remain strategic in their work, holding leaders to account well. They receive much useful information from leaders, but do not take this at face value. They make regular visits to check for themselves and ask pertinent questions of information provided by leaders.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 2 July 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not ensured that individual targets for pupils with SEND are consistently precise enough. They do not always precisely set out what pupils need to know, remember and be able to do as a result of the additional activities they undertake. This means some additional support that pupils receive is not always tightly focused. Leaders should ensure that staff put in place specific, measurable and time-focused support to ensure that these pupils achieve well.

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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 October 2013.

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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). 2 July 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Diane Perry-Yates

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School details

Co-headteachers Dawn Gudde and Joanna Lewis

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School details

Date of previous inspection 22 November 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative providers.  The school is led by two co-headteachers.

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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. 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 the co-headteachers, a range of other school staff, and members of the governing body. The lead inspector also held a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and art. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, 2 July 2024

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visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documents, including behaviour logs, attendance records, pupil records, records of governor meetings, school development plans and school self-evaluation documents.  Inspectors considered the responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and Ofsted’s staff surveys. The pupil survey was not used in this inspection, but inspectors spoke to a wide range of pupils both formally and informally during the inspection.

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Inspection team

Nathan Lowe, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

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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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