Freethorpe Community Primary and Nursery School

Inspection of Freethorpe Community Primary and Nursery School The Green, Freethorpe, Norwich, Norfolk NR13 3NZ

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

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Previous inspection grade Good 1 and 2 October 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils like their school and are happy. This is because staff care about pupils’ well-being and have high expectations for their learning. Pupils are safe. They are kind and look out for each other. Pupils know they can always seek help from an adult if they have a concern.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ attendance rates are high. Reception-age children are ready to learn because their teachers establish clear routines. They quickly gain knowledge of the world around them. Pupils are eager to answer teachers’ questions and discuss what they have learned. They play well together. Younger children enjoy reading with their older peers.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the multitude of clubs and other extra-curricular activities on offer. They compete in a number of sports, which develops teamwork. Pupils hone their horticultural knowledge in the garden. They build their patience and self-control in the archery club. They sing, dance and act in musical theatre productions.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a range of excursions and visits by outside speakers. They go to churches, coastal museums and Norwich castle. Visitors re-enact Ancient Greece and the battle of Troy. These activities enhance pupils’ geographical, historical and cultural understanding. Pupils experience life away from home and develop independence on residential trips to the Isle of Wight.

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

The school has constructed a highly ambitious curriculum to guide pupils’ understanding of the world and equip them with the knowledge needed to navigate this. The content pupils learn links logically to what they have learned before and to other areas of the curriculum. Older pupils explore ‘Oliver Twist’, for example, and learn about life in Victorian Britain. This helps them to empathise with children who experienced hardship, both current and past.

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

In light of weak outcomes in mathematics in 2023, leaders bolstered the curriculum. Teachers now ensure pupils practise arithmetic regularly. As a result, pupils calculate with ease. Leaders continue to refine the curriculum so that pupils apply their mathematical knowledge more independently to reason and solve problems.

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

Staff present new knowledge with clarity. They meticulously check that pupils understand. Their questions refine and shape pupils’ thinking.

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

Leaders have made reading a priority. Teachers adopt a consistent approach to the teaching of reading. In the Nursery, children learn rhymes and listen to stories. Reception- age children recognise new sounds and form letters accurately. They begin to blend these sounds to read words. Older pupils read with fluency and expression. They grasp grammatical concepts and apply these to their written work. Teachers respond quickly when pupils fall behind with their reading to help them catch up. 1 and 2 October 2024

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The school has established an inclusive ethos. Most pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) flourish because of the support they receive. They are happy and confident. Pupils treat their friends with SEND with kindness and patience. Attendance of pupils with SEND has improved considerably over the last year. However, a minority of pupils with SEND do not swiftly benefit from precise support to help them read better. Furthermore, some teachers do not receive appropriate guidance on how best to adapt the curriculum for pupils with SEND. As a result, some pupils with SEND do not read, or achieve, as well as they could.

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The school provides a well-structured personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum. Pupils understand how their bodies, thinking and interactions will change in an age-appropriate way. They know how to develop healthy relationships founded on respect and consideration. Pupils are open-minded and do not tolerate any form of prejudice. Pupils’ understanding of world religions and other cultures, however, is limited.

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Pupils contribute to school life and the local community. They vote for representatives on the school council. The school councillors’ ideas lead to changes to school life, such as new activities at lunchtime when the weather is inclement. Pupils raise money for charity and care for the local environment. These experiences strengthen pupils’ understanding of democracy and they gain important leadership skills.

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Leaders have a robust understanding of what the school does well. They identify concisely how the school needs to develop. Governors support leaders and hold them to account for their decisions. Leaders’ actions lead to improvements in the quality of the curriculum and areas of school life. Staff appreciate the training they receive, which supports them to realise the school’s ambitious vision better. Most parents are happy with the quality of the education the school provides. Some are less pleased but acknowledge recent improvements. The school is well placed to improve even further.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school does not ensure that pupils build sufficient knowledge of different world religions, cultures and their commonalities. As a result, pupils do not develop as rich an understanding of diversity in Britain and the wider world as they could. The school must ensure that pupils gain a broader knowledge of global religions and cultures so they are better prepared for life in a richly diverse world.  The school does not provide teachers with precise guidance on how to adapt the curriculum for some pupils with SEND. Furthermore, some pupils with SEND do not receive swift and appropriate support to help them to read better. As a result, pupils’ 1 and 2 October 2024

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learning slows. The school must ensure that all pupils with SEND receive precise and timely support to help them to achieve as well as they could.

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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). 1 and 2 October 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9 May 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 1 and 2 October 2024

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 The inspectors met with the chair of governors, other governors, the executive headteacher, the deputy executive headteacher, other leaders, subject leaders, teachers and support staff. The inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and history. These included discussions with subject leaders, visits to lessons, meetings with staff and pupils, scrutiny of pupils’ work and a review of any curriculum documentation. Inspectors also scrutinised other curriculum documentation and other areas of the curriculum.  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.  The inspectors considered the views of pupils, staff and parents. There were 14 responses to Ofsted’s staff survey. There were 29 responses to Ofsted’s online

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questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View. The inspectors considered 26 free-text responses from parents.

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Inspection team

Adam Cooke, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Nick Asker Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 October 2024

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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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