The Bawburgh School

Inspection of The Bawburgh School Hockering Lane, Bawburgh, Norwich, Norfolk NR9 3LR

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 1 and 2 October 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

This is a school where pupils are nurtured in all aspects of their development. Staff and pupils have warm, professional relationships. Pupils benefit from learning in a caring, safe environment that embodies the school’s aim to ‘go above and beyond’. Parents recognise this, happily recommending the school to other parents.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know that staff have high expectations of them and also that there is help, when needed. Many pupils achieve highly, especially in reading and mathematics. Staff make lessons fun and interesting, which motivates pupils to work hard and try their best. This includes pupils who are disadvantaged and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school’s inclusive nature is a strength.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave considerately in lessons and around the school. Playtimes are relaxed and enjoyable. Pupils understand the high expectations of behaviour set by staff. They take pride in living up to these standards. The foundations of this are built in early years.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils experience a range of opportunities to broaden their interests and aspirations. For example, as part of the ‘Into Opera’ project, pupils wrote, produced and performed their own opera, titled ‘There’s a dinosaur in the playground!’

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

The school has designed a curriculum that is broad, engaging and ambitious for all. This starts from the early years. The knowledge and skills pupils need to learn are carefully sequenced. Teachers explain learning well and use resources to support pupils’ understanding. Pupils with SEND, including those with complex needs, receive carefully tailored support. They learn alongside their peers and have work skilfully adapted to meet their needs. Pupils appreciate how adults help them and ‘encourage us to work it out’. In a mathematics lesson, the use of a visualiser really helped pupils understand place value. Teachers regularly check that pupils understand the concepts being taught, and address any misconceptions.

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

In some subjects, the school has recently reviewed its curriculum and introduced new plans. As a result, the systems used to check what pupils know and understand in these subjects are not yet fully embedded. The school has not had enough time to check exactly how well all pupils are learning the new curriculum.

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

The development of reading is prioritised. Pupils read widely and often. They talk animatedly about the diverse range of texts they have read and why they are so enjoyable and thought-provoking. Pupils who take the role of reading ambassadors ensure books are available at lunchtimes on the school bus. Staff deliver the school’s chosen phonics programme very well. The school ensures that staff are well trained and can access appropriate resources to deliver phonics effectively. The school is adept at identifying pupils who are struggling and puts extra support in place. As a result, pupils are very well supported to learn to read quickly and fluently. This helps pupils with SEND 1 and 2 October 2024

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develop their confidence and self-belief. This starts with the youngest children in Reception.

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Children in the early years get off to a flying start. They develop positive, professional relationships with staff and with each other. Staff focus on developing children’s vocabulary, language and mathematical understanding. Children are keen to describe their learning. For example, they demonstrate an impressive recall of sea creatures.

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Pupils’ behaviour is praiseworthy. The school routines are consistently applied and all pupils understand them. The importance of good behaviour starts in the early years, where the children know the routines in their classroom. While pupils value accumulating ‘Dojo’ points to get a dip in the reward box, they behave well because they care about each other and their school environment.

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The school has planned its personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education curriculum with care. The taught curriculum includes learning about friendships, healthy relationships at an age-appropriate level, body changes and keeping healthy. The school takes every opportunity to enrich the curriculum, including trips to an aquarium, theatre visits and sporting opportunities. Pupils who attend the school’s residential visit are proud of their achievements, describing how they are ‘braver than they thought’. These experiences promote pupils’ independence, resilience and well-being.

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Governors’ monitoring of the school’s work is thorough. They know the school well and offer effective support and challenge. Staff are motivated and proud to work at the school. They appreciate the consideration leaders give to their well-being and workload. Parents are also highly positive about the work of the school. One parent said that the school is ‘a safe, welcoming place filled with joy’. This represented the views of many.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has recently reviewed and changed the curriculum in some subjects. Leaders, though, have not yet refined assessment processes or reviewed the curriculum’s impact in these subjects to check that pupils are learning well. Leaders should ensure they use assessment information to check that pupils are learning well and to make any further adaptations to the curriculum that are needed to address any gaps pupils have. 1 and 2 October 2024

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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

Website http://www.bawburgh.norfolk.sch.uk/

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 12 and 13 March 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The Bawburgh School formed a federation with another school to form the Barford and Bawburgh Federation. This became a formal arrangement in September 2023 after working closely in the previous academic year. There is one governing body, with a shared executive headteacher across both schools.  The school does not make use of 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. 1 and 2 October 2024

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 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.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and design and technology. For each deep dive, inspectors met with subject leaders, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at pupils’ work. The lead inspector listened to a sample of pupils read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors reviewed other curriculum areas and spoke to leaders about these subjects, including PSHE education.  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

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safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors held meetings with the executive headteacher, senior leaders and members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing board.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation provided, such as minutes of governors’ meetings, the school’s self-evaluation form, school improvement documents and information relating to pupils’ attendance and behaviour.  Inspectors spent time speaking to pupils, including at lunchtime. Inspectors also took account of the 25 responses to Ofsted’s online pupil survey.  Inspectors gathered parents’ views by reviewing the 29 responses and 22 free-text responses submitted to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors gathered staff members’ views by speaking with them. Inspectors took account of the nine responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

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Inspection team

Jo Nutbeam, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Benjamin Axon 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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