Hockering Church of England Primary Academy

Inspection of Hockering Church of England Primary Academy The Street, Hockering, Dereham, Norfolk NR20 3HN

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Previous inspection grade Good

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The headteacher of this school is Rebecca Newman, who is also the executive headteacher of the Eden Federation group of schools. This school and the Eden Federation are part of the Diocese of Norwich Education and Academies Trust (DNEAT), which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Oliver Burwood, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by William Crawshay. 5 and 6 November 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are settled, happy and safe at Hockering Church of England Primary Academy. Parents comment that it is a lovely school with a strong sense of community. Pupils grow in confidence during their time here. They look forward to what each new school day will bring. The school provides a range of new and exciting opportunities. For example, pupils recently participated in a karate session, delivered by a black belt instructor, as part of physical education (PE).

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from the school being part of a wider federation of four schools. This is because high expectations for what pupils should learn have been set across these schools. For example, pupils learn to read well because staff have had high-quality training in a federation-wide approach.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils get very personalised support to help them catch up or close any gaps in their knowledge if this is required. This means pupils get the guidance they need to achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn all about being a good friend and treating each other with respect. Staff deliver assemblies that help to further reinforce this. Themes such as kindness and helping others are discussed. Pupils behave kindly and respectfully towards everyone.

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

The school, federation and trust work closely together. The federation ensures that school staff receive high-quality training opportunities. Staff across the federation have worked together to develop a broad and ambitious curriculum. This clearly defines the important knowledge pupils should know. The school has ensured that staff receive suitable training to develop their subject knowledge. As a result, teachers are knowledgeable about what they teach and pupils achieve well. Teachers support pupils to secure intended knowledge by carefully checking what they know.

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

Every pupil is known as an individual at this school. Staff carefully tailor their teaching to meet pupils’ needs. For example, in early years, staff provide the personalised support each child needs, related to where they are in their development. For example, those needing more help to develop their communication and language spend time with staff who support and model this. This is especially the case for pupils with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school carefully assesses pupils’ needs, so that adjustments within class are planned to cater for these. This means that pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers and achieve well.

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

The federation has ensured that staff have been trained how to teach early reading well. Pupils successfully use their phonics knowledge to read unfamiliar words. Staff provide individualised support to help pupils close any gaps in this knowledge. This supports the fluency of their reading. The school provides lots of opportunities for pupils to explore interesting and engaging books and texts. Pupils are enthusiastic about reading. The school uses these texts to support pupils to compose their own writing. However, the 5 and 6 November 2024

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school has not developed its approach to the teaching of grammar, punctuation and spelling well enough. Consequently, the quality of some pupils’ writing is not consistently of a high standard.

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The school has set clear expectations for behaviour that pupils follow. Staff remind pupils of these expectations if there are ever any lapses in pupils’ engagement. However, as the school has invested so much time in supporting pupils to understand how to show kindness and tolerance towards each other, this is naturally how they behave at times such as lunch. Pupils attend well. The school supports the needs of each pupil and family diligently.

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Pupils’ personal development is promoted well. The school provides tailored support for pupils’ social and emotional needs, including play therapy and support to develop their social skills. This is particularly beneficial for pupils with SEND. Pupils get to broaden their horizons beyond the local village and develop their cultural understanding. For example, they have taken part in a singing performance at the O2 and regularly get visiting speakers into school. Pupils learn about staying healthy. For example, the local dentist came in to teach pupils all about sugar and looking after their teeth.

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Governors and trustees know the school well. The trust and federation work together to develop and review the school development priorities. The school has benefited from a trust-wide focus on developing SEND provision, as well as leadership support from across the federation. This has helped to support the workload and well-being of all staff.

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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 not ensured that its approach to teaching grammar, punctuation and spelling is well established or consistent across the school. As a result, some pupils do not apply their fundamental knowledge of grammar, punctuation and spelling in their writing well enough. The school needs to ensure that all staff teach the school’s approach to grammar, punctuation and spelling effectively so that pupils can apply this knowledge consistently in their written work.

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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. 5 and 6 November 2024

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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 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 November 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14 February 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.  The school has a religious character, which is The Church of England. The school had its last inspection of its denominational education and collective worship, under section 48 of the Education Act 2005, in March 2024.  The executive headteacher has been in post since the previous inspection. The executive headteacher is supported by an executive deputy headteacher. The school also has a senior teacher who has been in post since September 2022. The senior teacher has day-to-day responsibility for the operational running of the school.

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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 5 and 6 November 2024

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provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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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.  Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  To discuss governance and trust leadership an inspector met with representatives from the trust board and the local governing body.  To discuss the role of the trust an inspector met with the chief executive officer, deputy chief executive officer and academies group executive principal.  Inspectors met with the executive headteacher, executive deputy headteacher, senior teacher and special educational needs coordinator.  Inspectors conducted further meetings with staff regarding safeguarding, behaviour, attendance and personal development.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, which included early

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reading; mathematics; and PE. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also considered the curriculum in a range of other subjects.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, around school and at social times.  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.  Inspectors considered responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey and Ofsted’s staff survey. They considered responses to the confidential online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View, including free-text messages.

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Inspection team

James Chester, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lynn Ayling Ofsted Inspector 5 and 6 November 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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