Suffield Park Infant and Nursery School, Cromer

Inspection of Suffield Park Infant and Nursery School, Cromer Mill Road, Cromer, Norfolk NR27 0AD

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 November 2024

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 19 and 20 November 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Everyone is known and nurtured as an individual at Suffield Park Infant and Nursery School. There are always staff on hand to offer support or a reassuring hug. Pupils are kind and tolerant towards each other. They look forward to the ‘British Values Bear’ visiting their class so that they can show off their own positive values.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school sets high expectations for behaviour and learning. Pupils know this and demonstrate how they meet these through interesting activities such as the ‘healthy hedgehog’ and ‘pass it on postcards’. They behave well, work hard and act on the helpful guidance that they receive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from the fact that staff know their precise needs. Staff use this knowledge well to set appropriate targets that support pupils with SEND to achieve success.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children learn about sharing and taking turns right from the start of Reception. They learn to concentrate on the carpet and take ownership of tidying up. Play leaders learn about responsibility. They help ensure that everyone is happy and included at breaktimes and lunchtimes. This all sets the foundation for how pupils treat each other respectfully across the school.

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

The school has developed a broad and ambitious curriculum. It has carefully thought through how pupils’ needs are identified, known and used to ensure that they can access their learning. The curriculum builds pupils’ knowledge and skills right from the early years. For example, in Reception, children build up the muscle strength they need to have control over a variety of tools. A range of activities, including moving small objects with tweezers and manipulating building blocks, help children develop the physical coordination they need to support early writing. However, the school does not build the depth and quality of pupils’ writing as they move into Year 1 well enough. This is because the whole-school approach to developing writing is new.

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

The school has ensured that its approach to teaching reading is well understood. Staff teach pupils how to decode and blend words using phonics skilfully. They check carefully how well pupils do this, by hearing them read regularly. Staff provide suitable further support where pupils need it and monitor how well this works. The school also involves parents and carers through events such as reading cafés. This helps parents to be able to further support pupils’ reading at home. Consequently, pupils develop reading fluency well.

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

The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with speech, language and communication needs. Staff guide paired discussions and model the use of sounds, words and language expertly. They are skilful at providing the right support at the right time. As a result, pupils confidently share their ideas and opinions. This ensures that pupils who attend the specially resourced provision access the curriculum and achieve well. 19 and 20 November 2024

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The school also provides highly effective provision for pupils with SEND with more complex needs. Staff tailor this precisely to support each pupil’s need. For example, pupils get to touch and feel lots of stimulating resources about their ocean topic. This supports pupils’ sensory needs well. Staff use these opportunities to develop pupils’ social and communication skills expertly.

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Pupils behave well and are motivated to display positive behaviours. This is because leaders regularly celebrate this by awarding certificates and stickers. Pupils take great pride in getting these awards. Leaders go to great lengths to support families so that any barriers to attending well are overcome.

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Personal development is promoted exceptionally well. The school has gained national accreditation for its ‘nurture’ work that supports pupils’ social, emotional and mental health. Pupils get a wealth of wider opportunities that are matched carefully to their needs. For example, a ‘girls active club’ was introduced to encourage more girls to be play leaders. The school organises visits from engineers and musicians and a wealth of trips. Pupils get to do things like den building and pond dipping. The school has carefully planned these experiences so that they go beyond the everyday. The school sits at the heart of the local community and pupils learn about what being a good citizen means. For example, the choir sings at the Cromer Christmas lights and the school council has supported fundraising for the local food bank.

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Leadership is strong and effective. The governing body works closely with the school and knows it well. They support and challenge in equal measure. Staff feel supported. They particularly value the nurture training and development that is in place. This makes a real and positive difference to pupils’ behaviour, learning and happiness. Everyone works together with Crabby the Cromer Crab to ensure that pupils become confident, resilient, ambitious and brilliant.

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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 writing is well enough established across the school. As a result, some pupils’ transcription skills are not secure. They lack fluency and depth in their writing. The school should further develop staff expertise so that the writing pupils produce is of a consistently high standard. 19 and 20 November 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). 19 and 20 November 2024

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School details

Website www.suffieldparkinfantschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14 November 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a specialist resource base within the school. This is for 10 pupils with speech, language and communication needs. Places are allocated by the local authority.  The school has recently introduced internal provision for pupils with complex SEND.  The school uses one registered 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. 19 and 20 November 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.  Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  The lead inspector met with representatives from the local governing body, including the chair.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator and a local authority representative.  Inspectors conducted further meetings with staff regarding safeguarding, special educational needs provision, behaviour, attendance and personal development.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, which included early reading, mathematics and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke

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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

Nicola Shadbolt Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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