Drayton Community Infant School

Inspection of Drayton Community Infant School School Road, Drayton, Norwich, Norfolk NR8 6EP

p.1

Inspection dates: 10 and 11 December 2024

p.1

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

p.1

The headteacher is Sarah Hutt. This school is part of Inclusive Schools Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Selene Sawyer, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Jeff Prosser. The headteacher is the partnership headteacher for this school and one other. 10 and 11 December 2024

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

The school creates a vibrant and inclusive environment where pupils feel safe, happy, and eager to learn. Staff foster positive relationships with children and families. This creates a sense of trust and belonging for pupils.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Teacher’s high expectations enable pupils to achieve well. Teachers understand pupils’ needs and give extra support to pupils who need to catch up. Pupils successfully learn about the world beyond their community, such as the contribution of important artists and scientists.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take pride in their achievements and know that teachers will recognise their effort. Behaviour across the school is respectful. The school helps pupils to understand that everyone is different and that everyone needs to be patient and kind with each other. Approaches like ‘taps for congrats’ and ‘celebrating special people’ promote mutual respect.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

A thoughtfully chosen programme of wider opportunities inspires curiosity and builds pupils’ confidence. For example, drama, archery and running clubs. The school offers every pupil an opportunity to gain new interests and skills. The school celebrates its diverse community through events like international sports days and creative projects.

p.2

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

Since the previous inspection, the school has made significant strides in improving its curriculum, teaching quality, and overall culture. This is due to leaders’ astute focus on improving pupils’ experiences. As a result, pupils receive a more consistent, engaging, and supportive education. The impact of this work can be seen in pupils’ all-round strong achievement. For example, pupils have noted their growing confidence in spelling. This reflects the positive impact of the school’s changes to the way that writing is taught.

p.2

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

The school’s curriculum is ambitious and carefully sequenced. Teachers plan lessons with care, ensuring that pupils build their knowledge and skills over time. Teachers present new concepts clearly and address misconceptions promptly. This enables pupils to develop a deep and connected understanding of key ideas. The school regularly checks how well the curriculum is being implemented. However, some curriculum topics are relatively recently introduced. This means that some staff are still getting to grips with this new content. Consequently, sometimes teaching activities do not support pupils’ learning as well as they could. The school intelligently plans collaborative opportunities for teachers and subject leaders to reflect on and improve the curriculum.

p.2

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

The school integrates support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) into every subject. In addition to regularly checking how well pupils are learning the curriculum, staff work closely with parents and carers to gain a thorough understanding of each pupil’s strengths and needs. Teachers pay careful attention to 10 and 11 December 2024

p.2

3

pupils’ needs by providing extra resources and adapting support in lessons. Parents value how well the school helps their children overcome barriers to learning.

p.3

3

In the Reception Year, staff focus on helping children identify individual sounds before progressing to teaching the relationship between letters and sounds. Their expertise ensures that children and pupils build reading fluency and confidence. Pupils who require additional support benefit from tailored interventions, and their reading books are carefully matched to their learning stage. The school introduces pupils to a diverse range of literature to support their understanding of the wider world.

p.3

3

Staff in the early years are experts in child development and understand children’s interests and needs. They establish important routines, such as lining up and listening carefully to adults. This contributes to a safe and productive learning environment. Children regularly practise key skills, sing songs, and listen to stories. However, the school does not give sufficient focus to developing children’s early writing skills, including letter formation. As a result, some children are not acquiring good writing right from the start and are more prone to making errors. However, staff promptly identify and correct these errors, ensuring children stay on track.

p.3

3

The school promotes high standards of behaviour and fosters a caring, inclusive ethos. Staff consistently praise and reward pupils for demonstrating kindness and effort. This positive reinforcement helps pupils focus during lessons. When disagreements occur, staff help pupils to restore friendships. The school works closely with families to promote regular attendance.

p.3

3

Pupils benefit from an exceptional programme of personal development that equips them with essential life skills. Pupils learn about relationships, personal safety, and respect for diversity. The school’s emphasis on character education threads through many aspects of pupils’ school experiences. As a result, pupils cite, and display, the many ways in which they can demonstrate values such as kindness and openness. The school offers an extensive range of enrichment activities, including clubs, sports, and cultural events. These are designed to nurture pupils’ talents and broaden their horizons.

p.3

3

The trust plays a pivotal role in supporting the school’s focus on educational quality. Leaders benefit from trust networks that provide expertise in subject teaching and safeguarding practices. Staff feel valued and supported. The school has robust systems to focus everyone’s attention on improving pupils’ experiences. The trust’s strategic support and focus on professional development ensures that both staff and pupils thrive.

p.3

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school’s focus on letter formation and transcription for children in the early years is not sharp enough. This means that children are occasionally more prone to making and repeating errors in their writing. The school needs to continue to embed the new approaches to writing in the early years.  Some aspects of the wider subject curriculum are recently introduced and not fully embedded. This means that teaching activities are not as well-matched as they could be to the intended learning. This risks pupils not achieving as well as they could in these subjects. The schools needs to ensure that staff have the knowledge they need to implement the curriculum in the way that the school intends.

p.4

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.

p.4

How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

p.4

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.4

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). 10 and 11 December 2024

p.4

School details

Dates of previous inspection 11 and 12 May 2022, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

p.5

Information about this school

 The school is part of the Inclusive Schools Trust. It is partnered with another school in the same trust, Nightingale Infant and Nursery School. Senior staff have responsibilities over both schools.  The school does not use alternative provision.  The provides before- and after-school care.

p.5

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. 10 and 11 December 2024

p.5

6

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued 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 art. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with staff, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during breaktimes and in lessons.  The lead inspector held meetings with the chief executive officer and three trustees, including the chair of the board of trustees.  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

p.6

6

extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The lead inspector reviewed a wide range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school.  Inspectors spoke with a range of staff and pupils during the inspection. The lead inspector considered responses made by parents to Ofsted Parent View, including free- text responses. The lead inspector also considered responses to Ofsted’s staff survey.

p.6

Inspection team

Hannah Stoten, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

p.7

7

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open- government-licence/ , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

7

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.7

7

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7