Reepham Primary School

Inspection of Reepham Primary School School Road, Reepham, Norwich, Norfolk NR10 4JP

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Inspection dates: 28 and 29 January 2025

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

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The executive headteacher of this school is Catherine Ogle. The school is part of the Synergy Multi-Academy Trust, which means that other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Louise Lee, and overseen by a board of directors, chaired by Natasha Hutcheson. 28 and 29 January 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils thrive in this welcoming and inclusive school. They experience kindness and compassion from experienced, caring staff. Pupils are confident that staff will help them should they need it. Parents and carers are overwhelmingly positive about the work of the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils typically behave considerately in lessons and around the school. They understand the high expectations of behaviour set by staff. The foundations of this are built in the early years.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school sets high expectations for pupils’ learning. This is shown in the way pupils approach their education. For example, children in the early years confidently use technology to record pictures of their modelling clay models, while Year 6 pupils clearly explain how the use of natural resources in the Arctic can increase the wealth of a country. These expectations support pupils in achieving well in national tests and assessments.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from the school’s focus on enrichment and personal development. This ensures that pupils grow in knowledge and in character. Pupils enjoy opportunities to engage in activities such as outdoor learning sessions. These foster resilience and teamwork. Leadership roles, such as prefects, librarians and school councillors, encourage and develop responsibility. Pupils leave well prepared for their next steps.

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

The school provides an ambitious curriculum. It is regularly reviewed and refined to ensure that it interests pupils and is relevant to the local area. Staff have good subject knowledge, which they teach in clear and engaging ways. This supports pupils’ learning in the wider curriculum, such as understanding how the movement of tectonic plates can cause earthquakes. However, in some areas of the wider curriculum, the school does not always check precisely how well pupils learn. The school is addressing this, but the impact is not evident in some subjects.

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

Reading sits at the heart of the school’s work. Staff expertly support children in the early years to learn the sounds that letters represent. This solid foundation continues throughout the school. Staff provide targeted interventions to help pupils who need additional support with reading to catch up. In the early years, stories, rhymes and songs support children’s learning in all areas. Throughout key stages 1 and 2, pupils listen to and read high-quality texts. Pupils speak enthusiastically about their favourite books and recommend authors to each other. As a result, by the time pupils reach Year 6, they read confidently, with fluency and understanding.

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

Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is strong. Staff receive appropriate guidance on how to best support pupils with SEND. They apply this guidance with consistency. Leaders review the effectiveness of this support with rigour. Consequently, pupils with SEND access the full breadth of the curriculum and the 28 and 29 January 2025

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school’s wider enrichment offer. The school’s strong focus on early reading benefits pupils, particularly pupils with SEND.

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The school ensures that provision in the early years is highly effective. Staff support children to enjoy sharing with their peers and talking about their learning. Children behave exceptionally well. Expert modelling helps children to listen to each other and take turns. They are eager to ask questions. There are numerous opportunities for children to learn, practise and apply their learning in different ways. For example, in Nursery, children practise counting in real-life and play situations, such as taking on the role of shopkeepers. This helps them to gain confidence and apply what they learn. Children develop the knowledge and attitudes to learning that mean they are prepared very well for learning in Year 1.

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Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes. When the behaviour of a small minority of pupils is challenging, the school intervenes promptly. The school provides these pupils with clear support. Staff have the same high expectations for how pupils with challenging behaviour should behave and what they can achieve, while making reasonable adjustments where appropriate. The school monitors attendance carefully and works closely with families to address potential barriers to attending regularly. As a result, attendance is improving.

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The provision for pupils’ personal development is a strength of the school. Pupils benefit from an extensive menu of trips, visits and visitors. The established links to schools in Japan, France and Malawi improve pupils’ understanding of the wider world. Guest speakers highlight a wide range of different careers to inspire pupils. While pupils’ knowledge of world religions is more limited, they embrace difference and diversity in society and challenge prejudice and discrimination.

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The school is focused and ambitious. It works closely with governors and trust representatives to sustain high standards. The trust creates opportunities for collaborative working across schools. Consequently, staff benefit from shared expertise, professional development opportunities and support. Teachers appreciate these opportunities.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some areas of the wider curriculum, the school does not always precisely check how well pupils learn. As a result, pupils’ gaps in knowledge sometimes go unnoticed. The school should continue to refine its assessment strategies to ensure that any gaps in pupils’ knowledge are identified and promptly corrected. 28 and 29 January 2025

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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). 28 and 29 January 2025

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School details

Website www.synergymat.org.uk/our-schools

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 19 and 20 June 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use alternative provision.  The school runs before- and after-school care for pupils who attend 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 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. 28 and 29 January 2025

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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, science and geography. For each deep dive, the inspectors met with subject leaders, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at pupils’ work. The lead inspector also listened to a sample of pupils read to a familiar adult.  Inspectors also looked at other curriculum areas and spoke to leaders about other subjects, including personal, social and health education.  Inspectors held meetings with the executive headteacher, senior leaders, members of the trust and members of the local governing body.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation provided, such as the school’s self-

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evaluation, school improvement documents and information relating to pupils’ attendance and behaviour.  Inspectors spent time speaking to pupils, including at lunchtime.  Inspectors gathered parents’ views by reviewing the 26 responses and 21 free-text responses submitted to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View.  Inspectors gathered staff members’ views by reviewing the 28 responses submitted to the staff survey and by speaking with several members of staff.

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Inspection team

Jo Nutbeam, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Becky Quinn Ofsted Inspector 28 and 29 January 2025

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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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