Wroughton Infant Academy

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Wroughton Infant Academy Beccles Road, Gorleston, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR31 8AH

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Outcome

Wroughton Infant Academy has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Jessica Balls. This school is part of Creative Education 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), Marc Jordan, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Abbie Rumbold. There is also an executive principal, Ben Driver, who is responsible for this school and four others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils delight in coming to school. They take pride in representing their recently formed house teams, warmly congratulating their friends when they gain a highly valued house point. With their ‘wow walking’ and ‘slick sitting’, pupils contribute to a calm and purposeful school, where learning and enjoyment go hand in hand. They live up to the high expectations set for them by adults as they work hard in class and pupils learn and develop well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Positive relationships sit at the heart of the school. Pupils are polite and respectful and get on well with one another and adults. Children in the Nursery and Reception classes quickly learn to share and take turns. They are guided to be responsible for their classroom, taking care of the equipment they use. Older pupils show this same level of responsibility as they take on jobs and help around the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are well versed in how to keep safe. Living near the sea, pupils know how to stay safe around water. They also have a clear understanding of the risks they face online, knowing the steps they can take to keep safe as they grow up. Pupils have great faith that adults are there to help if they ever have a problem or worry. 25 and 26 March 2025

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

Pupils learn and develop well. This is because the school’s work over the past few years to improve the curriculum is paying off. Pupils learn knowledge in a sensible order, building on what they already know. For example, older pupils understand and can explain the physical and human features of faraway places, such as rainforests, because they have previously learned about physical and human features when considering places close to home.

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

Teachers have a strong knowledge of the subjects they teach. They make regular checks on how much pupils remember in lessons. This means they quickly correct a pupil if they misunderstand or get something wrong. Most of the time, teachers make effective use of the information they get from assessing pupils to make changes to future activities if needed. In a few subjects, this practice is still developing. Teachers do not make as precise adaptations to the curriculum in these few subjects as they do in others.

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

Reading is top priority. Pupils become fluent and confident readers in their first few years in school. The school gives well-tailored support to those who need a little more support to help them to learn to read. They make up the ground they need to. Children in Reception are immersed in stories, rhymes and poems. They learn and use more words because skilled staff model language and help children apply their new learning in class. As pupils move through the school, they use the wide vocabulary they learn in their writing.

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

Staff have a clear and accurate understanding of the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teachers make careful adaptations to the curriculum for pupils with SEND. This ensures that they learn the important knowledge they need.

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

Pupils behave well in and around school. They are clear as to what adults expect of them and these expectations are borne out in the way pupils conduct themselves. A small number of pupils need more help in managing their behaviour. These pupils receive very effective support to help them manage their emotions and actions.

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

In the past, too many pupils missed too much school through absence. This is no longer the case. Pupils attend regularly. Leaders know pupils and their families well and set about providing effective support and guidance to get attendance back on track if it slips too low.

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

Pupils develop a well-rounded view of the world they live in. Aspects such as physical health, understanding the value of money and learning about those from different countries are high on the agenda. Pupils who have roles such as house captains or those who sit on the school council do so with pride. They see the difference they make to the school community, for example in naming their own house teams through a democratic vote. 25 and 26 March 2025

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The relatively recently formed leadership team has an accurate view of the many strengths of the school and where further work is needed. Leaders take decisions in the best interests of pupils. Their measured approach has ensured that changes become established and part of the school culture before moving on to the next aspect.

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The flow of information between trustees, trust leaders and school leaders ensure that all have a clear oversight on how well the school is doing. This means school leaders are held to account, and supported, in equal measure.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a small number of subjects, teachers do not use assessment information to make precise adaptions to the curriculum as well as they do in other subjects. This means that in these cases activities do not provide pupils with the opportunity to fully develop and deepen their knowledge. The school should provide teachers with the knowledge and skills to ensure assessment information is used to precisely inform pupils’ next steps in their learning within these subjects.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024 graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in October 2019. 25 and 26 March 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). 25 and 26 March 2025

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 15 and 16 October 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Creative Education Trust.  The school does not currently make use of any alternative provision.  The headteacher joined the school in September 2024. Several other senior leaders joined the school at the same time.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 25 and 26 March 2025

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 The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, executive principal, other senior leaders and a range of school staff. The inspector held meetings with members of the trust board, the academy improvement board and trust leaders.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: 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.  The inspector reviewed a range of documents, including attendance records, pupil records, records of trust board meetings, school development plans and school self- evaluation documents.  The inspector considered the responses to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent

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View, including the free-text responses, and Ofsted’s online staff survey.

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Inspection team

Nathan Lowe, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 25 and 26 March 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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