Reepham High School and College

Inspection of Reepham High School and College Whitwell Road, Reepham, Norwich, Norfolk NR10 4JT

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Sixth-form provision Good Previous inspection grade Good

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The head of school of this school is Jonathan Croucher. This school is part of Synergy Multi Academy 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), Alastair Ogle, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by James Macadam. 7 and 8 May 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to this warm and welcoming school. They appreciate how everyone in the school values each other for who they are. Pupils develop a strong sense of pride in their own and each other’s achievements. Winning county sports championships, speaking at a public event or achieving excellence in a piece of work are equally recognised and celebrated.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils work hard to achieve the ambitious goals their teachers have for them. They listen attentively in class. They respect each other’s right to learn in a calm and disruption-free environment. Students in the sixth form develop strong independent study skills that help them take their classroom learning to a deeper level. Pupils achieve and are well prepared for their next steps.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a range of activities that bring their learning to life. Trips to Normandy and Ypres bring the history pupils study into reality, while practising their language skills. Theatre trips enrich learning in English and performing arts. Pupils place high value on the school’s enrichment week. They relish the chance to take part in life-defining experiences. For example, some unearth historical artifacts on archaeological digs. Others learn how to scuba dive to explore the marine life of the Norfolk coast.

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

The school has developed a curriculum that is ambitious for all pupils. It has carefully thought about and defined what pupils should learn and when. Subject specialists have taken complex ideas and broken them into small, easy-to-digest pieces. These have been logically ordered from Year 7 to Year 13. This helps pupils develop an increasingly complex understanding of the subjects they study.

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

Pupils benefit from their teachers’ strong subject expertise. Explanations of new knowledge are clear. As pupils progress through the curriculum, teachers help them link what they already know to new learning. This helps pupils secure information and use it in a range of different situations. Teachers carefully check pupils’ understanding. When they are confident pupils are ready, teachers move them on. Pupils’ written work generally reflects the understanding they have of new ideas. However, sometimes, pupils’ written work demonstrates misconceptions. This includes errors in basic skills, such as punctuation and grammar. In many cases, teachers identify and remedy these errors. However, some of the guidance given by teachers does not address these errors. The advice lacks precision or is not given quickly enough. Misconceptions become embedded, and pupils do not learn as well as they could.

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

The school quickly identifies the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Information is shared with staff that defines pupils’ needs and how to help them. Most teaching embraces this information, and pupils with SEND learn well. However, sometimes, the adaptations made to teaching do not address pupils’ specific barriers to learning. Here, pupils with SEND do not learn as well or progress through the curriculum as expected. 7 and 8 May 2025

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Students in the sixth form inherit the deep passion for the subjects they study from their teachers. This inspires them to constantly strive to improve and deepen their written work. Consequently, students’ work is extremely high in quality. Some students take on leadership roles around the school; however, these are limited.

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Sometimes, the school does not effectively support those pupils who need the most help to read. Some interventions are generic. They do not focus on the aspect of reading pupils need most help with. Tracking does not accurately identify where pupils have improved or need more help. Consequently, some pupils do not catch up quickly enough. This hinders their learning of the rest of the curriculum.

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The school has made clear its high expectations for how pupils should behave. It has made sure staff are equipped to respond when standards fall below those accepted. This helps pupils to behave well and have confidence in staff that they will be treated consistently and fairly.

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Pupils have a deep understanding of the core values that are important in modern Britain. They go beyond simply explaining key ideas such as democracy and tolerance. They live them every day. Pupils celebrate diversity. This helps them feel comfortable being themselves, regardless of race, religion or sexuality.

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Pupils access a broad range of information about future careers and education options. In the sixth form, students are guided and supported with applications to university. This helps pupils make informed choices and successfully progress on from school.

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The school has been through significant change and turbulence. Despite this, staff and leaders have retained a laser-like focus on pupils’ learning and experience. Governors and trustees hold the school to account and ensure it continues to improve. Staff understand how these changes impact on their workload. But they remain appreciative of how the school does all it can to manage this.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, the advice staff give does not help pupils improve the quality of their written work. Consequently, misconceptions, mistakes and errors in knowledge and key skills such as spelling and grammar are repeated over time. Hence, pupils do not always learn the key knowledge as securely as they could. The school should ensure that teachers have the expertise to provide pupils with the advice they need to support them to improve their written work. 7 and 8 May 2025

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 Sometimes, the adaptations to teaching do not address the specific barriers to learning for pupils with SEND. As a result, sometimes, these pupils do not learn the curriculum as well as they could. The school should ensure that staff have the knowledge and expertise to consistently adapt their approaches to meet the individual needs of pupils.  The programme to support pupils who struggle with reading lacks the rigour in its design, implementation and tracking. This means that some pupils take too long to develop the confidence and fluency in reading they need to access the curriculum as intended. The school should ensure that programmes of support for the weakest readers are designed and implemented to enable those pupils to quickly become confident and fluent readers.

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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). 7 and 8 May 2025

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provision

Number of pupils on the school roll 1,000

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form

Headteacher Jonathan Croucher (Head of School)

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form

Dates of previous inspection 5 and 6 February 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Synergy Multi Academy Trust.  The head of school took up his position in September 2024.  The school uses one unregistered provider of alternative provision.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. 7 and 8 May 2025

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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.  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 held meetings with leaders, including the head of school, the deputy head of school, and the special educational needs coordinator. The lead inspector also met with trustees and local governors, including the chair of the board of trustees, one of the co-chairs of the local governing committee and the CEO of the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: English, mathematics, geography, modern foreign languages, design and technology and physical education. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to staff, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at

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Information about this inspection

samples of pupils’ work. The lead inspector also listened to a sample of pupils read to a familiar adult.  To further inspect the curriculum, inspectors reviewed curriculum documentation and visited lessons in business studies, sociology, economics and psychology. The inspectors also reviewed documentation setting out support for pupils with SEND.  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 the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments submitted. They considered the responses to Ofsted’s questionnaires for pupils and staff. Inspectors spoke to groups of pupils about their experiences of school life and their learning in lessons to understand what it is like to

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Inspection team

Dave Gibson, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Andrew Hemmings Ofsted Inspector Sue Smith Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Jonathan Rockey Ofsted Inspector 7 and 8 May 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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