Swaffham Bulbeck Church of England Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The school's Christian ethos of 'Shine Brightly' underpins all the opportunities pupils experience at this school. Pupils know everyone has the chance to 'shine' in sports tournaments, productions, clubs and community projects. Pupils appreciate that they are all treated equally and fairly.

They feel included in all aspects of school life.

Pupils know adults want the best for them. Pupils study a range of interesting topics, including learning about local historic figures such Molly Rose Marshall when studying the history of flight.

Their learning is also supported through trips and visitors to school, for example to deepen their understanding of Anglo-Saxons... or science. They are helped to remember key knowledge through regular checks on what they have been taught.

Adults give high priority to pupils' mental well-being.

Pupils know adults check in with them regularly. This makes them feel secure. Pupils are respectful to each other and develop solid friendships.

They know the school rules and how to make good behaviour choices.

Through the school council, pupils help leaders improve school life, such as safely accessing the wooded area at playtimes. Many run their own lunchtime clubs and plan ways to raise money for charity.

They like how adults support them to realise their ideas.

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

The school has established an engaging and broad curriculum from early years upwards. Teachers are knowledgeable and present information clearly to pupils.

Pupils gain knowledge in a logically defined order, building on what they know already. Teachers also think carefully about how pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) can successfully access the curriculum. Staff ensure that they act on specialist advice and offer bespoke help.

As a result, pupils achieve well at this school.

In Nursery Year and Reception Year, the curriculum accommodates the learning experiences children need to be independent, to know letter sounds, and have a good awareness of early mathematical concepts. Children engage with stories, rhymes and poems to develop their language.

Therefore, they are prepared well for English and mathematics lessons when they move to Year 1. Children enjoy learning about a diverse range of topics, such as Diwali and the Gunpowder Plot. However, the early years curriculum does not yet explicitly lay out all the essential knowledge children must cover to be fully ready for the wider curriculum subjects in key stage 1.

Across the school, pupils are given time to consolidate knowledge before learning something new. This prevents misconceptions. For most pupils, gaps in knowledge are quickly spotted and filled as staff regularly and robustly check pupils' understanding.

Most pupils can recall what they have learned. However, for a few pupils with significant learning gaps, their current provision is not sufficiently well adapted, so they are not achieving as well as they should.

The curriculum has been designed to allow pupils to make connections in knowledge across subjects to deepen their understanding.

However, sometimes, the work given to pupils does not yet provide them with enough opportunity to show they are fully able to apply these connections and meet the ambitious curriculum aims.

Pupils enjoy reading and being read to. Reading happens daily and pupils access high-quality texts deliberately selected for their rich language.

Pupils are taught to read well and so many are fluent, expressive and confident readers. Younger pupils read books appropriately matched to the sounds they know. Pupils who find reading tricky are supported effectively to catch up.

Almost all pupils learn and play well together. A few pupils need reminders to focus in lessons, yet do heed the advice of teachers. Pupils are confident that bullying is rare and would be sorted quickly.

Leaders' actions have ensured that most pupils attend school regularly. Families are very appreciative of the welfare support offered by the pastoral team.

The school makes sure pupils know about keeping healthy, staying safe and how to develop respectful relationships.

Pupils have a developing understanding of discrimination. They understand how to show empathy to others through charity work. They also are taught about rights and responsibilities.

Collective worship and lessons provide time to reflect on the advantages of living in a democracy and the importance of helping others.

Staff are proud of working here and are committed. Working closely with their neighbouring school has had a positive impact on their well-being and workload.

Staff also benefit from access, if needed, to the well-being leader.

Governors know the school well and perform the role of 'critical friend' regarding the curriculum and safeguarding. The trust also ensures that statutory governance duties are met.

It provides effective challenge to leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• A few pupils with significant gaps in learning are not catching up quickly enough.

These pupils need to have their targets broken down into smaller steps. Staff should check more frequently that these pupils are achieving what they are capable of achieving. Staff need additional training to ensure that they have the confidence and skills to support these pupils most effectively.

• Sometimes, work given to pupils limits how well they can demonstrate their depth of knowledge. This means that teachers cannot fully check on how well the pupils are applying their knowledge from across subjects in the way the ambitious curriculum intends. Staff need to ensure that checks on pupils' understanding allow more opportunity for pupils to show they have grasped these curriculum connections independently and in detail.

• In the early years, some of the key knowledge children need ready for the wider curriculum in Year 1 is not stated explicitly enough in plans and covered in the provision. This means these children are not as fully prepared as they could be for all subjects in Year 1. Leaders need to ensure that this knowledge is explicitly signposted, and that staff check robustly that this knowledge is specifically covered.