Reepham Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

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.

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.

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 re...cord 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.

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.

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.

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.

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 school's wider enrichment offer.

The school's strong focus on early reading benefits pupils, particularly pupils with SEND.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(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.