Sheringham Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Sheringham Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Sheringham Primary learn in a happy and safe school community. They enjoy positive relationships with caring staff.

Pupils and their families receive effective support for their well-being. Many parents hold positive views about the school and praise a school which 'treats each child as an individual'.

Pupils appreciate that adults listen to their views.

This is through the range of roles and responsibilities pupils adopt. These include school councillors, house captains and ambassadors.

The school has high expectations for all pupils, both ...personally and academically.

Pupils benefit from a well-planned curriculum. They value how teachers make lessons interesting. The school celebrates the different jobs that people have.

For example, a past pupil who has a successful career in science visited the school to talk to pupils. This inspires pupils to think about their future and what they might need to do to achieve this ambition themselves.

Pupils behave well throughout the day.

They focus well in lessons. The school playground, field and multi-use games area are hives of activity. Pupils enjoy playing together with older pupils looking out for younger ones.

Pupils are polite and friendly. For example, they open the door for adults with a smile.

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

The school has embedded an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The curriculum has four additional elements woven through it: community, aspiration, resilience and emotional well-being (CARE). These are promoted throughout all curriculum areas.

The curriculum sets out the key knowledge pupils need to learn in each subject from early years to Year 6.

The school identifies the key vocabulary pupils should know and when they should know it. Pupils are taught to explain their reasoning using this vocabulary through structured sentence starters. For example, in mathematics lessons, pupils explained their reasoning by using sentences beginning 'I know this because'.

This is helping pupils apply their learning and remember more.

Teachers check pupils' understanding in a variety of ways. They question pupils regularly, adapt their teaching if they spot misconceptions and provide timely support to pupils who need extra help.

Teachers help pupils remember what they have learned by revisiting it often through regular reviews. In mathematics, for example, pupils have 'flashback' or review sessions at the start of lessons.

The school promotes a love of reading.

The well-stocked library sits at the heart of the school. High-quality books underpin learning in all subject areas. Staff receive regular training and know how to teach reading well.

Books are well matched to the sounds that pupils know, so that pupils can practise the sounds they are learning. Teachers' careful monitoring helps them to spot those pupils who need extra help. Pupils keep up as they receive this quickly.

Typically, pupils with SEND learn successfully. Subject specific guidance helps staff to know how to support pupils with SEND. Staff make adaptations to learning, so that pupils with SEND access the same curriculum as their peers.

On occasion, the school does not ensure the individual targets of pupils with SEND are specific and measurable. This means that, sometimes, support for pupils with SEND is not as precisely tailored to their needs as it could be.

Pupils behave well, starting in the early years where skilled staff help children develop their language and communication skills by engaging them in exciting learning tasks.

The children love working closely with adults. This shows that strong relationships are being developed.

The school highly prioritises pupils' broader development.

There is a well-organised programme to promote pupils' social and emotional development. Pupils love the wide variety of clubs that cater for many of their interests and their talents. For example, members of the school choir love to perform.

In lessons, pupils learn about healthy lifestyles and positive relationships.

The governing body has strengthened its processes for understanding the school's curriculum and holding leaders to account. Governors visit the school regularly.

They provide the right amount of support and challenge to leaders. The school is committed to providing staff with opportunities to develop professionally. The governing body ensures the school supports staff to manage their own workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• On occasions, the school does not always ensure that individual targets for pupils with SEND are specific enough. This means that, sometimes, support for pupils with SEND is not closely matched to their needs.

The school must ensure that there are clear systems in place, so that all pupils with SEND receive support tailored to their specific needs. This will ensure pupils achieve as well as they could.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

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 would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which 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.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in July 2013.