Suffield Park Infant and Nursery School, Cromer

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Everyone is known and nurtured as an individual at Suffield Park Infant and Nursery School. There are always staff on hand to offer support or a reassuring hug. Pupils are kind and tolerant towards each other.

They look forward to the 'British Values Bear' visiting their class so that they can show off their own positive values.

The school sets high expectations for behaviour and learning. Pupils know this and demonstrate how they meet these through interesting activities such as the 'healthy hedgehog' and 'pass it on postcards'.

They behave well, work hard and act on the helpful guidance that they receive.

Pupils with special educational needs and/o...r disabilities (SEND) benefit from the fact that staff know their precise needs. Staff use this knowledge well to set appropriate targets that support pupils with SEND to achieve success.

Children learn about sharing and taking turns right from the start of Reception. They learn to concentrate on the carpet and take ownership of tidying up. Play leaders learn about responsibility.

They help ensure that everyone is happy and included at breaktimes and lunchtimes. This all sets the foundation for how pupils treat each other respectfully across the school.

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

The school has developed a broad and ambitious curriculum.

It has carefully thought through how pupils' needs are identified, known and used to ensure that they can access their learning. The curriculum builds pupils' knowledge and skills right from the early years. For example, in Reception, children build up the muscle strength they need to have control over a variety of tools.

A range of activities, including moving small objects with tweezers and manipulating building blocks, help children develop the physical coordination they need to support early writing. However, the school does not build the depth and quality of pupils' writing as they move into Year 1 well enough. This is because the whole-school approach to developing writing is new.

The school has ensured that its approach to teaching reading is well understood. Staff teach pupils how to decode and blend words using phonics skilfully. They check carefully how well pupils do this, by hearing them read regularly.

Staff provide suitable further support where pupils need it and monitor how well this works. The school also involves parents and carers through events such as reading cafés. This helps parents to be able to further support pupils' reading at home.

Consequently, pupils develop reading fluency well.

The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with speech, language and communication needs. Staff guide paired discussions and model the use of sounds, words and language expertly.

They are skilful at providing the right support at the right time. As a result, pupils confidently share their ideas and opinions. This ensures that pupils who attend the specially resourced provision access the curriculum and achieve well.

The school also provides highly effective provision for pupils with SEND with more complex needs. Staff tailor this precisely to support each pupil's need. For example, pupils get to touch and feel lots of stimulating resources about their ocean topic.

This supports pupils' sensory needs well. Staff use these opportunities to develop pupils' social and communication skills expertly.

Pupils behave well and are motivated to display positive behaviours.

This is because leaders regularly celebrate this by awarding certificates and stickers. Pupils take great pride in getting these awards. Leaders go to great lengths to support families so that any barriers to attending well are overcome.

Personal development is promoted exceptionally well. The school has gained national accreditation for its 'nurture' work that supports pupils' social, emotional and mental health. Pupils get a wealth of wider opportunities that are matched carefully to their needs.

For example, a 'girls active club' was introduced to encourage more girls to be play leaders. The school organises visits from engineers and musicians and a wealth of trips. Pupils get to do things like den building and pond dipping.

The school has carefully planned these experiences so that they go beyond the everyday. The school sits at the heart of the local community and pupils learn about what being a good citizen means. For example, the choir sings at the Cromer Christmas lights and the school council has supported fundraising for the local food bank.

Leadership is strong and effective. The governing body works closely with the school and knows it well. They support and challenge in equal measure.

Staff feel supported. They particularly value the nurture training and development that is in place. This makes a real and positive difference to pupils' behaviour, learning and happiness.

Everyone works together with Crabby the Cromer Crab to ensure that pupils become confident, resilient, ambitious and brilliant.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not ensured that its approach to teaching writing is well enough established across the school.

As a result, some pupils' transcription skills are not secure. They lack fluency and depth in their writing. The school should further develop staff expertise so that the writing pupils produce is of a consistently high standard.

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