Walsingham CE VA Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to their local school. Their attendance is high. The mixed-age classes help pupils to develop good relationships.

Pupils have warm and friendly relationships with the adults. They take part in lots of exciting activities, such as overnight residential trips, with pupils from the other schools in their federation. They talk animatedly about the trips they go on.

Pupils particularly like visiting the seaside and Cromer Zoo.

The curriculum is designed to be ambitious and build on pupils' prior learning. However, not all pupils benefit from the challenging curriculum.

Sometimes, pupils do not receive work that is appropriate to what t...hey already know. Some pupils are not supported to quickly develop the skills they need to be confident readers. When this happens, pupils do not keep up with the ambition of the curriculum and fall behind.

In Reception, children develop a range of skills. Children like singing counting songs to help them learn their numbers. During their 'choosing' time, they take part in activities that build on earlier learning.

For example, children enjoy using measuring scales to see which toys are lighter or heavier.

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

The school's curriculum matches the ambition of the national curriculum. It is designed to meet the needs of pupils who are taught in mixed-age classes.

The curriculum is planned to ensure that pupils deepen their understanding over time. In some areas, this is working as the school intends. Teachers deliver new information to pupils clearly and precisely.

They adapt what they are teaching depending on pupils' age or stage of learning. They then check what pupils understand, and quickly help them if they make mistakes. Where this happens, pupils achieve well.

They are excited about what they are learning and proud of their work.

Teachers have been well trained to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school has effective processes in place to identify pupils who may need additional help.

They are quick to engage with external agencies to get appropriate support for pupils where needed. Staff receive precise plans about how to help pupils with SEND. They follow these plans closely.

This helps pupils with SEND to achieve well.

However, the school has not given staff appropriate training in all areas. Teachers are not always clear on how to adapt their lessons to meet the needs of pupils without SEND.

Too often, lessons are not ambitious enough. Teachers are not consistent in when they check pupils' learning. Therefore, the work that teachers give pupils does not always build on their different starting points.

Too often, the pupils in the class all complete similar work. If they finish early, the additional work they receive is not consistently effective at deepening their learning. This means some pupils do not meet the aims of the school's curriculum.

The school has implemented a phonics programme that supports pupils from Reception to learn to read. Over time, pupils learn the skills they need to read fluently. However, staff have not received appropriate training in how to deliver phonics sessions as leaders intend.

This has led to inconsistencies in the delivery of the programme. Too often, pupils are being held back rather than being supported to move ahead. Once pupils finish the phonics programme, they do not consistently benefit from an ambitious reading curriculum.

This means that some pupils do not develop the confidence and love of reading that they should.

During lessons, pupils often behave well. They listen to the adults and follow instructions appropriately.

However, there are a few occasions when adults' expectations of how pupils should behave are too low, and adults do not enforce the behaviour policy consistently. When this happens, this can lead to pupils being distracted and, consequently, falling behind in their work.

The school ensures that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.

Pupils are respectful of others. They learn about different religions and beliefs. Many pupils take advantage of the range of clubs on offer.

They like being active and developing new skills. Football, art and cooking club are all popular.

Leaders, including governors, have a strong commitment to ensuring all actions that they take are in pupils' best interests.

They have worked appropriately to ensure consistency for pupils when staff have been absent. Leaders take account of the workload and well-being of staff.

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 teachers are clear about how to adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of all pupils. Teachers' checks on what pupils have learned are inconsistent. This means that sometimes teachers give pupils work that is not adequately adapted to their starting points.

Subsequently, not all pupils meet the challenge of the curriculum and do not learn as well as they should. ? The school has not trained staff adequately to allow them to deliver their reading curriculum with fidelity. If pupils fall behind in their reading, too often their peers must also revisit prior learning rather than being supported to move ahead.

This means pupils do not always develop the skills and knowledge they need to become confident readers. Leaders need to make sure that staff are trained to deliver their reading curriculum as intended. ? Occasionally, there are inconsistencies in how effectively adults implement the behaviour policy.

Sometimes, adults do not have high enough expectations for how pupils should behave. When this happens, a small minority of pupils disrupt others' learning. Leaders must make sure that all staff consistently apply the behaviour policy to ensure pupils behave well.