Burnham Market Primary Celebrates Ofsted Success
Burnham Market Primary School is celebrating a ‘Good’ Ofsted inspection, which has also highlighted outstanding pupil development for its children.
Inspectors visited the school in April and found the school’s overall effectiveness to be ‘Good’, whilst the school was also rated Good for its Quality of Education, Behaviour and Attitudes and Leadership and Management.
However, the school was found to be Outstanding when it comes to pupil development with staff who ‘have a strong commitment to ensuring that pupils have an enriched curriculum’.
Inspectors state that the pupils’ wider development is the strength of the school and opportunities to engage in additional arts, music, sports, drama and movie making are vast. It highlights that the children get extensive opportunities to work alongside adults with a national reputation, such as West End performers and published authors. It also praises the school for fulfilling its vision of ‘local memories, broadening horizons’ with pupils significantly contributing to the life of their local community.
In their report, Inspectors also said:
“Pupils behave well in and out of lessons. There is a calm and orderly environment around school. Pupils are kind and respectful. They learn to recognise their emotions and think about how their emotions affect others.”
“The school has high expectations for pupil’s academic success. Pupils achieve well across the curriculum.”
“Pupils follow a broad and balanced curriculum.”
“Pupils’ knowledge across many subjects deepens over time because of the teachers’ expertise in a wide range of subjects.”
“Reading is a priority. Children get off to a great start in early years. They thrive in a language-rich environment, where much curriculum planning is built around stories.”
“The school prioritises pupils’ well-being. Older pupils play well with younger oes and they take on many responsibilities, such as reading to others.”
There was also praise for the school’s SEND provision with inspectors stating that the school is quick to identify pupils with SEND, beginning in the early years, where children with speech and language difficulties receive extra support. As a result pupils with SEND make strong progress.
Safeguarding at the school was also found to be effective.
Rachel Stroulger, headteacher, said there are many reasons to be proud of the latest report: “Following our inspection in 2021 in which the school was found to require improvements, we have worked extremely hard to ensure Burnham Market Primary is a Good school.
“I am thrilled that inspectors found our school welcoming and friendly, where pupils are happy, and that they could see we are committed to our vision of ‘local memories and broadening horizons’.
“Furthermore, I am delighted that the report recognises the outstanding personal development for our pupils. It is testament to the commitment and dedication of all our teachers and staff who work every day, building positive relationships, to provide exceptional levels of care and support to meet the needs of all of our pupils.”
John Smith, Chair of Trustees for the Wensum Trust, said: “This is an excellent outcome for Burnham Market Primary School. All the staff have worked incredibly hard to make some important changes and improvements. I am pleased the report recognises the considerable support the Trust has provided, in particular through partnership activities with other schools in our Coastal Hub. It is wonderful to read that staff feel well supported and valued. Well done to everyone involved.”
Chair of Governors, Sam Dack, said: "This is an exceptional report and reflects the school that we know as parents and Governors. We have long realised that the opportunities afforded to the children are outstanding, not only in their variety, but also the passion with which they are delivered. We are very fortunate to have such dedicated and knowledgeable staff. It is truly fantastic to see the result of all the hard work by the leadership team, teachers and support staff be recognised in this way."
You can read the full report here.