Please find attached our school ofsted report for June 2009.
Highlights from the report include:
“Surlingham is a good school. It ensures that pupils develop well academically and extremely well in their personal development. This judgement is reflected in the large majority of parents’ questionnaires returned and the many written comments by parents stressing how happy their children are at the school, the progress that they are making, and the care, attention, development and encouragement their children receive.”
“The school has a number of outstanding features and has improved significantly since the last inspection because of the effectiveness of the school’s leadership.”
“All staff know the children extremely well and are very committed to them. This is not simply a product of the size of the school but because adults listen to and value pupils’ contributions.”
“The school is extremely inclusive and staff work hard to remove any barriers to learning.”
“The outstanding curriculum provides extremely effectively for both academic and personal development. There is a strong emphasis on creativity and the school’s use of an inquiry approach successfully links subjects together meaningfully and provides stimulating contexts to practice basic skills.”
“The curriculum is enriched by trips and visitors, and international and residential links with other schools foster pupils’ awareness of a diverse society particularly well. Pupils reflect thoughtfully on their own and other people’s lives, helped by the drama work they undertake, and the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent.”
“Pupils develop their independent learning skills particularly well, for example in the ‘Forest School’, and lessons provide wide-ranging opportunities for discussion, research and group work.”
“Lessons are interesting and, as a result, pupils enjoy school and learning a very great deal this is reflected in their good attendance. Pupils make an extremely good contribution to the school community through the school council and other responsibilities.”
“Because of the quality of provision, pupils achieve well and some very well. Standards by the end of Year 2 show an improving trend over recent years and are now well above average. In 2008, they were exceptionally high in reading, writing and mathematics… In National Curriculum tests in 2008, at the end of Year 6, overall standards were above average and exceptionally high in mathematics. Tests results for 2009 have not yet been returned but school data indicates further improvement. Standards are high in English, mathematics and science. Improving pupils writing has been a sustained focus in the school and final drafts of written work for this year group are of high quality.”
“Given their overall excellent personal development and their above average levels of skills, along with opportunities that they have to assume responsibility and demonstrate initiative, the school lays the foundation for their economic well being and the next steps in their education effectively.”
“Adults’ good relationships and quality of care [in the early years foundation stage] ensure that children get a good start to education in the Reception class. Children achieve well so that standards at the end of the year are well above average in all aspects.”
