OFSTED Inspection of Elmsett CEVCP School, December 2017

I am delighted to attach the letter from Her Majesty’s Inspectors following our recent OFSTED inspection, which confirms that Elmsett Primary is a Good School. Our previous inspection in July 2014 judged Elmsett Primary to be a good school, with an outstanding judgement for behaviour and safety of pupils.

In September 2015, OFSTED introduced their new and more rigorous inspection framework, ‘raising the bar’ for all schools. Our short inspection on the 5th of December 2017 confirmed the previous inspection judgements, even with these increased expectations and we believe it is our
strongest inspection report to date. This is an excellent achievement for our staff, children and governors and I am extremely proud of them all.

In the new OFSTED framework, schools that were judged to be good at their previous inspection receive a short one-day inspection approximately every three years. The new inspections are designed to focus on the quality of leadership, the capacity of leaders to drive improvement and the safeguarding arrangements. Inspectors also look at leaders’ work to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. When considering pupils’ outcomes, inspectors want to see that the pupils currently at the school are making at least good progress. There is also a new judgement on personal development, behaviour and welfare, which includes a focus on pupils’ confidence and self-assurance as learners, their pride in their achievement and the impact their behaviour has on outcomes. Inspectors also look at how schools help pupils make choices about the next stage of their education and how they prepare them for life and work in Britain today. A short inspection does not result in graded judgements for individual areas. It also does not change the overall effectiveness grade of the school; therefore, the judgements from the previous inspection remain. If inspectors believe that a change of grade may be necessary, they will trigger a full two-day inspection, which will make the full set of graded judgements available (Inadequate, Requires Improvement, Good, or Outstanding). Short inspections are reported by a letter from the HMI to the head teacher, which may feel a little short to read compared to full inspection reports, but it does highlight our strengths, our work since the last inspection and our next steps.

I wish to thank everyone that took the time to complete the Parent View questionnaires and speak to the inspector at the beginning of the school day. Your support for our school came across very strongly and it was great to hear that our work on communicating with parents and families has been so well received. “There is a real family feel to the school …. Every teacher knows every child’s name and all the staff are approachable”. And finally our pupils! The inspector was very impressed with how they conducted themselves in and around school and responded with courtesy to visitors.

The report is published on the 

OFSTED website.   

Our School has now converted to an Academy from 1st September 2021 and our Department of Education number has changed and will show our school as closed.   We have been issued with a new Department of Education number as our School is now known as Elmsett C of E Primary School. 

If you have any questions regarding the report please speak to either myself or governors.