Remarkable turnaround at village primary tagged ‘pretty awesome’ by pupils

A village primary school has come on in leaps and bounds to achieve a clutch of classroom ‘goods’ from Ofsted.

Children from Lingwood Primary School travelled to the The Prince William Award Ceremony at Birmingham University. David Walliams attended the event as the Master of Ceremonies Picture: Lingwood Primary School - Credit: Lingwood Primary School

The body that sets teaching standards liked what it saw when it visited Lingwood Primary Academy, near Acle.

It said the school had rapidly improved since joining the Heart Education Trust three years ago when it was working itself out of special measures.

In the report there was praise for the headteacher Alexandra Burrell and her senior leaders who shared the trust’s ambition for pupils to achieve highly.

It said the school was ‘good’ in all five main areas as well as overall.

Teachers and leaders from Norway visited Lingwood Primary Academy this week to see how they worked with the Challenging Learning Programme Picture: Lingwood Primary Academy - Credit: Lingwood Primary Academy

Pupils were hailed for being well-behaved and polite to adults, playing well with their peers and responding to teachers’ requests quickly and willingly.

They were also described as being proud of their work.

MORE: Ofsted inspector praises progress being made at Lingwood Primary SchoolThe report said: “Pupils say that teachers are ‘helpful and friendly’ and that they all have a trusted adult to turn to if needed.

“They also said that they are happy at school and that it is ‘pretty awesome’ and ‘a very good place to learn’.”

It was also noted that attendance had improved and a was now above average and that classrooms offer ‘harmonious’ learning spaces.

There were some “howevers” with inspectors noting that work in some subjects was not understood consistently well and that the leadership of subjects other than maths and English was less well developed.

Overall pupils were described as confident and successful learners.

Headteacher Mrs Burrell said the report was one of a number of successes being celebrated at the school.

She said because Year 5 and 6 pupils had worked with Skills Force to achieve the award for the school it was selected to attend The Prince William Award Ceremony at Birmingham University.

David Walliams was the master of ceremonies, mingling with children and handing over a signed box of his books.

The trust is also part of the Challenge Learning Approach which originates in Norway.

A delegation was in school this week looking at how the approach was being used in English schools.

Mrs Burrell added the school was “really pleased” with the Ofsted report, marking a turnaround since it was tagged inadequate.