St Andrew's CofE VA Primary School, Lopham
The Street, North Lopham, The Street, Diss, IP22 2LROpen in maps (opens in a new tab)
St Andrew's CofE VA Primary School, Lopham is a primary school in Diss for ages 4 to 11. It is one of the 453 schools in Norfolk. Its latest Ofsted rating is Requires improvement, from an inspection in February 2024.
Ofsted inspection
Inspected 28 February 2024, report published 24 April 2024
- Overall effectiveness
- Requires improvement
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Met
What Ofsted said
From the inspection on 28 February 2024
Pupils live up to the school's high expectations and the shared school vision to 'shine as lights in the world'. Pupils are polite and friendly. They speak confidently to adults and each other. Pupils demonstrate positive relationships. In lessons, pupils focus quickly and are keen to learn. Outside, pupils play well together, sharing equipment and making up their own games. Pupils enjoy a growing number of trips and experiences. They benefit from several opportunities to sample life outside of their local community. Pupils visit local museums and learn about careers, such as in aviation. This raises their aspirations and gives them things to aim for in the future. Making a meaningful difference in the community means a lot to the pupils. They eagerly raise money for carefully chosen charities. For instance, pupils organise a fundraising sporting event for a local bereavement charity. This enables pupils to understand the importance of helping others, both in school and beyond. Pupils learn together happily in mixed-aged classes across the school. They want to learn. However, the quality of education across the curriculum is inconsistent. This means pupils learn more successfully in some subjects than others.
What the school should improve
- There are inconsistencies in the way the curriculum is adapted to meet the needs of different learners. This means the curriculum is taught more effectively to some pupils than others. Leaders, including the interim executive board, should implement focused professional development for staff to ensure that they have the necessary knowledge to teach and adapt the curriculum effectively. This will mean pupils will learn the required knowledge in the school's curriculum more successfully.
- The school does not quality assure the curriculum with enough rigour in some subject areas. This means there are inconsistencies in the effectiveness of the curriculum across different classes and subjects. The school must ensure that it monitors the curriculum regularly and takes immediate action to improve areas of weakness. This will mean improvement takes place and pupils will learn the curriculum more successfully.
- The school does not ignite a love of reading among pupils. They need to adopt a range of strategies to encourage pupils to read a range of books by choice. As a result, pupils will gain both pleasure and knowledge from reading a wide range of different texts.
Pupil numbers and mix
12 pupils on roll, with places for 70
Schools near St Andrew's CofE VA Primary School, Lopham
| School | Distance | Ofsted | Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kenninghall Primary School | 2 miles | Report card: Expected standard to strong standard | 63% met the expected standard |
| Garboldisham Church of England Primary Academy | 2 miles | Ofsted: Good | 58% met the expected standard |
| Bressingham Primary School | 3 miles | Ofsted: Good | 73% met the expected standard |
| East Harling Primary School and Nursery | 3 miles | Ofsted: Good | 40% met the expected standard |
| Hopton Church of England Primary Academy | 4 miles | Ofsted judgements: Requires improvement to good | Not published |
School details
- School type
- Voluntary aided school
- Sector
- Local authority maintained
- Age range
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Nursery classes
- No
- Headteacher
- Mrs Esme Sexton
- Phone
- 01379687253
- Address
- The Street, North Lopham, The Street, Diss, IP22 2LR
- Local authority
- Norfolk
- URN
- 121149
School details from Get Information about Schools, 17 September 2026. Ofsted outcomes published to 31 August 2026. Pupil mix from the school census, 2025/26.