Lakenham Primary School earns glowing praise from Ofsted

Lakenham Primary School, on the edge of Norwich, has 47 different first languages spoken among its 439 pupils - posing an unenviable challenge to its teaching staff.

However, its approach to supporting children who have English as an additional language has been praised in its latest Ofsted inspection.

(Image: Lakenham Primary School)

The school has been given the second-highest rating available by the regulator, rated good overall with outstanding elements.

It comes in its first inspection since 2021, when it was told it required improvements.

The report states pupils at the school thrive, with teachers creating ample opportunities for them to develop their vocabularies and discuss their learning.

(Image: Lakenham Primary School)

The report reads: "Pupils are hardworking and respectful in class - they listen carefully to each other and their teachers because this is what is expected of them.

"There are lots of opportunities for pupils to develop their vocabulary and spend time talking about their learning. This helps all pupils - including those whose first language is not English.

"Teachers are provided with effective training to help them to teach the curriculum well."

(Image: Lakenham Primary School)

Cassandra Williams, headteacher at Lakenham said: "To be rated as a good school with outstanding features is a testament to the care and commitment of our staff, the support of our home adults and, of course, a celebration of the wonderful children.

"We know for children to be successful in life, they need to be confident, able to solve problems and understand how they can make a difference.

"Having children who speak 47 languages in our school helps our children look outwards to the world and this is shown by being a proud school of sanctuary.

"The inspectors talked about the kindness they saw and felt everywhere they went over the two days [of the inspection'."

The 47 languages

1. Azeri
2. Bajuni
3. Bengali
4. Berber
5. Bhojpuri
6. Bulgarian
7. Cantonese
8. Czech
9. Danish
10. Dutch
11. English
12. Flemish
13. French
14. German
15. Greek
16. Gujarati
17. Hausa
18. Hindi
19. Hungarian
20. Igbo
21. Kannada
22. Kanuri
23. Kurdish
24. Latvian
25. Lithuanian
26. Malayalam
27. Mandarin
28. Pahari
29. Pashto
30. Polish
31. Portuguese
32. Punjabi
33. Putonghua
34. Romanian
35. Russian
36. Sama
37. Shona
38. Sinhala
39. Swahili
40. Tamazight
41. Tamil
42. Telugu
43. Thai
44. Tibetan
45. Turkish
46. Vietnamese
47. Welsh