Cecil Gowing Infant School

Cecil Gowing Infant School remains a good school where pupils thrive in a supportive community. The inspection highlighted that pupils are happy, engage positively with their peers, and feel safe, with exceptional behavior noted throughout the school. Teachers have high expectations, and the curriculum is generally well-planned, allowing pupils to make solid progress in their learning. However, the effectiveness of the recently adopted phonics program is still to be fully realized, indicating a need for closer monitoring to ensure that improvements in reading standards are achieved.

Strengths

• Pupils show exceptional behavior and courtesy towards visitors.
• High expectations from teachers lead to excellent pupil concentration in lessons.
• Provision for pupils with special educational needs is carefully planned and well-implemented.
• The school offers a rich variety of outdoor learning opportunities.
• Staff are dedicated and foster a nurturing community environment.

Areas for Improvement

• The impact of the new phonics scheme on reading standards has not yet been realized.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Cecil Gowing Infant School attended 94.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.3% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Cecil Gowing Infant School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Cecil Gowing Infant School had 19.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.6% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 10.4% of pupils at Cecil Gowing Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Cecil Gowing Infant School received £7,527 and spent £7,597 for each of its 173 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £109,000 (£628 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Norwich · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

What is Cecil Gowing Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cecil Gowing Infant School is Good, from an inspection in July 2023.

When was Cecil Gowing Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cecil Gowing Infant School was last inspected in July 2023.

How many pupils does Cecil Gowing Infant School have?

Cecil Gowing Infant School has 173 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cecil Gowing Infant School cover?

Cecil Gowing Infant School for pupils aged 2 to 7.

Where is Cecil Gowing Infant School?

Cecil Gowing Infant School is at Falcon Road West, Sprowston, Norwich, Norfolk, NR7 8NZ.