Within two years of being rated RI, North Ormesby gained (and still maintain) their Outstanding status…

North Ormesby Primary Academy in Middlesbrough is based in one of the most deprived areas of the country. In 2013, after its academy conversion, the school was reported by Ofsted as ‘Requires Improvement’. Within two years, however, the school was (and still is!) ‘Outstanding’.

High levels of English as a Foreign Language (EFL), Free School Meals (FSM) and Pupil Premium (PP) have been just a few of the schools’ challenges. The school’s children can talk 30+ languages between them.

Recently, however, North Ormesby Primary Academy received the award of IQM Centre of Excellence Badge for their work in instilling excitement and ambition in every single student. They invest in their young people by investing in quality resources for their school. Doing this has made them an Apple Regional Training Centre, as well as leaders in the use of up-to-date EdTech and other resources. These have included VR, iPads and Propeller’s Rapid Recall Whiteboards.

How did North Ormesby Primary Academy use the Rapid Recall Whiteboards?

North Ormesby primarily use the Rapid Recall Whiteboards in their daily ‘Happy Pants’ sessions. Happy Pants is a daily mental maths session that the whole school takes part in. Different classes often use different resources, but the key topic areas are multiplication, addition, subtraction and number.

“The Propeller boards fit into Happy Pants really well because you can set the number that you want them to work on.”

The Rapid Recall Whiteboards fitted into NOPA’s Happy Pants session easily. Every board offers a wide range of questions that cover those four key topics. Each question can also be supported by a wide range of other resources.

Every year group at North Ormesby tackles the whiteboards in a different manner, and we saw this on our visit. The Year 1s were working on the boards in pairs on the floor or in any chair that they fancy. Year 2 were working individually with their boards on clipboards, allowing them to sit in beanbags and other places in the classroom.

Year 3’s learning environment included a ‘learning loft’ that students could retreat to with their boards, and Year 4 were using the boards in conjunction with the Online Answers Portal, which allows them to mark their own boards with their iPads and computers quickly and easily. The Year 4 teachers were using the boards as an easy and pressure-free assessment. They recorded the scores of the pupils and could quickly sense general misconceptions within the groups and address them.

Thanks to the school’s great teaching, management and innovation, North Ormesby still retain their Outstanding Ofsted ranking.