The Head of Centre, Mark Anderson, was alerted to a news article, published by the Eastern Daily Press Ltd (Evening News), part of media company Newsquest Media Group, at 13:00pm on Thursday 22nd January 2026. This article showed an image of our school building at Drayton Road published in error which meant our school was confused with the Red Balloon Education Norfolk Trust school on Earlham Road and their recent Ofsted report.

We would like to reassure parents, carers, stakeholders and our wider community, that the article which related to the Red Balloon Education Trust Norfolk Ofsted report, does not relate in any way to our school Red Balloon – Norwich, 289 Drayton Road, NR3 2PW.

While the article refers to ‘Red Balloon’, it is in fact referencing the school located on Earlham Road called Red Balloon Education Trust Norfolk.

Red Balloon – Norwich, 289 Drayton Road (Drayton Road) is a completely separate entity and operates independently to the Red Balloon Education Trust Earlham Road school. Both schools exist and are run as separate registered schools and charities. Each school has their own board of Trustees, Head of Centre, and staff team.

We have been in touch with the Executive Editor of the Eastern Daily Press/Norwich Evening News regarding the confusion around the wrong image of Red Balloon – Norwich Drayton Road that was initially used in the article. He stated “I am sorry for the impact this has had but please be assured that the article was done in good faith by a reporter who hadn’t been aware of two schools with such similar names. I hope you will also recognise that action has been taken as soon as possible to address the issues”.

Red Balloon – Norwich is not inspected by Ofsted; it is  inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). A copy of our most recent successful inspection (October 2025) can be accessed via this link: Red Balloon – Norwich – Routine Inspections 2025