Kenilworth Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Raise expectations of what children can achieve in the early years, particularly in the basic skills of reading, writing and mathematics, by: − setting clear expectations of what all children should achieve in these key aspects of the curriculum − providing children with accurate and timely information about what they need to do to improve and what adults expect of them − reviewing assessment systems so that leaders and managers can accurately monitor the progress of children in all curriculum areas − improving the teaching of reading and vocabulary so that all children make effective progress in their understanding of new words that they come across.
• Improve the teaching of phonics so that it is rigorous, effective and consistent, by: − ensuring that resources are appropriate to the age group of the pupils − setting higher expectations of what is to be achieved and by when − ensuring that all adults are clear about how to pronounce phonemes correctly − raising adults’ expectations of pupils’ use of phonics skills in their writing across the curriculum.
• Improve leadership and management by − identifying effective strategies to check the quality of teaching and its impact on pupils’ progress − ensuring curriculum implementation is consistent across the school in all subjects so that leaders can effectively measure the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ progress over time − ensuring that plans to improve the school contain key benchmarks which all staff and governors can use to check progress against − ensuring leaders and governors check the impact of their resourcing decisions on pupil progress, including the spending of the pupil premium.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders have not done enough to enable their team to maintain the good quality of education that the school provided at the time of the previous inspection in 2014. Expectations of progress and outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are not high enough.
• Leaders have established a good team. Staff are skilled and enthusiastic about their work and want the pupils to do well. However, the lack of systematic, coordinated and determined plans to establish consistent high-quality teaching is not enabling this team to raise standards across the curriculum.
• Leaders do not use the evidence that they gather when monitoring teaching or information that individual teachers get from training to improve teaching further. Nor do they share the good practice that there is in the school quickly or effectively enough. Evidence from leaders’ monitoring of files demonstrates that monitoring is not frequent, coordinated or effective in bringing about quick changes to teachers’ practice.
• Leaders have been slow to respond to recommendations from external reviews, including the review commissioned to improve the use of the pupil premium funding. The appropriate recommendations in the report regarding consistency in classrooms and learning environments and how approaches to teaching should be considered have not been addressed.
• The lack of consistency in teaching and learning is slowing pupils’ progress. Leaders do not ensure that all teachers adopt effective practices quickly enough. As a result, the quality of teaching is not yet good across all groups and subjects.
• The school improvement plan rightly focuses on the need to improve pupils’ achievement, but does not state measureable outcomes for this improvement. As a result, it is difficult for governors to monitor progress or determine success. The plan does not focus on how teaching will improve to enable better attainment and progress or what new teaching strategies will be employed to ensure that all teaching is effective. For example, leaders have correctly identified the importance of pupils having a wide range of vocabulary to enable them to read effectively and understand what they are reading. However, there is no whole-school strategy to improve pupils’ vocabulary.
• The curriculum has been well thought out, with clear purpose and with the barriers that pupils face in mind, including those related to developing good language. However, its implementation is in the early stages and is not consistent across all subjects and year groups. For example, some classes have sketchbooks in art and some do not, and evidence of religious education work is limited. This makes monitoring pupils’ progress across all subjects in all year groups difficult for leaders. It also means that teachers are not able to build systematically on pupils’ prior knowledge to ensure that they make good progress in all subjects.
• Members of the special educational needs team know their pupils well and are knowledgeable about the challenges that their pupils face. They have accurate information and track pupils’ individual progress, resulting in good provision for this group. Pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs make good progress because the barriers to learning are quickly identified and the school has additional resources to support pupils quickly. This has reduced the number of repeat exclusions for those pupils who face challenges in their social and emotional development.
• The school works collaboratively with the local school improvement service and some changes in approaches to the teaching of mathematics have supported recent improved progress in this curriculum area. Similarly, external school improvement partners have worked with leaders of the early years to improve practice. However, staff in this key stage have been slow to respond to recommendations, including those which matched with inspectors’ observations that children do not receive regular, appropriate guidance to allow them to learn quickly.
• The school spends the physical education and sport premium appropriately to ensure better engagement in sporting activities. This is successful. Currently, 53% of Year 6 pupils meet the expectation of swimming 25 metres. Plans are in place to ensure that extra support is available for pupils who need to meet this expectation by the time they join secondary school. There is an appropriate range of sporting clubs.
• The school has focused time and resources on ensuring that aspects of spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are strong. The school also gives pupils time to be calm and reflect after busy times in the school day. This supports good behaviour and relationships in class. Pupils also study a diverse range of famous people, including those from other countries, such as Nelson Mandela and the polar artist Nerys Levy.

Governance of the school

• Governors know the school well and are committed to working with senior leaders to improve the school further. They have funded an appropriate transition arrangement for the new leadership team which will be in place in the autumn.
• Governors visit the school. However, they are not able to check progress systematically against the targets in the school improvement plan because milestones are not agreed and set. As a result, they are not able to ensure that the school is improving quickly enough.
• Governors have not responded to the review of the pupil premium funding to ensure that resources that are deployed are cost-effective, focused on improving teaching and have an impact on pupils’ progress.
• The nominated safeguarding governor visits the school regularly and checks on procedures and processes. This supports leaders in ensuring that the school’s safeguarding of pupils is effective.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• School staff work well with other agencies to ensure that pupils are safe. They have a good range of early help services, which they can deploy quickly when pupils need support. This supports the most vulnerable pupils and their families very well, including those pupils who are new to the school, those who have poor attendance and those who are new to the country. As a result, some vulnerable pupils are improving their attendance, are more ready to learn and are more able to keep themselves safe, including keeping safe online.
• The systems that the school uses to ensure that staff training is up to date and adults are safe to work with pupils are comprehensive and rigorous. As a result, all staff have been trained appropriately in how to identify and record concerns about pupils.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching across the school is not consistently effective and does not result in good progress over time in reading, writing and mathematics. For example, 20% of pupils who achieved highly at the end of key stage 1 in mathematics in 2017 have slipped in their attainment and are not where the school expects them to be currently.
• The teaching of phonics is not yet consistently good. While formal phonics lessons take place regularly, resources are not consistent or always appropriate for the pupils. For example, some resources are too small for whole classes to see and this reduces pupils’ engagement and understanding. During the teaching of phonics skills, not all adults are fully involved. Neither do they check understanding or misconceptions to support pupils to make progress.
• Children learning phonics in the early years and pupils in Year 1 are not always expected to apply the skills that they are taught in their writing. This results in limited progress for some pupils over time because they are reinforcing common errors. This could be seen in their writing, for example where spellings were practised incorrectly by pupils, or when adults did not ask pupils to add the correct vowel in the middle of a three-letter word.
• Pupils say that they like reading and, in some classrooms, reading is promoted well and the influence of key texts on pupils’ writing can be seen. For example, work completed in upper key stage 2 on the spider and the fly resulted in good descriptive language. However, there is not a whole-school promotion of reading which ensures that all pupils develop a love of books. In some year groups, books are not well matched to pupils’ skills or pupils keep the book for a long time and do not change it. This means that they lose interest and motivation.
• Pupils do not have sufficient opportunities in all year groups to practise and develop their spelling and handwriting skills in writing across the curriculum. This reduces adults’ opportunities to accurately assess what pupils can do. The result of this is weak progress over time.
• Pupils’ learning behaviours are good. Pupils listen well to their teachers and all adults. They are keen to learn and, when they are challenged, most of them persist in trying things out. They respond well to mistakes that they make when these are drawn to their attention. This is because leaders have focused on this aspect of learning and implemented changes. The impact of this work is clear to see in pupils’ behaviour in classes and around the school.
• Learning environments are not consistent in their support for pupils. Some classrooms celebrate high-quality writing and other aspects of the curriculum, including interesting art work and historical events. Some displays support learning well by reflecting support for current learning which pupils readily use. This helps pupils to become more independent and improves their progress. However, this is not consistent across the school.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• The school has worked hard on developing pupils’ personal and social development. Leaders have based the curriculum plan on the importance of pupils’ mental and physical well-being. This can be seen in the opportunities to take calming times during the day. It is also evident in the importance placed on being a good team member and the focus on empathy. This has resulted in a calm and orderly learning environment.
• Pupils say that they feel safe and teaching has supported some pupils to tell their teachers when they have felt unsafe online outside of school. In conversations with pupils, they say that bullying is rare and they know who to go to if they have concerns or worries. Parents also feel that when they raise concerns they are dealt with well.
• Pupils talk positively about the curriculum opportunities that the school offers, including visits and visitors to the school. Visitors have included a visit from the Arsenal ladies’ football team. Leaders also seek collaboration in science with other local schools so that pupils access a range of social opportunities. For example, pupils enjoy the science teaching link with a local independent school.
• Pupils enjoy taking responsibility, including as ‘empathy leaders’, and they talk positively about the way they work as a team in the school and say the school is ‘like a family’. This is evident in the good behaviour and relationships in the school.
• Parents are supportive of the school and say that it is a nurturing and caring place for their children to learn. All of the parents who responded to the online questionnaire Parent View said that they would recommend the school to others.
• Pupils demonstrate good behaviour and attitudes to each other and are taught the importance of thinking about others. This is evident in the way that they interact with each other in class and in their approach to making mistakes. One pupil summed this up as, ‘It is good to make mistakes: you learn from them.’ Pupils spoken to said that the school is a ‘kind’ place. They enjoy the mindfulness sessions and use the ‘empathy leaders’ to help sort problems out. As a result, pupils are confident.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Records show that poor behaviour is rare. No inappropriate behaviour was observed during this inspection and pupils are happy and talk positively about their school.
• Pupils chat about their work and try hard to achieve well. They are enthusiastic about what they are learning and work well together, including sharing resources and developing ideas together.
• A very large majority of parents who responded to the online survey, Parent View, said that the school ensures that pupils are well behaved.
• The school is a happy place in which to learn. Pupils are polite, well-mannered and courteous. They demonstrate appropriate behaviour in class and around the school. For example, in the assembly prior to sports day, they listened quietly and calmly to the headteacher and their teachers despite their excitement. They joined their house groups sensibly and without fuss.
• Pupils are encouraged to present their work neatly in most classes. However, they do not consistently demonstrate pride in their work because high-quality work is not consistently modelled in and around the school.
• Attendance is below average and, in previous years, exclusions and repeat exclusions of some pupils were high and well above national rates. These rates of exclusion are reducing due to the support and early help provided to pupils to improve their behaviour. While attendance remains slightly below national averages, the school is working with a small number of families who are new to the school to ensure their children’s improved attendance. Persistent absence, which falls below 90%, is reducing.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• More pupils met the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics in 2017 than in 2016, but this was still below national averages. A lower proportion of pupils met the higher standard than in schools nationally. The outcomes in reading and mathematics have been in the lowest 20% nationally for at least two years.
• Progress in reading, writing and mathematics in 2017 was worse than in 2016 and in the bottom 10% nationally.
• The school’s assessment of children on entry to the Nursery class is that they have skills that are well below those that are expected for their age. Few pupils in the school make strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, pupils remain below the nationally expected standards at the end of key stage 2. Consequently, they are not well prepared for secondary school.
• The quality of work in pupils’ books is variable. In some year groups, pupils are encouraged to present their work neatly and use appropriate handwriting, but in others, basic skills are not rigorously promoted. This means that by the end of the year pupils are not ready for the next stage of their learning.
• Outcomes at the end of key stage 1 in 2017 improved and were above those nationally. Pupils catch up well in Year 2 to ensure that nearly all have met the expected standard in phonics. However, despite this improved attainment during their time in Year 2, this cohort of pupils has not maintained the good outcomes into key stage 2. This lack of consistency in rates of progress across the school means that pupils are not making good progress overall.
• Disadvantaged pupils made better progress in reading in 2017 than other pupils but they made significantly less progress than other pupils in mathematics and writing. However, the small number of disadvantaged pupils in some year groups makes comparisons unreliable. Evidence in pupils’ books shows that while disadvantaged pupils are making more progress than others, it is slow. As a result, disadvantaged pupils are not catching up quickly enough. Where outcomes do improve, they are not sustained.
• Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities make good progress because provision for these pupils is effective. Leaders look carefully at how pupils are doing, review this regularly, work with other agencies to seek specialist support and have raised expectations of what pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities can achieve. This has resulted in improved behaviour and outcomes for these pupils.
• Outcomes in subjects other than English and mathematics are varied. This is because learning in some subjects is not recorded in pupils’ books and, therefore, there is insufficient evidence over time of how much progress pupils make in these subjects.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Outcomes at the end of the early years have been below national averages for three years and the gap between the children in this school and children nationally is widening.
• Leaders do not have clear enough expectations of where children should be at the end of this crucial stage in learning, particularly in the core areas of reading, writing and mathematics.
• Leaders do not have an accurate view of the strengths and weaknesses of the early years because it is not monitored regularly.
• Leaders state that children start school with low starting points. This is because a significant number speak English as an additional language or have significant barriers to overcome before being ready to learn. However, because the system for assessing children lacks cohesion, progress over time is difficult to assess and there is limited evidence that children make good progress. This matches the findings of a review commissioned earlier this year by the school which leaders have not responded to in full.
• Assessment is inaccurate because evidence of key aspects of the children’s progress is not kept in a coordinated and coherent way. For example, there is limited evidence of progress in mathematics and so, while the teacher says that children have made good progress, there is little to substantiate this in some key areas of the curriculum, including mathematics. This lack of coherence makes it very difficult for all adults to know and use children’s next steps for learning to plan appropriate activities.
• The use of the early years pupil premium is supporting children who speak English as an additional language who are also disadvantaged to make better progress in their acquisition of English. However, the support is not sufficient to help them catch up quickly. This is because day-to-day teaching does not focus on individual language needs and children do not receive regular verbal guidance from adults which supports them to improve their speaking and understanding of English. For example, some children play for long periods without adult support or intervention. As a result, adults are not always able to plan appropriate next steps because they have not assessed children accurately.
• Children listen well to their teacher and engage in their learning. They are keen to share their work when prompted.
• Children are safe and individuals are supported well with their medical needs. Key medical information is readily available for all adults to access for these children. Children are happy and well behaved. They join in with whole-class teaching and listen very well to their teachers.
• Parents say that their children are happy in school and children’s behaviour is good.

Es-

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 117183 Hertfordshire 10053877 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 246 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Mark Woodhouse Ms Samantha Jayasuriya and Mrs Donna Humbles Telephone number 020 8953 3459 Website Email address https://kenilworthprimary.co.uk head@kenilworth.herts.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 6–7 November 2014

Information about this school

• Since September 2017, there has been a co-headship arrangement to support the transition to a new leadership team in autumn 2018.
• The school commissions support through the local authority to support school improvement. This has included reports on English, mathematics, early years, the pupil premium and analysis of pupil performance, as well as support with the headteachers’ performance management.
• The school has a number of pupils who speak English as an additional language. Most of these are learning English quickly and are not at the early stages of language development.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is in line with the national average.
• The number of pupils with a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is lower than national average. The number of pupils who require additional support is slightly higher than national averages.
• The school met the government floor standards in 2017, which are the minimum standards set by the government for pupils at the end of Year 6.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited all classes to observe teaching and learning. Some visits took place with the co-headteachers.
• Inspectors spoke to pupils during their visits to classrooms and arranged to speak formally to a group of pupils to seek their views on what being a pupil at the school was like. No pupil responses were received to the online questionnaire sent out by the school.
• Inspectors looked carefully at a wide range of pupils’ books with leaders and listened to pupils from across the school read.
• Inspectors spoke to parents before school, at sports day and at the toddler group held in the school. They took note of the 37 responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. They also considered the 18 responses received via the free-text system.
• No staff survey was sent out by the school and so these responses could not be considered.
• Inspectors spoke to six governors and representatives from the school’s externally commissioned school improvement provider.
• Discussions took place with the co-headteachers and subject and key stage leaders.
• Inspectors considered a range of documentation, including the school’s own self-evaluation, the school improvement plan, minutes of governor meetings, and leaders’ monitoring and evaluation of teaching.
• Information on progress and assessment provided by the school was also considered, alongside information on safeguarding, attendance and exclusion.

Inspection team

Debbie Rogan, lead inspector Sally Taggart Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector