Kenn Church of England Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Strengthen the teaching of writing so that more pupils increase their knowledge of adventurous vocabulary.
• Ensure that teachers help pupils to recognise misconceptions in their writing so that mistakes are not repeated over time.
• Ensure staff receive the training they need to accurately assess and plan activities for pupils with low starting points, including for low-attaining pupils and those with SEND.
• Further improve pupils’ skills in applying their mathematical knowledge to solve problems and explain their thinking.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders at all levels share the executive headteacher’s ambitious vision for the school. They are committed in their determination to achieve high standards for the pupils. Leaders work collaboratively both within the school and across the federation, embracing the support and challenge that this offers.
• The school’s strong Christian ethos and values contribute well to the development of the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils value the messages it gives them about how to respect and care for one another as part of the school community.
• Middle leaders, including subject leaders, have a clear and accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They use this information to plan effective actions to address the variance in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment and to improve outcomes for pupils. 

• Leaders have a sharp focus on pupils’ social and emotional health and well-being. Pupils understand the importance of playing their part as school, local and global citizens. Pupils learn and play very well together because staff model their high expectations of pupils with each other. 

• The sport premium is used effectively. For example, leaders employ a specialist PE coach to deliver lessons and improve teachers’ subject knowledge and skills.
• The school’s curriculum is well balanced. Pupils have the opportunity to learn a breadth of knowledge and skills through a range of topics and ‘quests’. Pupils find these topics, for example ‘The Tudors’ and ‘Space’, interesting, and they are keen to share their learning. Pupils have regular opportunities to practise, use and apply their reading and writing skills through their topic work.
• Pupils are secure in their knowledge and understanding of British values. Pupils are able to articulate what these values mean and how they have an impact on their daily lives as members of the school and wider community. As a result, pupils are fully prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Leaders make effective use of additional funding to provide appropriate support for the very small number of disadvantaged pupils. Outdoor facilities and regular experience of the forest school facility support children’s learning and their social and emotional development. As a result, disadvantaged pupils make good progress in all aspects of their learning. 

• For reasons beyond the school’s control, there has been a high staff absence in recent years. This has naturally upset some parents. Leaders are mindful of the impact of this and are doing everything they can to minimise the effects on pupils’ learning. Parents appreciate the school’s recent efforts to improve levels of communication about staffing.

Governance of the school

• Governors are highly ambitious for the school. They are fully involved in the life of the school and are committed to ensuring that pupils’ welfare is at the heart of all decision making.
• Governors have a clear understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. The chair of governors’ persistence and attention to detail has proved a key factor in the school’s improvement journey. Through regular checks on leaders’ actions, governors accurately evaluate where aspects are not as strong as they should be. Consequently, they are supporting the school’s ongoing improvement. 

• Governors have ensured that the school’s website is maintained effectively in respect of the school’s pupil premium strategy and the school’s curriculum.
• The governing body takes its safeguarding role very seriously and helps to make certain that every pupil is safe.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The executive headteacher, who is also the designated leader for safeguarding, has a secure understanding of the local vulnerabilities that pupils face. Leaders work effectively with external agencies to promote the importance of positive mental health for all pupils.
• There is a strong culture of safeguarding and care across the school. All staff follow the school’s rigorous recording and reporting systems. Leaders work well with other agencies, and they take appropriate and timely action to keep vulnerable pupils safe.
• Appropriate checks are made on all staff before they begin work at the school to ensure that they are fit and proper to work with children. An appointed governor ensures that all safeguarding procedures are robust.
• The school site is safe, clean and very well maintained.



Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The teaching of reading is highly effective. Pupils use their knowledge of phonics to develop early reading skills and to gain access to the wider curriculum. Staff support pupils who struggle with reading to ensure that they catch up quickly. Pupils in key stage 2 are supported well to read with confidence and fluency.
• Pupils can talk about their favourite authors and can express preference. Leaders have been successful in promoting pupils’ positive attitudes and enthusiasm for reading, which is leading to strong progress. However, leaders are fully aware that much of the teaching needs to focus on extending and deepening pupils’ vocabulary, particularly with technical words, to support pupils’ writing skills.
• Aspects of writing are stronger in some year groups. In key stage 1, early writing skills improve well due to well-structured and precise teaching. For example, pupils in Year 1 are learning about ‘what animals need to survive’ in a variety of ways, including writing descriptive sentences using adjectives and adverbs. Accuracy in teachers’ assessment of pupils’ writing in key stage 1 is improving through comparing pupils’ writing within the federation.
• Pupils in key stage 2 make less progress in writing. Pupils in Year 6 are using more complex sentences and, therefore, the overall quality of their writing is improving. However, pupils’ knowledge of adventurous vocabulary is not well developed across the school. For example, a review of Year 3 independent writing showed pupils using effective sentence construction to organise their writing. However, pupils’ choice of vocabulary remained simple. This was typical of other work seen.
• The work in pupils’ mathematics books demonstrates that pupils can carry out calculations with accuracy. This is supported by the majority of pupils having a secure understanding of place value and multiplication tables. Teachers provide pupils with regular opportunities to apply their mathematical skills and deepen their understanding. The school has correctly identified the need to develop pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills in mathematics. This approach is not yet embedded across the school.
• Teachers capture pupils’ enthusiasm by using interesting topics in history and geography. Teaching in science is particularly effective. Pupils are given the opportunity to explore scientific concepts through experiments. They are taught how to use practical investigation skills in their learning. 

• Teachers do not take sufficient account of assessment information for lower-attaining pupils and those with SEND. Consequently, work is often too hard for the pupils, and this slows the pace of learning. 

• Teaching across the school is characterised by strong and positive relationships. Support staff typically make a positive contribution to pupils’ learning. Where support is more effective, for example in upper key stage 2, pupils are enabled to deepen their understanding based on what they already know.
• In lower key stage 2, opportunities to write are limited, which impairs the progress pupils make in this aspect of English. Pupils do not sufficiently practise their writing skills across the curriculum, and errors in their writing are not identified. This leads to pupils making repeated mistakes in written activities.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.
• Pupils are happy and well cared for. Parents are mostly positive about the school’s attention to pupils’ welfare. The curriculum provides many opportunities for pupils’ personal development. Pupils described how honoured they felt when the choir sang in front of the congregation at the church remembrance service.

• Pupils have a strong understanding of e-safety. They learn how to stay safe online through activities in class and special assemblies. Pupils are able to provide good examples of inappropriate internet requests and how they would react. For example, they know how to report any inappropriate contact or requests.
• Pupils appreciate the leadership responsibilities they are given, for example as school councillors and peer mediators. They take these roles seriously and talk proudly of the respect they are shown by other pupils in the school. This contributes to the pupils’ strong sense of belonging that embodies the school.
• Pupils understand what bullying is and the different forms it can take. Bullying is not commonplace and, when it does occur, pupils are satisfied that adults deal with it well.
• The management of pupils with SEND is not sufficiently developed. Needs are identified and effective pastoral support is put in place. However, checks on the impact of teaching and assessment on pupils’ writing are not effective.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils behave well in lessons. They pay attention to each other to share their thoughts and ideas. Pupils are respectful to each other when pupils read their work out in class or make contributions to class discussions. However, pupils’ behaviour around the school, including at lunchtime, is not always as good as it should be. 

• Pupils who act as ‘playground leaders’ are proving effective in raising pupils’ participation in lunchtime activities. They enjoy this responsibility and are particularly proud of their role in helping the younger children at playtimes.
• Pupils enjoy school and attend regularly. Consequently, pupils’ attendance is higher than the national average. The executive headteacher ensures that if pupils do not attend regularly, the matter is followed up. The school works appropriately with other services and families to help pupils attend and be on time for their lessons. 


Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils currently in the school, including the most able, are making strong progress from their various starting points in a wide range of subjects, including reading and mathematics.
• Pupils’ progress at the end of key stage 2 improved in 2018. However, some caution needs to be taken when interpreting achievement information in 2018 due to the relatively small numbers in Year 6. Nonetheless, the work in pupils’ books, supported by the school’s own information, shows that all pupils currently in Year 6 are making strong progress from their starting points. 

• Assessment information indicates that the proportion of pupils who achieve the higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics in key stage 1 is better than the national average. However, teachers’ assessments in writing have not been consistently accurate.
• The achievement of pupils in writing is not as strong as in other subjects. Pupils do not secure a strong knowledge of ambitious vocabulary. As a consequence, pupils’ writing often lacks variety and imagination. In lower key stage 2, pupils have few opportunities to practise writing, and repeated errors are not addressed. Consequently, mistakes are often embedded in pupils’ writing over time. 

• Pupils achieve well in reading and make strong progress, especially in Years 1 and 2. Phonics is very well taught, with all pupils reaching the expected standard in the phonics screening check by Year 2. Pupils are reading regularly, which has resulted in confident readers who enjoy reading across a wide range of genres. 

• Pupils make strong progress in mathematical fluency and arithmetic due to effective strategies to develop the understanding of key mathematical concepts. Consequently, more pupils reached the higher standard in the 2018 key stage 2 national assessments than the national average. The teaching of mathematical reasoning and problem-solving is not embedded enough to ensure that pupils reach the same high standards.
• Early reading is taught very effectively. As a result, by the end of Year 1, pupils develop a good understanding of letters and the sounds they represent. In 2017, the vast majority of pupils met the expected standards in phonics by the end of Year 1. By the end of Year 2, all pupils consistently meet the nationally expected standard.

Early years provision Good

• Over time, pupils make strong progress in the Reception year. Cohorts vary from year-to-year, but a high proportion of children enter the school with poor communication and language skills. Teaching in the early years is helping children to ‘catch-up’. However, the proportions of children achieving a good level of development by the end of Reception was below the national average in 2018.

• The early years teachers share a strong understanding of early childhood development. Teaching in the early years has a positive impact on the learning and progress of all children, who make good progress from the time they begin school. Effective communication between the Reception and Year 1 teachers ensures that they plan to meet children’s individual needs. Consequently, children are well prepared for transition to Year 1. 

• Children’s behaviour is good. They listen attentively to adults and to their peers. Children play collaboratively, sharing resources and waiting their turn patiently. When engaging in activities, children display high levels of resilience and concentration. They stick to a task and see it through to its completion.
• Leaders ensure that the welfare and safety of children are given a high priority and that staff are skilled and responsive to children’s individual needs. Safeguarding practices in the early years are effective. There are no breaches of statutory welfare requirements. 

• Children are taught early reading and mathematical skills through focused lessons and play activities that support new learning. The effective teaching of phonics means that children make good progress with their reading and learn to decode words when reading simple texts. Teachers ensure that improving the quality of children’s spoken language is a priority because some children enter the Reception year with specific communication difficulties. 

• Staff use assessment and planning to focus learning on children’s next steps in learning. Teachers know the children well and use this knowledge to plan activities that target what the children need to learn next. Adult intervention is used well to further learning when children play independently or to direct them to a purposeful activity.

School details

Unique reference number 113397 Local authority Devon Inspection number 10047655 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Voluntary controlled Age range of pupils 4 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 94 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Mrs Jan Caig Executive Headteacher Mrs Amanda Somerwill Telephone number 01392 832 347 Website www.kenn-primary.devon.sch.uk Email address admin@kennandkenton.devon.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 13 14 November 2014

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average primary school. It is a member of the Kenn and Kenton federation.
• The school runs a breakfast club.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is well below the national average.
• The proportion of pupils with SEND is below the national average. The proportion who have an education, health and care plan is smaller than average.

Information about this inspection

• Pupils from Years 1 and 2 visited Exeter cinema on Day 1 of the inspection.
• The lead inspector visited lessons jointly with the executive headteacher and the head of teaching and learning.
• Pupils’ work was scrutinised.
• Meetings were held with the executive headteacher, senior and middle leaders and members of the governing body.
• The lead inspector talked with groups of pupils from key stages 1 and 2, as well as with pupils informally across the school.
• The lead inspector had a phone conversation with the local authority school improvement partner.
• Information and other documentary evidence were evaluated, including that relating to safeguarding, assessment, school evaluation and external reviews.
• Pupils’ behaviour was observed in lessons, around the school and during playtimes and lunchtimes.

Inspection team

Susan Costello, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector