Kings' Forest Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Strengthen the quality of teaching, learning and assessment still further by:
  • providing the highest levels of challenge for pupils to enable them to make the best possible progress and achieve even higher standards
  • deepening pupils’ mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills to enable pupils to reach the highest standards in this subject.
• Continue to build the leadership of special educational needs and/or disabilities to ensure that provision is of the highest quality and pupils’ outcomes continue to improve.
• Ensure that governors challenge school leaders and hold them to account even more rigorously to ensure the school’s continued improvement.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The headteacher provides strong and effective leadership. He has built a highly committed and skilled team of staff who are determined to provide a high-quality education for every pupil. The quality of teaching, learning and assessment continues to improve. This is because leaders routinely reflect on the impact of their work and make the necessary changes to improve even further. Their expectations are high and uncompromising. Leaders and all staff believe that children at Kings’ Forest deserve the very best.
• The headteacher has systematically tackled weaknesses in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment with tenacity and determination. Nonetheless, the legacy of underachievement caused by this weak teaching and inaccurate assessment practice over time is still evident in the most recent published information. However, the current progress of pupils in all year groups is strong. This reflects the impact of the good teaching and robust assessment now firmly established across the school.
• Leaders demand the very best from their staff. They have prioritised training to improve teachers’ skills. In addition, they do not tolerate underperformance and as a result, there have been changes to the staffing team in recent years. Staff now share a common moral purpose and drive to provide the best education for each pupil. Standards are rising and pupils make good progress from their starting points.
• Parents are positive about the work of the school. They appreciate the improvements that have been made to teaching and behaviour and the impact of this on their child’s achievement. They are fully engaged in their child’s education. Nearly all attend parents evenings and assemblies to celebrate their child’s learning. Historically, this was not the case. Leaders’ work to engage with families and the local community has created a welcoming and exciting place to learn. Pupils say, ‘They give us so much. We love it here.’ Parents echo these views.
• The school works effectively with a partnership of local schools. Staff share training and work with colleagues in other schools to check the quality and accuracy of their assessments of pupils’ work. This has been crucial in strengthening teachers’ understanding of the standards expected in each year group. Consequently, the school’s information relating to pupils’ progress and achievement is accurate. Historical weaknesses in assessment practice have been eradicated.
• Leaders use the funding for disadvantaged pupils effectively. They carefully consider and constantly evaluate the most effective strategies to support these pupils and their families. For example, the school provides ‘catch-up’ sessions and support to develop their well-being and personal development. Staff ensure that disadvantaged pupils have access to the many after-school clubs and enrichment opportunities through the schools ‘Master Class’ programme. Current pupils, including the most able, now make faster progress and achieve higher standards.
• Leaders continue to develop their skills and strengthen the provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities to ensure that they receive high-quality, focused teaching and support. This support, led by the deputy headteacher and pastoral support manager, extends to their families. As a result, this is an inclusive school. Current pupils who have complex needs, and those who join the school with significant social, emotional and mental health needs, thrive in this community.
• Subject leaders have an in-depth understanding of the strengths and next steps to improve standards further in their subject areas. They have detailed and appropriate action plans in place to secure continued improvement. They regularly check the quality of work in their subjects and the impact of their actions. For example, leaders have implemented a whole-school focus to develop pupils’ reasoning and problem- solving skills in mathematics. As a result, pupils are making better progress. However, leaders are not complacent and continue to drive improvements in this subject.
• Teachers plan interesting and creative lessons to engage pupils in their learning. In addition, they take every opportunity to develop pupils’ English and mathematical skills through other subjects. As a result, the work in pupils’ topic books is of a particularly high standard.
• The ‘Master Class’ programme offers pupils weekly opportunities to take part in a wealth of activities, ranging from art, music and textiles to ballet, karate and sport. In addition, the ‘Kings’ Forest Essentials’ programme enables pupils to learn about topics of interest in their community. This successfully fosters pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Leaders are vigilant to ensure equality of, and access to, opportunity. As a result, disadvantaged pupils and those who have complex needs currently make good progress from their starting points, in their personal and academic development.
• Staff teach pupils about other faiths in religious education and in assemblies. All pupils visit a different place of worship each year to broaden their understanding of other cultures and faiths that are different from their own. Although pupils demonstrate a good understanding of British values such as respect and tolerance, they are less secure in their understanding of other religions.
• Leaders use the primary physical education and sport funding effectively to provide high-quality sports opportunities at Kings’ Forest. This is used well to instil values of respect and tolerance and to help pupils develop ‘resilience and grit’. Sports coaches deliver high-quality sessions and work with pupils to engage in sport at breaktimes. In addition, this funding provides over 200 free places at after-school sports clubs. Consequently, participation rates are high and the school’s sports teams are wining trophies in local inter-school competitions.
• The local authority provides ‘light-touch’ support for the school because leadership capacity is now strong. Previously, it was more involved in supporting the headteacher and governors to tackle the staffing issues and weaknesses in teaching, learning and assessment. The school is now used by the local authority as a model of good practice. It sends staff from other schools to learn from its work.

Governance of the school

• Governance is effective. Governors have provided the necessary support and stability through a period of significant change since the previous inspection. As a result, standards continue to rise and the legacy of weak teaching and assessment has been eradicated.
• The governing body recently commissioned an external review to strengthen its work further and to ensure that new governors receive appropriate training. This work has increased governors’ understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They visit the school regularly and check the school’s performance for themselves. For example, they have checked pupils’ progress in books to confirm that pupils make good progress in a range of subjects. Also, they carefully check that pupil premium funding is used effectively to improve the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils.
• Governors know where there are strengths in leadership and teaching and where these need to develop further. This in-depth knowledge has contributed to the marked improvements made by the school.
• Governors confirm that they now need to challenge leaders even more effectively to hold them to account for the continued improvement of the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Leaders ensure that there is a strong culture of safeguarding at the school. Staff receive the training they need to recognise and swiftly act on signs of risk or harm, including possible risks from extremist views. The governor with responsibility for safeguarding visits the school regularly. She checks that the school’s records relating to pupils’ welfare, health and safety are up to date and meet the latest government guidance for keeping children safe.
• The school is a safe and secure environment. Governors implement robust checks when recruiting new members of staff. In addition, staff complete detailed risk assessments before pupils go off-site on trips and visits, to ensure their safety. Leaders implement the school’s policies and practices effectively.
• The school works closely with appropriate agencies to access support for individual pupils and their families. The deputy headteacher and the pastoral support manager leave no stone unturned in their determination to provide the specialist interventions required when needed. This work is highly effective in keeping children safe, particularly those who need it most.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The headteacher has put strategies in place that have significantly improved the quality of teaching, learning and assessment since the previous inspection. Weak teaching over a number of years has resulted in some underachievement for the oldest pupils in the school. However, as a result of the actions taken to eradicate weak teaching and establish effective approaches to assessment, the quality of teaching, learning and assessment is now typically good.
• Teachers have high expectations of their pupils, both of their academic achievement and of behaviour. Pupils engage well in lessons because they enjoy the interesting and stimulating tasks that teachers plan for them. The school is a calm and purposeful learning environment.
• The school regularly checks and records pupils’ learning. In addition, teachers and teaching assistants make weekly observations of pupils’ learning to identify those at risk of slipping behind. The school’s systems for assessing pupils’ learning and progress are robust and reliable. They enable staff to precisely plan pupils’ next steps in their learning and understanding. Teachers use these systems consistently across the school, which ensures that pupils make the progress of which they are capable.
• Teachers are skilled in questioning pupils effectively. They have good subject knowledge and use this expertise to extend pupils’ thinking and understanding. One inspector observed pupils, who did not understand the meaning of complex vocabulary in a reading lesson, being well supported to deepen their learning. As a result, pupils’ learn to read successfully.
• Staff develop pupils’ speaking and listening skills effectively in lessons. They encourage and expect pupils to answer in full sentences and to explain their thinking, particularly in mathematics. In reading lessons, teachers guide pupils to debate and discuss ideas. This work is also having a positive impact on the quality of writing across a range of subjects.
• The teaching of phonics is good. This work starts immediately in the Reception classes and extends throughout the school. Pupils who need support quickly learn their letters and sounds and use these sounds to read more complex words as they move up through the school. The most able readers are fluent and confident readers from a young age. They read widely and often and with great expression. In discussions, pupils were familiar with a number of well-known authors. The most able disadvantaged pupils read with fluency, accuracy and clear understanding and enjoyment of their chosen texts. In addition, the well-resourced library is used by many pupils, including at lunchtimes. Pupils read regularly with family members for homework. This supports them effectively to make good progress in reading.
• The school’s approach to marking and providing feedback to pupils is of a particularly high quality. Pupils in all classes act on the advice given to them to improve their work. This consistent approach is having a significant impact on raising standards and speeding pupils’ progress across a range of subjects.
• Teachers plan ‘challenge tasks’ in mathematics to extend pupils’ learning. Nonetheless, some pupils told inspectors that they would like to try even harder work. Good progress is evident in pupils’ books across the school. However, staff continue to focus on developing pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills to ensure that pupils make even better progress.
• The school teaches writing effectively. As a result, pupils complete a wide range of high-quality work across different subjects in the curriculum. For example, pupils in Year 6, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, wrote high-quality texts ‘to persuade the reader to join the army’ as part of their history topic. Teachers expect a similar high quality of work from pupils when completing the recording of science investigations. Work in books confirm that pupils in all groups develop more complex sentence construction and use grammar, spelling and punctuation accurately. Strong progress of current pupils is evident across all year groups.

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 to engage with families and include them fully in their child’s education. As a result, relationships between parents and the school are strong. This view is confirmed by the high number of very positive text messages received by inspectors. Parents are proud of the school and appreciate the care and opportunities provided to their children.
• Pupils demonstrate good attitudes to learning in lessons. They respond with enthusiasm to teachers’ questioning and show respect for other pupils’ points of view. This positive learning culture is resulting in pupils making faster progress, especially the older pupils who have the most ground to catch up.
• The pastoral support team works closely with families to provide the support they need for their children. As a result, pupils arrive at school on time, dressed in the correct uniform and ready to learn. The breakfast and after-school club provides good-quality care for working families. Pupils start and end the school day in a secure and welcoming environment.
• Pupils who spoke to inspectors have a good understanding of how to keep safe while using the internet. They receive effective guidance in lessons and in assemblies to ensure that they know how to keep safe when online.
• Pupils say that there is little if any bullying or derogatory language used in school. However, they know they will be listened to by the adults who care for them if problems arise.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils are overwhelmingly positive about their school. Historically, episodes of poor behaviour hindered pupils’ learning. The headteacher took immediate steps on his appointment to successfully tackle this culture of poor behaviour. The school is now a well-ordered and safe environment. Pupils move around the school calmly and safely. Staff consistently implement the school’s agreed approaches to managing pupils’ behaviour. As a result, pupils understand teachers’ expectations and behave well.
• Break- and lunchtimes are happy and sociable occasions. The introduction of the ‘play pod’ and organised sporting activities ensure that pupils learn to cooperate and play together successfully. Relationships between all staff and pupils are strong. Staff take great care to discuss differences in opinion or ‘fallings out’ between pupils to ensure that these are resolved quickly.
• The nurture room successfully supports pupils to succeed in the school. This provision offers some time out of class for a small number of pupils to develop the skills and behaviour needed to succeed in class. Kings’ Forest is particularly successful in accepting pupils who have been excluded from other schools. They settle quickly and achieve their potential.
• Attendance is good because pupils enjoy and want to be in school. The deputy headteacher immediately picks up absences and works closely with families to explain the impact of non-attendance at school.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils that currently attend the school make good progress across a range of subjects, including reading, writing and mathematics. However, the most recent published key stage 2 national results confirm the legacy of underachievement. Previously weak teaching, combined with inaccurate assessment of work, has resulted in published outcomes that are not reliable. In addition, they do not represent the significant improvements that the school has made and the progress that current pupils are making in all year groups.
• The school’s own information over time and work in pupils’ books confirm that pupils’ progress has improved significantly. Pupils in Years 1 to 5 are on track to make the progress needed to achieve at least the expected standard in English and mathematics at the end of each year. An increasing proportion of pupils are reaching the higher standards. The progress of disadvantaged pupils is also strong as a result of the relentless focus on improving the learning of this group of pupils. Although pupils in Year 6 are now making rapid progress as a result of highly effective teaching, some pupils still have some ground to make up.
• The teaching of phonics is effective. Over time, the proportion of pupils achieving the expected standard in Years 1 and 2 is above the national average. In 2016, a group of boys and disadvantaged pupils did not achieve the expected standard. Most pupils were new to the school. However, they are now on track to successfully achieve this standard at the end of Year 2. Older pupils use this phonic knowledge successfully to become fluent and confident readers. Staff from the local secondary school commented that pupils from Kings’ Forest are well prepared for the next stage of their education.
• In 2016, pupils achieved standards that were above the national average at the end of Year 2 in reading, writing and mathematics. A higher proportion than found nationally achieved the higher standards in mathematics and writing as a result of the consistently good teaching they have received since starting school. Disadvantaged pupils achieved at least as well as their peers, successfully diminishing previous differences.
• Current pupils make good progress in writing in all year groups. For example, pupils in Years 1 and 2 learn to write in sentences, using accurate spelling and punctuation. Writing in topic books is of a high quality in all year groups. The most able boys and those receiving support in Year 5 wrote high-quality descriptions of how coffee is grown and produced as part of their topic on Africa. The standard of work produced by pupils receiving support and middle-attaining pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, is of a similar high quality as that of other pupils. The work in pupils’ books and a recent external review of the impact of pupil premium funding confirm that disadvantaged pupils make good progress.
• Pupils make good progress across the school in the calculation of number. However, progress in reasoning and problem solving is less strong. As a result, leaders have implemented a whole-school focus to improve pupils’ skills. Work in books confirms that pupils practise their mathematical skills in other subjects such as geography and science. The most able are being suitably challenged and as a result make good progress.
• Teachers ensure that targeted support is in place to support pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff plan short, sharp bursts of intervention activities to boost progress. Evaluation of this work confirms that they make progress with their academic and personal development. However, leaders continue to improve provision for disadvantaged pupils who have complex needs to enable them to improve the progress they make further.

Early years provision Good

• Children get off to a good start in the early years as a result of good teaching and the high-quality care and support they receive. The proportion achieving a good level of development at the end of the Reception Year is above that found nationally.
• Children settle quickly when they start school. Teachers and teaching assistants go ‘the extra mile’ to develop positive relationships with parents and families. They visit children in their homes before they start school to build a picture of the child and their interests. Parents told inspectors: ‘Our children have had a great start to school life. They are always happy and eager to go into school and the teachers are welcoming and very encouraging.’
• Leadership of the early years is good. Once children are in school, teachers carefully identify their strengths and assess individual needs. They use frequent and detailed observations to check on children’s progress and plan learning. This approach successfully supports the children to make good progress from their starting points.
• Children start school with weaker skills in reading, writing and number. In addition, teachers quickly identify those who have speech and language needs. Staff teach children letters and sounds as soon as they start school. Children were observed choosing to practise writing their letters in the inviting writing areas. Teachers extend the learning for the most able children who start school already able to read. They provide appropriate activities to ensure that these children are stretched and challenged. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points.
• Teachers use their well-resourced indoor and outdoor learning environments to support the development of all areas of learning. In particular, they plan activities to support the development of children’s social and communication skills. During the inspection, children were observed working together and cooperating well with each other. Children quickly learn to be independent. This prepares them well for Year 1.
• Adults provide effective support for children who are disadvantaged and those who have identified special educational needs and/or disabilities. These children make good progress from their lower starting points, particularly in developing communication, reading and writing skills. In addition, outcomes for boys have significantly improved because staff ensure that they plan tasks to engage and interest these children.
• Children behave well in the Reception classes. Teachers establish clear routines, especially for moving from one activity to another. As a result, the early years is a safe and vibrant learning environment.

School details

Unique reference number 131507 Local authority South Gloucestershire Inspection number 10005554 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 405 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Steve Riches Ross Newman 01454 866466 www.kingsforestschool.co.uk admin@kingsforestschool.co.uk Date of previous inspection 1−2 December 2011

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school meets the current government floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.
• The school is larger than the average-sized primary school.
• Children in the early years (Reception classes) attend full time.
• The majority of pupils are White British.
• The proportion of pupils who are supported by the pupil premium is just below average, although the current Year 6 is well above.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is just below average. The proportion of pupils who have a statement of special educational needs or an education, health and care plan is average.
• The school runs and manages its own breakfast and after-school club.
• The school works with a group of local schools known as the Nexus Teaching School Alliance.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors visited lessons or parts of lessons, most of which were jointly observed with senior leaders.
• The inspectors spoke to pupils throughout the inspection, including at break- and lunchtimes.
• The inspectors looked at pupils’ work in their books in a range of subjects, together with the assistant headteacher, to establish the current quality of their work and progress over time.
• Inspectors heard groups of pupils read from different year groups. In addition, an inspector spoke with a group of pupils to determine their views of the school.
• The inspectors held meetings with senior leaders, the subject leaders for English and mathematics, the leader for special educational needs and/or disabilities, teachers and the pastoral support manager. In addition, an inspector met with a group of governors, including the chair of the governing body, and a representative from the local authority.
• Inspectors scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school’s improvement plans, the management of staff performance, information on pupils’ progress, and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safety. They also looked at minutes from recent governing body meetings and the school’s records of the monitoring of teaching and learning.
• The lead inspector took account of 57 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors spoke with parents at the start of the school day. In addition, responses to the Parent View free-text service were analysed.
• Questionnaires were returned and analysed from 43 members of staff.

Inspection team

Catherine Leahy, lead inspector Tonwen Empson Liz Jenkins Catherine Beeks

Her Majesty’s Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector