Kingsway Community Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

In accordance with section 44(1) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by:
  • establishing a strong and sustained leadership team who have the skills and commitment to bring about the necessary improvements in all areas of school life
  • developing a clear, strategic direction for the school that guides and supports staff in improving teaching and outcomes for pupils
  • implementing rigorous systems of monitoring and evaluation that accurately identify the school’s most pressing priorities for improvement
  • drawing up a long-term improvement plan for the school that has well-defined and demanding actions, timescales and success criteria
  • ensuring that a robust and accurate system of assessment is established and embedded, and that leaders use the information gathered by teachers to monitor and evaluate the progress of all groups of pupils
  • setting teachers challenging performance targets and providing appropriate support and professional development opportunities so that they can improve their teaching
  • ensuring that the additional funding available to the school, including the pupil premium grant and special educational needs funding, is used effectively to improve outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities
  • working effectively with parents and carers to improve attendance, especially for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities
  • developing robust systems to record, monitor and improve any inappropriate behaviour
  • ensuring that the governing body holds leaders to account robustly.
• Improve the quality of teaching and learning so that all is at least good, and thereby improve outcomes for pupils in reading, writing and mathematics, by:
  • ensuring that teachers are accurate in their assessments and use the information available to them to match learning to the different abilities of pupils
  • ensuring that teachers have sufficiently high expectations of all pupils, especially the most able and disadvantaged pupils, and set tasks that are appropriately matched to individual pupils’ needs
  • developing pupils’ mathematical abilities by providing opportunities for them to apply their computational skills in problem solving using reasoning
  • providing more opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills in other subjects
  • further developing the range of reading activities that pupils undertake and providing a wider choice of books that appeal to different ages, abilities and interests
  • developing teachers’ and other adults’ skills in the use of questioning to probe pupils’ understanding and deepen their learning
  • ensuring that all teachers accurately identify how pupils can improve their understanding of grammar and punctuation, and provide clear guidance to pupils on how to apply this in their writing.
• Improve outcomes for children in the early years so that more achieve a good level of development by the time they leave the Reception classes by:
  • establishing strong leadership of the early years provision with a clear understanding of how young children learn and develop
  • ensuring that assessment systems are developed and used appropriately to gain a clear understanding of each child’s skills and abilities on entry to the early years, and to accurately measure their progress across the Reception Year
  • improving teachers’ and other adults’ skills in extending and enriching children’s communication and language development
  • improving the quality of the outdoor classroom to support children’s independent and investigative learning across all areas of the curriculum.
• Improve the behaviour of pupils by ensuring that all staff respond appropriately and quickly to the inappropriate behaviour of the minority of pupils who do not adhere to the school’s behaviour expectations. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. It is strongly recommended that the school does not appoint newly qualified teachers.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Inadequate

• There has been a highly significant lack of sustained and effective leadership of the school since the last inspection. Numerous changes of the main leader of the school at headteacher level, failed initiatives to form and sustain federations with other schools and periods when the school has been led by inexperienced and unsupported temporary leaders have meant that the school has lacked direction. This has resulted in a decline in outcomes for pupils.
• Teachers have not been adequately directed or managed in their work and have felt isolated and vulnerable. This has affected their capacity to improve their teaching skills. Parents have been rightly concerned by the lack of consistent leadership. Their lack of confidence in the ability of leaders is reflected through their response to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. Of parents who responded, 47% stated that they did not believe that the school was well led or managed. These views were further enforced by free-text comments and through the views of parents who spoke to the inspectors.
• There has been no consistent, systematic monitoring and evaluation of the school since the last inspection. Some monitoring activities have taken place, but they have been haphazard, isolated and the outcomes have not been sufficiently analysed or evaluated to identify what the most pressing priorities are for the school. This has resulted in the lack of development of a long-term school improvement plan. Some individual leaders have produced plans, but these have been based on insufficient evidence and without the input of different groups of stakeholders in the school, such as staff and governors. As leaders have left, any plans that have existed have been abandoned or not followed through. There is currently no school improvement plan in place, although plans for English and provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have been developed and are being used to address priorities within these areas.
• Leaders have not put in place a robust system of assessment since the introduction of assessment without levels, nearly two years ago. Teachers undertake individual assessments of pupils but the results are not collated or moderated to determine their accuracy. Leaders do not have information about the outcomes of different groups of pupils within school. Consequently, they are not able to identify the progress that pupils are making. They do not know if differences in the outcomes of disadvantaged pupils are diminishing against other pupils nationally. Analysis of the external data that is available to the school has not been used effectively over time to recognise the decline in outcomes, especially for children in the early years, disadvantaged pupils or for pupils at the end of key stage 2.
• There are currently no robust arrangements in place for the management of teachers’ performance. Those targets that were set at the beginning of the year did not relate to the individual professional development needs of teachers or to the most pressing priorities for the whole school. They were mainly unrealistic and unachievable. There has been no effective monitoring of the work of teachers, and consequently they have not been held to account for the impact of their work in improving outcomes for pupils.
• Leaders have not provided teachers with appropriate professional development. Newly qualified teachers have, until very recently, lacked support in their first year of teaching and as a result have felt isolated and unaware of how they can develop their teaching skills. This has meant that they, and many other teachers in school, have not been sufficiently effective in meeting the needs of the pupils they teach.
• The additional funding that is made available to the school, including the pupil premium grant and funding for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, has not been used effectively to improve outcomes for these pupils. Too much of the funding has been allocated to activities and interventions that are not specifically targeted at the pupils for whom it is intended. There has been no systematic evaluation by leaders of the impact that the funding is having on provision for these pupils.
• Leaders have not taken sufficient action to improve attendance for those pupils who are persistently absent. Leaders have not analysed attendance patterns or worked effectively with the parents of pupils who are regularly away from school or who do not arrive on time.
• The systems that leaders have put in place to improve behaviour have not been effective in addressing the unacceptable behaviour of a small minority of pupils. Nearly half of the staff who responded to the inspection questionnaire did not express confidence that leaders supported them well in managing behaviour. The methods of recording and tracking of behaviour incidents by leaders are not rigorous enough in identifying patterns of behaviour or measuring the impact of the sanctions that are applied.
• The current interim headteacher has established a temporary senior leadership team and this has brought some stability to the leadership of the school. The acting deputy headteacher is providing much-needed support to newly qualified teachers. Other temporary leaders are realistic about the weaknesses within the school and are showing resilience in attempting to address specific issues in the teaching of English and mathematics, and in provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, these leadership arrangements are, in the main, only temporary and have only been in place for a short period of time. Consequently, actions taken have not had sufficient impact as yet in undoing the effect of inadequate leadership over time.
• The curriculum provides pupils with breadth and balance across subjects. Good use is made of subject specialists, including a dance coach, to provide pupils with engaging activities that allow them to develop their skills and talents. During the inspection, Year 2 and Year 3 pupils were observed practising choreographed dance moves to a high standard prior to a performance for their parents and other pupils in the school. Well-planned topics have been implemented that make good and appropriate links between subjects. These topics are enhanced by trips and visits, including to the Ashmolean Museum and Cadbury World.
• There is a strong focus on supporting pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils learn about other faiths and show respect and tolerance for the views of others. The development of the music curriculum is helping pupils to widen their cultural experiences. Pupils told inspectors that they like the assemblies as they provide them with opportunities to reflect on spiritual and topical matters. During the inspection, pupils maturely considered issues raised by the general election that was taking place. This helped them to deepen their understanding of the democratic process and supports their development as citizens of modern Britain.

Governance of the school

• Governors have not, over time, provided sufficient challenge or support to school leaders. They have not had a clear and accurate view of the school’s weaknesses and have taken decisions, at times against the advice of the local authority, that have not helped to improve leadership. Governors have not had a sufficient depth of understanding of how pupils’ outcomes compare with those of other pupils nationally. They have not been provided with, or demanded, sufficient assessment information and have consequently relied on unsubstantiated views from various school leaders.
• Governors have not ensured that resources available to the school were always being used to the best effect. They have not monitored the impact of the use of the pupil premium grant or its impact on the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils.
• Governors have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are effective and have monitored this aspect of the school’s work.
• The recently formed governing body, which has been in place since March 2017, is providing far higher levels of challenge and governors are asking searching and perceptive questions of school leaders and the local authority. The newly appointed chair of governors is using her expertise as a national leader of governance to great effect and has rapidly gained an accurate understanding of the inadequacies that exist in school. She, together with other governors, now has the capacity to be an effective force in school improvement.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The processes for identifying, recording and reporting any concerns about potential safeguarding issues are well understood and followed by all staff. The deputy designated safeguarding leaders, including the acting deputy headteacher, are providing continuity during the period of leadership turbulence and ensure that this aspect of the school’s work continues to receive the required degree of attention and diligence.
• Staff receive regular training about specific aspects of safeguarding, including their responsibilities in understanding the threat posed by extremism and radicalisation.
• All the appropriate checks are made on staff recruited by the school. The school’s single central register is up to date and contains all the required information.
• Pupils are provided with good information on how to keep themselves safe, including when using the internet. The school has made good use of the local community police support officer to work with pupils to ensure that they do not put themselves at risk when online.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Inadequate

• The quality of teaching is far too variable across the school. Too many pupils are taught by staff who have low expectations of what pupils can and should achieve. Teachers set tasks that are not appropriately matched to pupils’ abilities and that are often too easy, especially for the most able pupils. Pupils commented during the inspection that they are often set activities that they do not find challenging. Evidence of this was seen in some key stage 2 pupils’ mathematics books, where they had undertaken large quantities of undemanding addition activities despite the fact that they had fully mastered the concept.
• Teachers do not provide pupils with opportunities to undertake problem solving in mathematics that requires them to use reasoning. During a detailed scrutiny of work during the inspection, there was no evidence that the very large majority of pupils had undertaken any problem solving during this academic year. Opportunities for pupils to apply their mathematical skills and knowledge in other subjects, such as geography and science, are also extremely limited. As a result, pupils do not make the progress they should in mathematics.
• The majority of teachers and teaching assistants do not use questioning effectively. Questions are often undemanding and do not require pupils to think deeply about their answers. This limits language development, especially for the youngest children in school, and also limits adults’ opportunities to assess pupils’ depth of understanding.
• Teachers do not use assessment effectively to measure pupils’ progress and consequently are not in a strong position to ensure that the lessons they plan and teach are matched to the specific needs of the pupils in their classes. Teachers do not have a clear understanding of how different groups of pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, are progressing. This means that they do not take sufficient or appropriate action to narrow gaps in outcomes for these pupils against others nationally.
• Teachers have suffered from a lack of strong and consistent leadership and this has impacted on their confidence in delivering teaching that they know is right for the pupils in their classes. For example, they have received different and conflicting instructions over how they should teach reading and have, during the year, been required to change their approach to guided reading. They have recently re-adopted a consistent approach towards this aspect of reading and this is starting to have a positive effect upon pupils’ learning. However, it is too early to evaluate the full impact.
• There has been a lack of suitably challenging and interesting reading books in school. Teachers have not consistently ensured that the books pupils are given to read are well matched to their specific needs. The subject leader for English has taken positive action to address this and has ordered a range of new books that are designed to appeal to different ages, abilities and interests. There are also plans to refurbish the library and make it a more stimulating and better-equipped reading environment. It is not possible as yet to evaluate what impact this will have on pupils’ outcomes in reading.
• Teachers are not consistent in ensuring that they teach the relevant grammar and punctuation skills to different groups of pupils and in then making sure that these skills are applied in pupils’ independent writing. This is particularly the case with the less able pupils. For example, younger less-able pupils who could not successfully write in sentences were set unrealistic grammatical activities that did not help them understand how to punctuate correctly using full stops and capital letters.
• Pupils are provided with a good range of opportunities to apply their writing skills in extended pieces of work, both within English lessons and in other subjects such as history. The teaching of handwriting is a strength and pupils develop a good, cursive style of writing as they move through the school.
• A systematic approach to the teaching of phonics has been introduced this year and is applied well by teachers and other adults. This is due to the actions that have been taken by the subject leader, who has managed to ensure that the initiative has had time to become embedded. As a result, pupils are beginning to make better progress in early reading.
• There is good teaching in school. Where stronger teaching exists, teachers set high expectations and make the learning interesting and relevant to the pupils.
• Due to the frequent changes of leadership, the strong teaching that does exist has not been sufficiently shared across all the staff. Teachers have not had opportunities to observe and learn from good practice, both within the school and in other schools. Teachers and other adults have been let down by the lack of leadership and this has affected their confidence and ability to successfully lead pupils’ learning.
• Relationships between teachers and pupils are good. Pupils respond positively to adults and say that there is always someone available who will listen to and support them.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement.
• Pupils do not consistently demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Where teaching is not well matched to the different abilities and interests in a class, too many pupils lose concentration and become passively disengaged.
• Pupils generally show pride in their school and their work. The majority of pupils show care and consideration for each other and understand that their actions can have a positive impact on others. A small minority of pupils do not demonstrate these positive attitudes and can, at times, behave in ways that are detrimental to other pupils’ well-being.
• Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They understand the risk that use of the internet can pose and know about the need to keep passwords secure and not give out personal information to people online.
• Pupils develop a good understanding of the world they live in and demonstrate positive attitudes towards each other and towards adults. They show respect towards people of different faiths and cultures. They also have a good understanding of fundamental British values, including tolerance and the right of law.
• Pupils are confident that bullying is not a problem in school. They say that on the odd occasion it does occur, they know that adults will act appropriately and quickly to make sure that it is dealt with effectively.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• Pupils, staff and parents are aware that a small minority of pupils do not behave appropriately, and at times these pupils’ behaviour impacts adversely on others. During this year, various leaders have imposed strong sanctions on some pupils. This has been successful in improving behaviour for some of these pupils. However, there are still occasions when a small number of pupils display challenging and disruptive behaviour in lessons and on the playgrounds.
• Pupils do not believe that all staff manage behaviour as well as they could and that they are inconsistent in their use of rewards and sanctions. They say that while most pupils play well with each other at breaktime and lunchtime, when incidents do occur, they are not always dealt with appropriately or effectively by staff.
• Attendance is below the national average. The school has worked with individual parents to try to make them aware of their responsibilities to ensure that their children arrive at school regularly and on time. This has had some success and attendance has risen for some pupils. However, leaders, including governors, recognise that they need to look at how they can bring about a sustained improvement for pupils, especially for those who are disadvantaged or who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• The large majority of pupils behave well in school. They listen attentively to adults and to each other, walk sensibly around school and take care of school property. They have a clear understanding of right and wrong and are rightfully indignant when anyone misbehaves.

Outcomes for pupils Inadequate

• In the two years since the previous inspection, standards have fallen and progress has slowed for pupils by the time they leave the school in Year 6, particularly for disadvantaged pupils.
• In 2016, outcomes for disadvantaged pupils at the end of key stage 2 were significantly below those of other pupils nationally in both reading and mathematics. In writing, lower-ability disadvantaged pupils’ progress was below that of other pupils nationally.
• Evidence gathered during the inspection, including from scrutiny of pupils’ work and observations of learning in lessons, indicates that there is too little focus from leaders and teachers on the specific needs of disadvantaged pupils and, therefore, differences in outcomes are not diminishing. The absence of any cohesive assessment information on groups of pupils means that leaders have no clear awareness of whether any of the actions that are taken to improve outcomes are having a significant impact.
• Pupils currently in school are making insufficient progress as they move through the school. This is due to the inconsistent teaching. Pupils’ outcomes in mathematics are severely curtailed due to the lack of opportunities to apply computational skills and reasoning to solve problems.
• Outcomes for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are inadequate. In 2016, outcomes for these pupils at both key stage 1 and key stage 2 were low compared with other pupils with similar starting points. Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities who are currently in school are making inconsistent progress as the interventions that are in place are not checked to see if they are having a positive impact.
• The most able pupils in school do not achieve good outcomes. Too often they are set tasks that are too easy and, consequently, too few pupils are supported to work at greater depth.
• Outcomes in the national phonics screening check for pupils in Year 1 have declined over the past two years and were below the national average in 2016. Disadvantaged pupils’ phonics outcomes were well below those of other pupils nationally.
• The systematic approach to the teaching of phonics that has been implemented in school is having a positive impact and pupils now have a much clearer understanding of how to read and spell words. Outcomes for pupils currently in school appear to be improving, but the gap against national figures will not have been closed this year.
• The stronger teaching in Year 2 has ensured that these pupils are attaining and progressing better than other pupils in school. Evidence gathered during the inspection indicates that a higher proportion of these pupils will be working at or above age-expected standards this year.
• There are no significant differences between the outcomes of different ethnic groups in school. These pupils make similar progress to others in school, according to the quality of the teaching they receive. Leaders do not hold assessment information on different ethnic groups and, consequently, are not able to monitor their progress.
• Progress across other subjects is erratic. Pupils’ outcomes in science have been below those of other pupils nationally in recent years but appear to be improving.

Early years provision Inadequate

• The absence of leadership in the early years has resulted in a lack of clear direction, poor assessment practices and provision that does not adequately meet the needs of the children. Currently, there is no designated early years leader and, consequently, staff are required to make decisions in isolation and without guidance.
• Children enter the early years with skills and knowledge that are generally below those that are typical for their age. Over the past two years, outcomes have declined, and in 2016 the proportion of children who reached a good level of development was well below the national average. As a result, the majority of children were not well prepared to start Year 1.
• There is some evidence that a higher proportion of children will reach a good level of development this year. However, the assessment information that the school holds on the children does not appear to be fully accurate and it does not indicate good progress for the children from their starting points. Processes for assessing children’s skills when they first start in school are not robust enough and, therefore, teachers and other staff do not have secure information about the individual learning needs of each child.
• Teachers and other staff in early years do not promote children’s language development sufficiently. They do not encourage children to answer in extended sentences or to discuss their learning.
• The outdoor area is poorly resourced, with insufficient thought given as to how children can thrive and develop across all the areas of learning. It is underutilised in helping children to investigate and develop independence.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge in early years education is not sufficiently strong. This is because school leaders have not supported staff through well-planned and relevant professional development opportunities. As a result, some of the activities that the children undertake are not appropriate to their age and needs, and hamper their learning.
• Disadvantaged children do not make the progress they need to from their starting points. The lack of a focused approach to the use of pupil premium funding across the whole school affects children in the early years in the same way as pupils in other year groups.
• Relationships between children and adults in the early years are good. Staff ensure that the children’s welfare needs are met. All safeguarding requirements are in place.
• Teachers and other adults build good relationships with parents and encourage them to be involved in their children’s education. They encourage parents to support children’s reading. This, together with effective teaching of phonics, helps children make better progress in reading than in other areas of learning.
• Children are well behaved and polite. They develop good skills in sharing and taking turns. They interact well with each other and with adults. Children show interest in learning. For example, during the inspection, children in the Reception classes were observed formulating estimates of different objects, including coloured sweets and savoury biscuits. This helped them to develop their counting and number-writing skills.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 130872 Warwickshire 10025167 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 Community 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 175 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Interim Headteacher Gail Flint Paul Wyllie Telephone number 01926 426896 Website Email address www.kingswayprimaryschool.org admin2638@welearn365.com Date of previous inspection 25–26 February 2015

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about key stage 2 assessment information and its accessibility plan.
• Kingsway Community Primary School is smaller than the average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is above average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above the national average.
• The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic groups is above that in most schools. The largest minority group are of Indian heritage.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics for pupils in Year 6.
• There have been 10 changes of leadership of the school at headteacher level since the last inspection. These leaders have included various headteachers, executive headteachers, heads of school and an interim headteacher. The current interim headteacher has only been in post since March 2017. Currently there is a temporary senior leadership team, including an acting deputy headteacher, which has been in place since March 2017. A new permanent headteacher has been appointed and will take up the post in September 2017. The school has been part of two federations during the current academic year with other local schools. Both of these federations have been disbanded.
• The previous governing body was disbanded in March 2017. A new governing body was formed at the same time.

Information about this inspection

• The inspectors observed pupils’ learning in 14 lessons or parts of lessons.
• The inspectors looked at work in pupils’ books and listened to pupils read. They met with a group of pupils, including members of the school council. The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour at lunch and breaktimes, as well as in lessons.
• The inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including the school’s checks and records relating to safeguarding, child protection and attendance, and a subject improvement plan.
• Meetings were held with the interim headteacher, the acting deputy headteacher and a member of the acting senior leadership team. An inspector had a telephone conversation with the special educational needs coordinator, who was not in school during the inspection. The lead inspector met with six members of the governing body, including the chair of the governing body, and a representative of the local authority.
• The inspectors took account of the 32 responses to the online questionnaire, Parent View, and considered free-text responses from parents. They also talked to parents at the start and end of the school day. They considered the 16 responses to the staff questionnaire.
• Inspectors were aware during this inspection that a serious incident that occurred at the school since the previous inspection is under investigation by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate incidents of this kind, actions taken by the school in response to the incident were considered alongside the other evidence available at the time of the inspection to inform inspectors’ judgements.

Inspection team

Adam Hewett, lead inspector Sarah Malam Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector