Kinderley Primary School

Kinderley Primary School Church Lane, Tydd St Giles, Wisbech, PE13 5LG

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 The quality of teaching is improving but not enough is consistently good or outstanding.  Teachers do not carry out accurate assessments of pupils at the start of the year and this prevents staff from having a clear understanding of the standards that pupils are capable of reaching.  The quality of teaching and limitations in the design of the Early Years Foundation Stage area restrict opportunities for children in Reception to make more rapid progress in their learning.  Not all staff are sufficiently skilled in the teaching of phonics (the sounds that letters make) to enable pupils in Year 1 to meet the requirements of the phonics screening check.  Teachers do not use accurate assessment information to plan work which enables pupils, particularly the more able, to reach the standards they are capable of in English and mathematics by the end of Year 6.  Pupils in Key Stage 2 do not have a clear enough understanding about what they need

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

to do to reach the highest standards in their work.  Staff do not always have the specialist skills required to enable disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs to make the progress expected of them.  Parents and prospective parents do not have access to the appropriate information about the school because the website does not provide information about pupils’ achievement.  Governors have not ensured that they have the information they need to be more accurately aware of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.  Governors have not challenged the performance of teachers and leaders closely enough to ensure that staff are only rewarded with pay rises when their pupils have done as well as they should have done.

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The school has the following strengths

 Effective local authority support has enabled the interim headteacher to quickly improve the quality of teaching.  Teachers’ marking makes it clear to pupils what they need to do to improve their work.  Behaviour is good and attendance is high. There is a culture of mutual respect and calm across the school. Pupils are happy, care for one another and have positive attitudes to their learning.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspector observed seven lessons, two of which were seen together with the headteacher. In addition, the inspector made a number of short visits to lessons and learning areas.  Separate meetings were conducted with governors, staff, subject leaders, an adviser from the local authority and two groups of pupils. The inspector talked to pupils during lessons, listened to pupils read and scrutinised samples of their work.  The 15 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and the results of the school’s own survey of parents’ views were taken into account. The views of several parents who communicated with the inspector during the inspection were also taken into consideration.  The inspector took account of the 13 responses to the staff questionnaire.  A number of documents were reviewed. These included the school’s improvement plan, information about pupils’ current progress, arrangements for safeguarding and records of pupils’

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Information about this inspection

behaviour and attendance. Reports from the local authority about the school’s effectiveness were also examined.

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Inspection team

Cathy Morgan, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is much smaller than the average-sized primary school.  There are three mixed-age classes.  Almost all pupils are of White British heritage.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported through school action is below average. The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is above average.  The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is above average. The pupil premium is additional funding for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, children from service families and children who are looked after by the local authority.  An above-average proportion of pupils leave or join the school at other than the usual times.  The school did not meet the government’s current floor standards in 2013, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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Information about this school

 The headteacher left the school at the end of the autumn term and the local authority appointed an interim headteacher on January 1 st 2014.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Increase the proportion of good and outstanding teaching so that pupils make consistently good progress by making sure that:  teachers carry out accurate initial assessments of children when they enter Reception  resources in the Early Years Foundation Stage are used effectively to match the different interests of children and enable them to learn effectively through imaginative and creative play  teachers use pupils’ progress information to plan work in each lesson that is at the right level of difficulty for pupils, particularly for the most-able pupils  staff receive specialist training to enable them to more effectively support disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs  all staff are skilled in the teaching of phonics  pupils in Key Stage 2 have a clearer understanding about what they need to do to reach the highest standards in their work.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve leadership and management by:  strengthening the robustness of the performance management system to ensure that staff are only rewarded with pay rises when their pupils have done as well as they should have done  making sure that the governing body receives and understands the information about the impact that pupil premium funding has on the progress of the pupils it is allocated to support  making sure that the governing body is rigorous in challenging leaders and staff on the impact of their work in raising pupils’ achievement  updating the school’s website to provide parents with the required information about the school. An external review of governance and the school’s use of the pupil premium should be undertaken in order to assess how these aspects of leadership and governance may be improved.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Children join the school with skills and knowledge that are typically below those expected for their age. They settle into school life quickly and are happy; however, the initial assessment of children is neither sufficiently detailed nor accurate to ensure that they make good progress from their starting points in preparation for Key Stage 1. Children’s work is assessed regularly but this is not always recorded effectively to enable staff to identify any gaps in achievement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Too few pupils at each key stage consistently make good progress to reach the required standards in English and mathematics because teachers do not assess pupils accurately. Too few pupils make the progress expected in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils’ targets are not always high enough and work is not always at the right level for them. Although teachers track pupils’ progress each half term, this information is not used well by all staff to ensure that older pupils are aware of their national curriculum targets. Targets and tasks for the most-able pupils do not always enable them to reach the high standards they are capable of.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Only half of the small number of Year 1 pupils reached the expected levels in the recent national phonics screening check. The teaching of phonics is not effective because not all staff have the appropriate skills to enable children to quickly develop their skills in reading and writing.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Although the attainment of the small number of Year 6 pupils declined at the end of Key Stage 2 in 2013, this was primarily due to the late arrival and complex circumstances of a large proportion of this group. The inspector’s analysis of current pupils’ progress and scrutiny of the work of pupils in Year 6, show that almost all, including those who joined the school during Key Stage 2, are working at, and often above, the level expected for their age in reading, writing and mathematics.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 A high proportion of pupils currently in Year 5 have the potential to reach the highest standards in English and mathematics by the end of Key Stage 2.However, they do not have a clear enough understanding about what they need to do to reach these higher levels.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 There are well-targeted strategies to support pupils for whom the school receives the pupil premium. Despite this, these pupils do not make as much progress as their classmates, particularly in mathematics. The school has recognised the need to provide this group with more specialised support and they are now achieving as well as their classmates in all classes. There are not enough pupils eligible for the pupil premium to comment in detail on their attainment in English and mathematics without identifying them.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Staff are skilled in supporting the emotional and personal needs of children who join the school at different times, particularly those with or behavioural difficulties. This has a positive impact on improving their achievements.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Older pupils talk enthusiastically about their love of reading and they read a wide range of fiction and non-fiction with expression and interest.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching has not been good enough to ensure that all pupils make good progress in all subjects.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teachers do not have accurate information about the achievement of pupils to enable them to have high enough expectations of pupils. Work is not always appropriate for pupils of different ages and abilities in the mixed-age classes.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The most-able pupils are not always given work which is hard enough to extend their knowledge and understanding, particularly in mathematics. The older pupils who met with the inspector, admitted that they needed to have more opportunities to ‘really get into’ their lessons in order to achieve higher standards.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In the Early Years Foundation Stage, the quality of teaching and limitations in the design of the indoor and outdoor areas are restricting opportunities for children to make more rapid progress to reach the required standards. There are too few resources to match the different interests of children and enable them to learn effectively through imaginative and creative play.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Teaching assistants provide highly sensitive support to disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs. However, not all staff have the specialist support skills necessary to enable this small number of pupils to make the progress expected of them in English and mathematics.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Pupil premium funding is used well to enable learning support assistants to provide helpful specialist support to identified pupils. These pupils are now making good progress in lessons. This reflects the school’s good promotion of equality of opportunity. However, there is still more work to be done to ensure equality of opportunity for the most-able pupils.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Much of the teaching seen in the lessons observed by the inspector was good. In the best lessons, and particularly in class 3, teachers make activities interesting and pupils enjoy solving problems which make them think hard. In one lesson, the high expectations, enthusiasm and subject knowledge of the teacher enabled pupils in Years 5 and 6 to improve their knowledge, understanding and use of French. In class 2, a video clip of Harry Potter meeting ‘Buckbeak’ successfully stimulated the imagination of pupils in Years 2,3 and 4 and enabled them to produce highly descriptive accounts of their fictitious encounter with the same creature; one Year 4 child wrote ‘the mythical creature stared as my whole body shook’.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Throughout the school, teachers and their assistants have established highly positive relationships with their pupils. Staff are becoming adept at teaching in mixed-age classes and supporting pupils who join the school at different times, however the wide range of ages, abilities and needs of pupils in class 2 makes it difficult for individuals to always reach their potential in lessons.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The school has successfully concentrated on improving the marking of pupils’ work and in classes 2 and 3, marking provides clear guidance to pupils to enable them to correct and improve their understanding of their work in literacy and numeracy.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The behaviour of pupils is good in lessons, at break and lunchtimes and around the school. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere for learning which all staff work hard to maintain.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils are highly respectful of one another, are eager to learn and enjoy the numerous opportunities they have to discuss their ideas with one another in lessons. The large majority of pupils produce work of a high standard and on the rare occasion when work is untidy or brief, this is often because pupils do not have a clear enough understanding about what they have to do.  Pupils say that they enjoy completing their homework, especially when it is ‘topic’ because the work ‘is really interesting’ and they can research it for themselves. Pupils say they have fewer opportunities this term to attend clubs but look forward to the swimming lessons which are now available to them.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils of all ages play beautifully together on the playground and they thoroughly enjoy singing together during their daily assemblies. This successfully promotes a strong sense of ‘family’ and contributes well to pupils’ spiritual, moral social and cultural development.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils across the school, including those who join at different times, flourish in their personal development because the school fosters strong relationships. Pupils say they are very happy and the most parents who completed the online survey agreed with this. Pupil’s attendance is above that seen nationally.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils are taught carefully about different types of bullying and older pupils in particular, are very aware of the issues of cyber bullying. Pupils say they feel safe and secure at school. The school’s behaviour records show that incidents are extremely rare and pupils say that when they do ‘fall out’, they make friends again very quickly and soon ‘forget about it’.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Since the previous inspection, school leaders have not ensured that teaching is consistently good. Effective intervention by and support from the local authority has ensured that all staff and governors now have a clearer understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school and particularly the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. Roles, responsibilities and lines of accountability are now more clearly understood by staff at all levels.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Records and analysis of teachers’ performance management are extensive but do not demonstrate that staff are only rewarded with pay rises when their pupils have achieved as well as they should have. Governors are not playing a strong enough part in ensuring that procedures to monitor the performance of staff, including the headteacher, are sufficiently rigorous to ensure that all pupils reach the standards of which they are capable.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Half-termly reviews of each pupil’s progress are not used effectively to provide leaders and governors with a clear understanding of how much progress individual and groups of pupils are making. Lengthy reports provide a large amount of data but this has failed to identify the under- performance of specific groups of pupils, including those eligible for pupil premium funding, disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Although the school provides up-to-date information on its ‘Facebook’ page, parents and prospective parents do not have access to the appropriate information about the school because the website does not provide enough detail about the subjects that children are taught, the achievement of pupils or the impact of the pupil premium funding.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The interim headteacher has quickly gained the trust of staff which has enabled her to rapidly focus on improving outcomes for all pupils. Subject leaders are benefitting from further training and have opportunities to acquire further professional qualifications. Teachers are already collaborating effectively with other schools to share best practice. The new headteacher is having a positive impact and is already resolving some significant issues regarding the organisation of classes and staffing in order to address those areas for improvement which the local authority and the inspection have identified.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Subject leaders are now developing their skills in order to be more effective managers. They observe the most effective teaching and assessment across the school, give firm judgements and offer precise advice to teachers and their assistants to help them improve.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Pupils benefit from a range of subjects which provide an appropriate balance of topics, visits, visitors and religious experiences to enable them to learn and apply reading, writing and mathematics skills and knowledge. Reading is used well in other subjects, and opportunities for writing in lots of different contexts are increasing. This ensures that pupils’ positive attitudes to learning are maintained.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The primary school sport funding is being used effectively to provide pupils and staff with expert tuition from a specialist sports coach, to finance the professional development of staff working with a local sports partnership, to provide transport to enable pupils to attend swimming lessons and to participate in inter-school competitions. The school has begun monitoring the positive effect in improving the health and well-being of pupils and extending the skills of staff and pupils.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The governance of the school:  Governors are now determined to improve all aspects of the school’s work which is helping them become more aware of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and how effective teaching is across the school. Governors monitor the school’s financial resources well and have been involved in the decisions taken about the spending of the pupil premium and the primary sports funding. However, they have not asked about the impact that pupil premium funding has had on the progress of the pupils it is allocated to support. Governors do not rigorously assess and challenge the school’s performance in order to improve it more rapidly. Governors have relied too much on the previous headteacher’s reports for information about teachers’ and pupils’ performance and are not sufficiently involved in the appraisal process in terms of linking classroom practice to pay awards. All of the school’s safeguarding policies and

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The leadership and management requires improvement

procedures meet statutory requirements, but the school’s website does not.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 110762 Local authority Cambridgeshire Inspection number 432318

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Community Age range of pupils 4–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 64 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair John Hoyles Headteacher Yvonne Lamb Date of previous school inspection 25 January 2011 Telephone number 01945 870374 Fax number 01945 870374 Email address office@kinderley.cambs.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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