Setting

Mr Malcolm Morrey Kings Hill Primary School Old Park Road Wednesbury West Midlands WS10 9JG

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Kings Hill Primary School

Following my visit to you on 12 March 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the school’s recent section 5 inspection.

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Special measures monitoring inspection of Kings Hill Primary School

The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the school became subject to special measures following the inspection which took place in November 2013.

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Evidence

During this inspection, meetings were held with the executive headteacher and the associate headteacher and with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Governing Body. I also met with two representatives from the local authority. The local authority’s statement of action and the school’s action plans were evaluated.

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Context

Since the inspection, you have informed the Chair of the Governing Body and the local authority of your intention to resign from your post as executive headteacher at the end of this term. Governors and local authority representatives are meeting very soon to make arrangements for the future leadership of the federation. Tribal 1-4 Portland Square Bristol BS2 8RR T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 0117 3115307 Direct email : rachel.evans@tribalgroup.com

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

You and the associate headteacher have a clear and realistic view of the extent to which the school needs to improve. You have worked purposefully and effectively with the local authority to begin to make the necessary changes. The local authority’s statement of action and the school recovery plan have been brought together as a single document. This plan addresses all the areas for improvement that were identified in the section 5 inspection. It clearly explains the actions that will be taken, and identifies when each activity will take place and who is responsible. It also sets out the dates when school leaders and governors will check that the actions planned are being effective. However, the plan does not always specify clearly enough how you will know that the actions taken have been successful. The plan is rightly focused on the urgent need to make improvements in the quality of teaching in order to accelerate pupils’ progress. You and the local

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

authority understand that uncertainty about school leadership must be resolved quickly in order to allow the school to move forward and make the necessary improvements.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

You have taken steps to improve your systems for checking pupils’ attainment and progress, and are becoming more effective in holding teachers to account for the progress of pupils in their class. You have regular meetings with teachers to discuss pupils’ progress and are beginning to use these meetings more effectively to identify pupils who are underachieving. Intervention programmes are planned for individuals and groups of pupils to help them catch up and you have started to evaluate the impact of these. However, the assessment information used to measure the success of these interventions is not always precise enough to provide an accurate evaluation.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

You are ensuring that your judgements about the quality of teaching are informed by a range of information; including lesson observations, checking on the work in pupils’ books and evaluation of pupils’ progress. This is helping to provide you and governors with a more accurate picture of the quality of teaching and its impact on learning. You have given staff the clear message that only good teaching is good enough. With support from the local authority, you and other leaders are providing training and support for staff. However, you are also clear that formal procedures will be used if teachers do not demonstrate that they are capable of rising to the standards expected of them.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Governors acknowledge that they have not previously been successful in holding leaders to account in order to ensure good teaching and progress for all pupils. They are determined that this will not continue and are working closely with the local authority to plan for the future. Governors are making more regular visits to the school and are developing their understanding of strengths and weaknesses in teaching. Members of the governing body have attended some training but they acknowledge that further training will be required, particularly with regard to evaluating pupils’ achievement in comparison with the achievement of pupils nationally. The external review of governance recommended in the section 5 inspection has been started but should be completed as a matter of urgency, so that governors have a clear understanding of how they can fulfil their responsibilities more effectively.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Following the monitoring inspection these judgements were made:

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The local authority’s statement of action is fit for purpose.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The school’s action plan is fit for purpose.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

The school may not appoint newly qualified teachers before the next monitoring inspection.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Walsall. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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