Setting

Miss Adrienne Hughes St Keyna Primary School Monmouth Road Bristol BS31 2JP

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School

Following my visit to your school on Thursday 22 May, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The visit was the first monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement following the section 5 inspection in January 2014. It was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection.

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Evidence

During the visit, meetings were held with the headteacher, senior leaders, members of the governing body, a representative of the local authority and the headteacher of a partner school to discuss the action taken since the last inspection. The school improvement plan was evaluated. The headteacher and inspector visited each classroom and looked at pupils’ work in books. They also attended rehearsals for the Key Stage 1 summer ball.

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Context

Three teachers, including the Deputy Headteacher, are currently absent on long term illness. Two additional teaching assistants to support the management of pupils’ behaviour have been employed. A new secretary has been appointed to 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 311 5307 Email : rachel.evans@tribalgroup.com replace the previous postholder who retired recently. A new governor has been appointed since the previous inspection in January.

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Main findings

The school improvement plan provides an appropriate framework for improvement. In response to the inspection findings, senior leaders have suitably adapted the improvement plan to include additional actions. The plan sets out clear timescales and contains precise actions to address areas of weakness. The headteacher and senior leaders regularly evaluate the progress the school has made and report to governors. Governors are closely involved in monitoring the school’s progress and provide strong levels of challenge and support for school leaders. They have been proactive in providing additional support when required and in visiting the school to observe at first hand the progress the school is making.

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Main findings

Senior leaders have taken a rigorous approach to raising the quality of teaching in the school. Monitoring has been effective in identifying variations in the quality of teaching. Lesson observations by senior leaders and the headteacher from the support school are completed regularly. Senior leaders have worked closely as a team to provide additional support for staff. With the partner school, senior leaders have provided appropriate programmes of coaching and advice for staff to improve their teaching. However, scrutiny of pupils’ work has been a less effective aspect of senior leader’s monitoring because it has not always been used to follow up on new initiatives to check that they are being consistently applied across the school.

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Main findings

Senior leaders have taken on a greater proportion of class based teaching that is helping to improve pupils’ achievement. Senior staff continue to manage their leadership roles alongside teaching in classes. However, the school is quick to recognise that this is a temporary measure in place to cover for staff absence. Teaching has improved because teachers now regularly plan different activities for pupils of different abilities, including challenging activities for more able pupils. Marking is now completed regularly and provides pupils with positive comments and identifies points for improvement. The school recognises that they need to encourage pupils’ to more frequently respond and act on teachers’ comments. In literacy lessons, reflecting a new school approach, teachers have begun to set three different levels of activities and clearly explain to pupils what they must, should and could complete by the end of a lesson. It is evident that where this approach is used

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Main findings

effectively, pupils’ know what they have to do to produce their best work and respond positively.

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Main findings

At the previous inspection, incidents of low level disruption by pupils during lessons were identified. The school responded with staff training that has raised expectations in managing behaviour. The inclusion leader has modelled good practice and followed up with further monitoring to develop a more consistent approach across the school. The deployment of additional adults, playing alongside pupils at lunchtimes and in lessons, has helped to reduce incidents of more challenging behaviour. During the visit pupils were polite, showed positive attitudes in lessons and responded well to teachers’ instructions.

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Main findings

Ofsted may carry out further visits and, where necessary, provide further support and challenge to the school until its next section 5 inspection.

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External support

The school has drawn on a range of helpful support and advice from external partners and the local authority. The local authority has commissioned support from a partner school that has provided coaching and training for staff. In addition, teachers have visited the partner school to observe good practice and have chosen to adopt some of the school’s successful approaches. Support from partners has helped to develop provision and practice in Early Years Foundation Stage and also in supporting the school’s more consistent approach to behaviour management. The local authority monitors the school’s progress against their improvement plan on a regular basis and has responded promptly and appropriately to adapt levels of support where necessary. The local authority has helped to provide additional administrative support for the school’s inclusion leader. The school has agreed to accommodate a teacher nominated by the local authority to work in the school one

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External support

day a week for the rest of the academic year to support aspects of the school improvement plan.

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External support

I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Bath and North East Somerset.

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