Setting

Mrs Kate Rouse Headteacher The Lincoln Bishop King Church of England Primary School Kingsway Lincoln LN5 8EU

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King Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to your school on 26 June 2014, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection 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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King Church of England Primary School

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

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King Church of England Primary 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 you, your deputy headteacher and two other senior leaders. I met with the acting Chair and the Vice-Chair of the Governing Body. I also had a telephone conversation with a representative of the local authority. These meetings were held in order to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. I visited all classrooms and spoke with pupils informally. I looked at a range of documentation, including the school’s post-Ofsted action plan, information about pupils’ progress, pupils’ work and minutes of recent governing body meetings.

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Context

Since the section 5 inspection two new teaching assistants, a new administrator and an attendance officer have been appointed. A temporary, part-time co-ordinator for special education needs and/or disabilities has been appointed. Serco Inspections Colmore Plaza 20 Colmore Circus Queensway Birmingham B4 6AT T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T : 0121 679 9146 Direct email : clare.benson@serco.com

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Main findings

You have high expectations and are ambitious to move the school forward rapidly. This ambition is reflected in the detailed post-Ofsted action plans that were quickly drawn up to address all the issues that were raised at the recent section 5 inspection. Monitoring responsibilities are clear and while there is evidence that evaluation is carried out regularly, responsibility for this it is not included in the action plans. In the achievement section, there are insufficient measurable success criteria against which school leaders and governors can evaluate the achievement of all groups of pupils up to the end of the 2014/15 academic year.

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Main findings

You have encouraged a more collaborative approach to staff development and meetings are used to share good practice. In these meetings, leaders have focused on improving key literacy and numeracy skills to drive the improvement of children’s learning and progress. They have provided effective support to teachers to help them understand how gaps in pupils’ prior knowledge have previously prevented them from making rapid progress. As a result, pupils who have improved their handwriting are very proud of their work. However, it is too early to evaluate the impact of this on overall outcomes.

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Main findings

A whole-school marking policy has been introduced, with non-negotiable expectations for marking and feedback. Leaders have correctly identified that more needs to be done to ensure that pupils have an opportunity to respond to feedback and are given time to do so.

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Main findings

A number of effective strategies have been used to improve the attendance and punctuality of pupils. One child has been provided with a re-conditioned bicycle and this had resulted in improved attendance. The ‘tick-tock’ challenge results in families being rewarded for good punctuality. Attendance figures have improved since the inspection.

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Main findings

Governors are determined to improve the school and quickly commissioned an external review of governance. As a result, they have introduced their own action plan, with a governor identified for tracking pupil premium expenditure. They are proactive, make regular, recorded visits to the school and have a clear understanding about the necessity to evaluate the impact of actions taken by school leaders.

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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 local authority adviser knows the school well and has provided support that school leaders have welcomed. The headteacher has sought additional support from an external consultant and from other local leaders of outstanding schools. I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body and the Director of Children’s Services for Lincolnshire.

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