Kenilworth Primary School

Kenilworth Primary School Kenilworth Drive, Borehamwood, WD6 1QL

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Teaching is good throughout the school. Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to make sure pupils enjoy learning and achieve well.  By the end of Year 6, attainment is above average in reading and writing, and broadly average in mathematics. Pupils of all abilities and from all backgrounds make good progress.  Disadvantaged pupils and those who are disabled or have special educational needs are given work at the right level of difficulty, so they achieve as well as other pupils.  Good promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development helps to ensure that they become considerate and thoughtful young citizens.  Pupils behave well and move sensibly around the buildings. This helps to make the school a safe, orderly place in which to learn.  The headteacher deputy headteacher and senior leaders, well supported by governors, keep all staff focused on improving the quality of their teaching

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

and raising achievement. This has ensured improvements.  The Nursery and Reception classes provide children with an exceptional start. Excellent progress in basic skills and a clear and highly effective focus on social and emotional development prepare them very well for their future schooling.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not always challenge the more-able pupils to make the best possible progress, particularly in reading and mathematics.  Subject leaders beyond English and mathematics do not rigorously check the quality of teaching and learning in order to use their expertise to bring about improvements.  Marking does not always help pupils to improve their work, and teachers do not ensure consistently that pupils act upon the advice given.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 13 lessons, and talked to pupils about their progress and the work in their exercise books. Four of the visits to classrooms were undertaken jointly with the headteacher and deputy headteacher. The inspectors also looked at samples of work from all key stages.  Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes were observed in lessons, assemblies, playtimes, when they moved around the school and during lunchtime and at the beginning and end of the school day. They heard pupils from different age groups speak about their perceptions of the school.  Pupils’ work was scrutinised in literacy and mathematics, science, history and topics .  Meetings were held with members of staff, groups of pupils and governors, including the Chair of the Governing Body. The lead inspector met with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors took into account the 38 responses to the online survey, Parent View, and parents’ written

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Information about this inspection

comments, and held informal discussions with a random sample of parents.  The inspectors considered the views expressed in the survey responses from 23 members of staff.  Documents reviewed included the school’s self-evaluation summary and improvement plan, arrangements for safeguarding, records of observations of teaching, pupils’ progress, behaviour and attendance. In addition, inspectors considered notes from governors’ meetings and the school’s policies for behaviour management and support for disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs.

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Inspection team

Terrance Mortimer, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school.  Just under two thirds of the pupils are White British and the others are from various minority ethnic backgrounds. A quarter of the pupils speak English as an additional language.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium funding (additional government funding provided to give extra support to pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals or in local authority care) is more than one in three. This is above the national average.  At about 30%, the proportion of pupils who are disabled or have special educational needs is well above the national average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.  The school is part of a local consortium of Borehamwood headteachers. Close links with the local

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Information about this school

secondary school, Hertswood, enable the schools to share expertise.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and so raise standards further by:  checking that pupils make the improvements that teachers suggest when they mark their work  sharing the most effective practice in marking and feedback among all the staff  consistently setting challenging work in reading and mathematics, particularly for the more-able pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen leadership and management further by:  providing more opportunities for subject leaders to check on how well pupils are learning so that they can take decisive action to bring about improvements.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher’s vision and determination to improve teaching and learning for all pupils are shared by all staff. Staff and parents are overwhelmingly positive about the leadership of the school. Effective training for teachers has helped to sustain this drive. As a result, teaching and pupils’ achievement continue to improve.

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The leadership and management are good

 Leaders recognise the strengths and weaknesses of the school. This is demonstrated well in the Early Years Foundation Stage, through the development plans for children’s learning. Staff are proud to work at the school and morale is high; the vast majority of parents say they would recommend it to other families.

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The leadership and management are good

 The focus on improving teaching is based on regularly checking where each teacher might be able to improve and providing support, guidance and training for this to be achieved. The headteacher maintains a strong link between good performance and salary increases.

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The leadership and management are good

 All teachers are held accountable for pupils’ achievement through termly progress meetings. Senior leaders set improvement targets for individual teachers and check they have been achieved. Checks on teaching are generally accurate, but do not always take sufficient account of the progress made by the most-able pupils.

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The leadership and management are good

 The good curriculum supports well the pupils’ academic progress and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. A range of trips and activities widen pupils’ understanding of the world. Assemblies give pupils regular opportunities to reflect on the school’s values such as perseverance, respect and tolerance. A wide range of additional activities, including visits and clubs, add to pupils’ enjoyment of learning. Pupils learn about life in modern Britain through community activities such as working towards the Borehamwood poppy art celebration later in the school year. Pupils also benefit from specialist teaching in physical education and an author in residence.

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The leadership and management are good

 The school uses its sports funding well. Teachers have widened their expertise by working alongside specialist sports coaches from the Watford and Hertsmere schools sports partnership and have added a well-attended fitness club to its range of sports activities. This is helping pupils and staff to learn new skills. In the next two terms the school will be developing staff and pupils’ skills in gymnastics and dance. The funding has enabled many pupils to enjoy participating in a range of sports and inter school tournaments.

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The leadership and management are good

 The pupil premium is used effectively to help eligible pupils achieve as well as their classmates. It supports pupils in smaller teaching groups where necessary, including the ‘nurture’ group. Leaders and governors ensure there is no discrimination and everyone has an equal chance to achieve.

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The leadership and management are good

 All safeguarding policies and procedures meet statutory requirements and are effective. The learning environment is safe and calm, which enables good behaviour and good learning to flourish.

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The leadership and management are good

 The local authority has provided effective support, advice and training. This has helped governors to become more effective and also had a positive impact on provision in the Early Years Foundation Stage and pupils’ achievement.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher is ably supported by a skilled team of knowledgeable leaders and staff, especially in Inclusion, English and mathematics. However, she is fully aware that other subject leaders are not contributing enough to the raising of standards by checking pupils’ progress and improving the quality of teaching in their subject areas.

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The leadership and management are good

 The governance of the school:  The governing body is well organised and determined to ensure the school continues to improve. Training in the use of achievement information and data has enabled the governors to challenge leaders and hold them to account effectively. Records of governing body meetings show that they ask a wide range of searching questions to enable them to judge the performance of the school.  Many governors visit the school termly to deepen their knowledge and understanding. They are currently reviewing their roles and practice and have commissioned a consultant to help this process. Through their good understanding of the quality of teaching they are able to link teachers’ pay to their performance effectively, including those of the headteacher.  Governors manage financial resources well. They know how additional funding for sports and pupil premium is being spent and they check carefully that it is making a positive difference.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. Parents, carers and staff agree. The school’s focus on teaching moral values has had a positive impact. Pupils are courteous and polite, and clear about the importance of good behaviour and how this can influence their learning. They try their hardest to keep their areas very tidy.

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Behaviour

 The nurture group was set up to improve the behaviour of some of the disadvantaged pupils. Its impact is seen in their positive behaviour in classes and their achievement.

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Behaviour

 Attendance has risen since the school’s last inspection thanks to firm action taken by the headteacher and governors. As a result, it is now above average. The school rigorously follows up absence and does not authorise holiday requests. Children arrive on time in the morning, smartly dressed in school uniform. This helps to foster a real sense of pride in the school and its work.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. They are taught how to keep themselves safe in different situations, and move safely and sensibly around the school. Pupils know how to use the internet safely and are well aware of other risks.

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Safety

 Pupils of all ages are clear that bullying is rare. They have complete confidence in their teachers that any incident will be dealt with quickly. They understand bullying can take different forms. Parents and carers judge that the school deals well with any problems that do occur.

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Safety

 The school’s records relating to behaviour show that incidents are rare but dealt with effectively. Pupils say they feel safe in school. Parents and carers strongly agree that the school successfully promotes all aspects of their children’s welfare.

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Safety

 A consistent approach by staff to managing behaviour ensures most pupils demonstrate good attitudes to learning. Pupils are eager to learn and accept the challenges set. They work hard in lessons and listen carefully to their teachers. When the work set does not sufficiently challenge the most-able pupils, they occasionally lose concentration and do not then make as much progress as they could.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The work in pupils’ books and their rates of progress reflect teaching that is good across the school. Teachers have good subject knowledge and expertise, which they use effectively to provide a wide range of activities that promote pupils’ literacy and numeracy skills well.

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The quality of teaching is good

 The high priority given to the teaching of phonics (how letters link with sounds) helps to ensure that pupils read well. Younger pupils demonstrate that they can read with good understanding, while older pupils read with confidence and enthusiasm. The older pupils have a love of books and can talk confidently about the authors they enjoy reading.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching assistants make a very positive contribution to the learning of pupils of all abilities. They are highly skilled and support the work of the teachers well. They provide pupils with practical activities which enable them to experience things for themselves, as seen in a Key Stage 1 lesson where pupils at the early stages of learning English were supported in identifying colours and familiar shapes. Their extensive training in a range of help and guidance enables the pupils they work with to make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Many teachers ask questions to make pupils think carefully. This helps them to learn well because they have time to share and develop their ideas. Activities are generally matched to pupils’ capabilities so that all groups are able to make good progress.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers treat pupils with respect and are interested in what they have to say. As a result, pupils are eager to learn and respond readily to tasks with interest and enthusiasm. Whole-class, group and paired activities help to increase pupils’ confidence and their speaking skills.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching focuses carefully on the most able in each year group through probing questioning and activities to make them think deeply. However, pupils are occasionally not challenged enough to make faster progress. In such cases, pupils find tasks too easy or too difficult because work is not always precisely matched to their capabilities.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Work is marked regularly. Sometimes the information gathered about individual pupils’ progress feeds directly into lesson planning. Pupils respond very positively to this, and are given extra challenges to complete in different subjects. However, at other times pupils do not get enough guidance, particularly to improve their writing and the accuracy of their spelling.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school’s own assessment information and work sampled in pupils’ books show that progress across the school in reading, writing and mathematics is good for all groups of pupils, including those from different minority ethnic groups and those who speak English as an additional language.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 When they start in the Nursery class, a large proportion of children have levels of knowledge and understanding which are below those typical for their age, especially in communication, personal, social and physical development and number. They make strong progress that accelerates in Reception.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Standards in the national tests at the end of Year 2 have risen steadily over recent years. They were broadly average in reading, writing and mathematics in 2014. Current pupils in Year 2 are building on the good progress they made in Year 1 and are on track to attain higher standards this year.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Attainment at the end of Year 6 has risen and has been average overall for the past two years. This represents good progress, given their Key Stage 1 results. Writing was significantly above average and results were higher in the new spelling, punctuation and grammar test in 2014 as a result of more focused teaching of basic skills.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Teachers place a strong and effective emphasis on developing literacy and numeracy skills in Years 1 and 2. Pupils quickly learn to use their phonic knowledge to tackle unknown words. As a result, most pupils attained above the standard expected in the Year 1 phonics check in 2014. Standards in reading at the end of Year 2 are above average.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 By the end of Year 6 in 2014, standards in writing were significantly above average and in mathematics and reading they were broadly average. The school’s information shows that most Year 5 pupils are on track to reach at least the levels expected for their age by the end of Year 6. An increasing proportion are on course to attain the higher levels.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Good teaching is supporting the most-able pupils to improve their achievement. They usually make good progress. However, a smaller proportion than average reach the highest levels at the end of Year 6, and they are not fully challenged in some lessons. The school has identified this issue and is taking steps to address it.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium make good progress. The school invests wisely in staffing to ensure these pupils receive the support they need. Consequently, most achieve as well as, and sometimes better than, their classmates. In 2014 those in Year 6 were two terms behind all pupils nationally in reading and mathematics, but had caught up in writing. They were a year behind their peers in mathematics, and two terms behind in reading and writing. Current data for Years 5 and 6, show that the gap has closed to less than a term in writing and reading and a term in mathematics because staff are tracking their progress more closely and providing better support.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make similarly good progress and some better progress as a result of extra help, according to need, in class and in groups including the nurture group. Pupils who are at the early stages of learning English make good progress because of the extra help they receive.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 The school acts decisively to support pupils who are at risk of falling behind in their work. Strong leadership from the senior leadership team ensures that well-planned support is effective in speeding up their progress in literacy and numeracy. Parents report high levels of satisfaction with what the school provides for their children.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children make strong progress in all areas of learning in the Nursery. They make excellent progress in Reception and an above-average proportion reached at least the levels expected by the end of the year in 2014. They were very well prepared for Year 1.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The progress made by children who are disabled or have special educational needs is outstanding. The most-able children are also well provided for and staff are very aware of all individuals’ knowledge and skills.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Some of the best progress is seen in children’s social and emotional development, and their vocabulary and speaking skills. This was seen in the vocabulary used by a pupil learning English as an additional language when talking about a train ‘tumbling off the tracks: ‘We need to couple it up and send it off without carriages.’ This is important because these are the weakest areas of development when children start school.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 The setting is extremely calm and purposeful and the environment for learning is expertly organised to excite and motivate children to want to learn. The outdoor area is used very effectively to extend children’s learning. Staff are extremely vigilant to ensure the safety and well-being of the children, who said, ‘We can’t use the wooden planks until the sun has been on them and dried them out!’

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Children have excellent attitudes to learning and their behaviour is outstanding. They listen well and concentrate for long periods of time. They are clearly happy at school and are kept safe. Their health, safety and spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is catered for well.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Teachers make very effective use of their assessments of what the children know and can do in order to plan their next steps. They are used to help to move children’s learning on through exciting activities which help to develop their curiosity and imagination, talking about pictures they had created of sunflowers that have faces of ‘personalities’. Parents are regularly informed about progress and invited to record their comments in the children’s records of learning.

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The early years provision is outstanding

 Leaders succeed in providing the very best start for the children. All show an excellent understanding of the early years curriculum and the importance of meeting the precise needs of every child.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 117183 Local authority Hertfordshire Inspection number 448499

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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 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 225 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Madeleine Honour Headteacher Samantha Jayasuriya Date of previous school inspection 6 May 2010 Telephone number 020 8953 3459 Fax number 020 8953 3459 Email address admin@kenilworth.herts.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 and 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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