Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre

Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre Knighton Fields Road West, Leicester LE2 6LG

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Overall effectiveness Good

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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This is a good school

 The headteacher and senior leadership team have successfully raised the quality of teaching since the last inspection and have had a significant impact on lifting teachers’ and pupils’ expectations.  Pupils’ progress is accelerating so that they now now make good progress in all year groups.  Year 1 pupils reach above average standards in the national phonics (the link between sounds and letters) screening check.  The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Teachers consistently offer helpful feedback so that pupils know how to improve. They share good practice to sharpen their own teaching skills.  Children in the early years make good progress and achieve well.  Additional government funding for disadvantaged pupils is used very effectively. The gaps between the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and their classmates have closed in all subjects.  Subject leaders make weekly checks on teachers’

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This is a good school

plans and monitor how this helps pupils to make good progress.  Pupils’ personal development and welfare are good. Pupils receive effective support and this helps them to grow in confidence and become responsible learners.  Governors have improved and developed their skills. They are active in the school and frequently visit to listen to pupils’ views. Safety retains a high priority.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Pupils’ attendance remains low and is well below national expectations.  Pupils are not challenged to achieve as well as they could in all subjects, particularly, the most- able pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ attendance so that it is at the national average.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve pupils’ achievement in all subjects by ensuring that teachers consistently provide challenging tasks, particularly for the most able.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Leaders and governors have placed a high emphasis on recruiting talented new staff into the school and have ensured that the quality of teaching, learning and assessment are good in all classes. They have raised staff expectations of what is possible and this has had a positive impact on pupils’ own beliefs of what they can do.  Leaders provide good support for teachers. Through effective teaching teams, newer members of staff are helped to improve their practice. Regular meetings and weekly planning checks have contributed to the rise in the quality of teaching.  Leaders have an accurate view of the school’s strengths and focus school plans around areas identified for further improvement. Checks on reading and comprehension have been improved and have made sure that pupils routinely practise spellings in school and at home. This has boosted literacy achievements and more pupils than previously now reach levels expected for their age.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Leaders are committed to helping pupils to improve and have successfully implemented the new marking policy which is used by every member of staff. Pupils understand that they can respond to comments in the ‘bubble’ to help themselves to improve, and although several do, this is not yet fully engrained in all classes. Leaders are keen for pupils to be involved in assessing their own and others’ learning and accept that this strategy is still in its early stages.  The school is a friendly, generally harmonious, community where pupils get along well together. Pupils are treated equally and feel valued and respected by adults. They in turn show their respect and regard for each other and discrimination is uncommon.  The range of subjects provides good opportunities for pupils to learn, develop and use their skills. Topics attract pupils’ interest and teachers share plans to incorporate a variety of activities to enhance pupils’ skills

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

and experiences. Parents are regularly involved through workshops and keep well informed of how schoolwork is assessed. For example, in Year 1 pupils learned about British kings and queens and produced good-quality writing about what they would do if they were a monarch. This moved into creating portraits and developing their artistic skills, while deepening their knowledge of British history. Rising levels of interest and engagement have contributed to rising progress in all subjects.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well. It is particularly committed to developing pupils’ personal and social skills and to expanding their experiences of life in Britain. Pupils in Years 2 and 5 benefit from residential trips to different outdoor education venues and all Year 6 pupils have the opportunity to go on a residential visit to London.  The additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is used effectively. Pupils have access to many school trips

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

and gaps in attainment are quickly closing across most years. These pupils make good progress, and in many areas their progress is more rapid than that of their peers in school.  The additional funding for primary sports and physical education (PE) is used well. Pupils participate in a wide range of sports through the city school sports partnership and after-school clubs and activities run by specialist coaches. Staff receive training from a specialist PE adviser and this allows them to lead sessions in school with greater confidence and skill.  Parents are supportive of the school and have a regular presence there through workshops and early morning drop-in activities to support their children in class.  The local authority provides effective support through visits and offers sharp, specific improvement advice that has helped to improve the school still further.  The governance of the school Governors have reviewed their skills and their work with the school since the last inspection. The Chairs

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

of each of the three sub committees now meet as a steering group, to make sure that information is quickly shared and acted on. Governors are linked with specific school leaders and each has a key area to focus on for every visit to the school. Governors understand the new assessment systems and ask targeted questions about pupils’ progress. They are keen to see how new initiatives, such as the specialist mathematics teacher interventions, are helping pupils to improve their understanding and skills. Governors keep a close eye on how pupil premium funds are spent and see where there is most impact on the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. They match the appointments of specialist staff with the successful closure of in-school learning gaps for these pupils in each year group. As a result, Year 6 now make better progress than their peers in reading and writing. Governors understand the school’s strengths and areas where it could improve further and contribute to

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

the school improvement plan. They encourage the development of staff and see how additional sports funding is used to boost teachers’ skills in delivering gymnastics to pupils. Governors oversee the popular breakfast club and how it provides a positive venue for pupils to build and enhance their social skills and be in school ready to learn each day. Rigorous systems are in place for the management for staff performance. Governors hold staff to account and have supported the headteacher in eradicating poor performance.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders create a safe environment where pupils feel supported and safe. The school has extensive, very well established partnerships with a variety of external agencies and support for those who need it is readily made available. Staff and governor training is sharply up to date and parents are kept well informed of safeguarding arrangements and policies through the

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

school’s website. Staff understand their role in keeping pupils safe and governors dedicate visits to check that pupils feel safe. Governors know exactly what to do if a safeguarding concern is raised.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 The quality of teaching is now good in the majority of classes across the school, leading to good rates of progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  Teachers and supporting adults know exactly what pupils need to help them learn. The additional input of the school’s behaviour and learning mentors helps pupils both within and outside the classroom. Highly skilled teaching assistants lead extra support and booster sessions. This enables pupils with additional learning needs, those who are disadvantaged and the most able to learn effectively and make good progress. Pupils commenting on their learning admit that work is not always hard enough and school leaders accept that this is an area which is currently being addressed through the teaching teams.  Teachers use colourful resources to capture pupils’ interest and engage them in the lesson. Year 2 pupils learning about capacity in mathematics gasped when the teacher filled differently shaped containers with

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

coloured water projected onto a screen. They were amazed that each had the same capacity and went on to learn about volume and assign litres and millilitres as units.  Adults know every pupil well and positive relationships underpin the family feel of the school as a community. Pupils joining part way through the year settle easily and quickly become part of the productive learning environment in every classroom. Pupils take pride in the presentation of their work and try hard to achieve the accolade of a pen licence for producing consistently neat handwriting.  Pupils read well and enjoy reading both in and out of school. They make good use of the well-stocked school library and strive to gain a reward for the amount of time spent reading outside class. Lessons provide many opportunities to read and improve spellings and grammar. Because of this, pupils make good progress and now reach average standards in reading.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Pupils are excited by a new approach to homework and speak passionately about their learning logs. Work is regularly set and enhances pupils’ classwork. An example is the excellent quality representations of Ghanaian masks produced by Year 5 pupils learning about Africa. Pupils and parents express their support and commitment to this approach.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  Pupils say that they feel safe in school and know how to keep themselves safe online and outside school. Pupils have several adults who they can turn to if they have any worries or concerns and value the nurture room where they are welcomed at break and lunchtimes. The school’s growing ‘nurture, learn, achieve’ ethos, is a key contributor to this.  Pupils’ emotional well-being is at the heart of the school’s work and adults work closely to provide extra support for pupils who are most in need. An example of this is the ‘positive people’ group of Key Stage 2 pupils who meet with the behaviour mentor on two to three mornings each week at the start of the school day. This helps to raise their self esteem and belief that they can succeed. Staff agree that the size of the school allows them to get to know each individual pupil. They use this knowledge to great effect when

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Personal development and welfare

supporting those with additional needs. Because of this, pupils develop confidence, and learn and achieve well.  Pupils participate in many sporting activities. They understand the importance of staying healthy and many enjoy the morning ‘wake and shake’ sessions and virtual dance and aerobics activities accessible for all abilities.  Pupils understand how British values relate to everyday life and show this through their actions and attitudes towards each other. They learn about the beliefs and cultures of others living in Britain today through topic work, assemblies and visits to mosques and Hindu temples.  Pupils are increasingly encouraged to reflect on their learning and to embrace more responsibility for helping themselves to grow and develop. Older pupils have a good understanding of how to be successful and show their positive desires to succeed when they leave to take up their secondary places.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.  Pupils’ attendance remains low in spite of a slight increase this year. Also, a small number of pupils regularly arrive late to school. The attendance officer and parent link worker are aware of this and together with school leaders have identified this as a high priority for the school.  Pupils have positive attitudes towards their learning and the majority show their determination to get things right and listen attentively in class.  Pupils generally get along with each other well and treat each other and staff with courtesy and consideration. Pupils look smart in their uniforms and follow the whole-school drive to present their work neatly and with care.  Inspectors saw very little off-task behaviour and low-level disruption in lessons or around the school. Pupils themselves say that behaviour varies and accept that there are others with additional needs, who sometimes

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Behaviour

find it hard to be calm. They say that adults are consistent in handling poor behaviour and understand the importance of ‘good to be green’ in line with the school policy.  Staff and parents who responded to questionnaires all agreed that behaviour in the school is generally good and that bullying is quickly and effectively dealt with by the headteacher. This is echoed in the school’s own behaviour records.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 Pupils now make good progress throughout the school from their low starting points and achieve well in each key stage. Results of national tests in the past show that Year 6 pupils have sustained their good progress in writing. In mathematics and reading there had been a dip in results. This was partly due to a small number of pupils with very specific, additional needs and more pupils joining and leaving the class during the year. Current Year 6 pupils now make good progress in each subject.  Attainment has risen steadily through Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 and pupils currently in Years 2 and 6 are on track to reach average standards and outperform their classmates from the previous year in reading, writing and mathematics. School information indicates that more pupils now edge towards higher levels in their reading, writing and mathematics. School leaders are keen to ensure that pupils’ knowledge is secure

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Outcomes for pupils are good

before moving them up to higher bands of achievement. There has been a drive to enhance literacy skills and this has contributed to their improved results.  In 2015, more pupils than previously reached higher levels in each subject. The most-able pupils are identified in class and increasingly given more challenging work to tackle. This is becoming more widespread in several classes, but is not yet securely practised across the school.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability make good progress in line with their peers in school. They receive sharply tailored help and support and are fully included in all activities  In previous years, disadvantaged pupils in Year 6 have made progress broadly in line with their peers. Their best successes were in reading and writing, where higher proportions of pupils made more than expected progress. Their attainment improved and compared with the previous year, in-school gaps in reading closed,

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Outcomes for pupils are good

while in other subjects they widened slightly. Following a review of pupil premium spending, funding has been directed more effectively to provide the support of a skilled mathematics teacher and develop the expertise of teaching assistants. This has contributed to escalating progress for disadvantaged pupils and they now outperform their peers in reading, writing and mathematics in many year groups.  The teaching of phonics is good and for the first time in recent years, pupils reach above average standards in the national phonics screening check.  Standards are now rising across the school because there is a greater emphasis on challenge and raising expectations. However, leaders and governors agree that there is potential for pupils to be challenged more consistently so that they accomplish their very best.

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Early years provision is good

 Children in the early years enter from a wide range of pre-school experiences and settings. Half of the Reception children have come from the Nursery class. They enter with skills and abilities which are well below those expected for their age, and reach a good level of development which is close to the national figure.  The early years staff quickly get to know the children and those most in need receive good support within a nurture group. This helps them to feel cared for and safe early on and children settle more easily into school life.  Children enjoy learning and show their enthusiasm and interest in activities set out inside and outdoors. Adults particularly encourage the development of speech and language. They make good use of the three story sheds where children dress up and role play as different characters from ‘Goldilocks’, ‘The three little pigs’ or ‘The billy goats’ stories.  Adults’ expectations are high and children know the difference between good and poor behaviour. Good

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Early years provision is good

routines are established early on such as waiting to take turns with resources. As a result, children have positive attitudes to learning and behave well towards each other.  The quality of teaching is typically good and actively supported by the early years leader who meets regularly with the early years and Year 1 staff. This collaboration allows staff to share information on how well children are achieving and to adapt and modify their plans to ensure that progress is even in all areas.  Leadership of the early years is good. As the Year 1 class teacher, the early years leader checks to ensure that children acquire secure and appropriate knowledge by the time that they are ready to start their Key Stage 1 work.  Staff welcome parents into the setting and offer daily insights into how well children are performing. Many parents spend the start of each day in class with their children and attend workshops run by the school so

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Early years provision is good

that they are better equipped to support children with their early development.

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School details

Unique reference number 120066 Local authority Leicester Inspection number 10009109

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School details

This inspection 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 Jill Gray Headteacher Helen Tarokh Telephone number 0116 2330666 Website www.knightonfields.leicester.sch.uk Email address office@knightonfields.leicester.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 15 January 2014

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are of White British heritage and speak English as their first language. Several smaller groups come from a number of different ethnic backgrounds.  The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and supported through the pupil premium is twice that found nationally. The pupil premium is additional government funding to support pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and those who are in the care of the local authority.  The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs or disability is above the national average.  The early years consists of children in the Nursery and Reception years who are taught in two classes. The Nursery children attend school part time, in the mornings only.  More pupils than is seen nationally, leave and join the school at different times during the year.  The school runs a daily breakfast club which is overseen by the governing body.

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Information about this school

 The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which are the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.  Since the last inspection, there has been a high turnover of teaching staff.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 11 lessons and seven additional support sessions for phonics, reading, mathematics speech and language development. One was jointly seen with the headteacher.  Inspectors observed support in class for pupils who need additional help with their learning, listened to pupils read and observed activities at the start of the school day. An inspector visited the breakfast club and listened to pupils’ views and experiences.  Inspectors spoke informally with parents at the start of the inspection and took note of their views through the 14 responses to the online survey, Parent View.  Inspectors met with two different groups of pupils at lunchtime and spoke informally to several around the school. Inspectors reviewed the results of the survey completed by 79 pupils during the inspection.  Staff returned 17 questionnaires and these were analysed to gain their views of the school.  The lead inspector met with three governors, the headteacher, senior and middle leaders and spoke with

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Information about this inspection

a school adviser. Discussions were also held with the school’s coordinator for pupils who have special educational needs or disability.  Inspectors checked school documentation on attendance and behaviour and looked closely at pupils’ current progress and the monitoring of safeguarding. They looked at records of governors’ meetings and how the school manages staff performance.

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Inspection team

Aune Turkson-Jones, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Yvonne Watts Ofsted Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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Inspection team

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, further education and skills, 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. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Inspection team

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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

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