St Keyna Primary School

St Keyna Primary School Monmouth Road, Keynsham, Bristol BS31 2JP

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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 Outstanding

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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’s unswerving commitment to developing the emotional well-being of pupils permeates the school. She has established a highly cohesive school community in which pupils develop a strong sense of self-worth.  Senior leaders and governors are working very effectively to drive improvement. They share the headteacher’s aspirations for excellence and are resolute in their actions to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.  The attainment of current pupils in the school reflects an improving trend. This is ensuring that pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their education.  The gap between the outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and other pupils nationally is closing.  The school’s curriculum provides rich opportunities for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.  Good teaching and clear explanations from teachers help pupils to believe that they can

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This is a good school

achieve. This approach successfully supports pupils making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics.  High-quality teaching in the early years ensures that children have an excellent start to their school life.  Pupils are extremely well mannered. They behave exceptionally well. Their highly positive attitudes to learning have contributed to the good progress they make.  Pupils make an excellent contribution to the life of the school and the wider community.  The school is justifiably held in high regard by many parents and carers who say that their children are safe and exceptionally well cared for.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Some teaching does not challenge pupils to think deeply enough.  Levels of attendance, although improving, are still below the national average.  Not all teachers are rigorous in ensuring that pupils apply their spelling strategies whenever they write.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Strengthen the quality of teaching, learning and assessment by ensuring that teachers: make sure that pupils apply the rules of spelling more consistently to all aspects of their learning and not just their English work challenge and extend pupils’ thinking to deepen their knowledge and understanding, particularly for some of the most-able pupils.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve senior leaders’ and governors’ leadership of the school, by: ensuring that all pupils attend school more regularly so that overall attendance at least matches the national average.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 The headteacher’s resolute focus on ensuring that all pupils have high aspirations of what they can achieve in their lives and of what they can contribute to society has brought about a sea change in the school. All members of the school community agree that the school has been transformed since the previous inspection.  Pupils’ understanding of the fundamental British values of democracy, tolerance and respect are strong because these values are reinforced throughout every aspect of school life. Pupils have a deep understanding of diversity and equality. This helps them to learn together and from each other to achieve their very best. Pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.  Within the new leadership structure, the headteacher is ably supported by two deputy headteachers. Together they are proving to be a highly effective team to improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment throughout the school. As a result, the majority of pupils now make good progress.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

 Staff training has been a significant factor in strengthening the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. As a result, standards in writing have improved significantly. Teachers and support staff speak positively about the school’s appraisal system and how it helps them to contribute to the school’s wider improvement. All staff who responded to the online questionnaire agreed that professional development supported their improvement.  Leaders have an accurate view of the school’s effectiveness and where further work is required. They are meticulous in tracking pupils’ achievements and make regular checks on pupils’ books and on how well they are learning in lessons. These steps allow leaders to pinpoint, exactly, where improvement is needed for particular groups and individuals. This work has led to an improvement in pupils’ attainment throughout the school. For example, the proportion of children in the early years achieving a good level of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

development has been above the national average for the last two years and this trend is set to continue.  School leaders and governors carefully check the use and impact of additional funding allocated to support disadvantaged pupils. Current information about pupils’ achievement demonstrates that this support is having the desired effect and the attainment gap is closing for these pupils.  School leaders are committed to ensuring that pupils’ learning is based on a range of rich, first-hand and memorable learning experiences. These successfully promote pupils’ curiosity and help them to develop spiritually, morally, socially and culturally. Pupils spoke enthusiastically about their topic on Greece. They were able to explain how Grecian women could not vote, which pupils felt was unfair. They related this to their work on equality which demonstrated a good application of their subject knowledge and

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

understanding.  The school works relentlessly to involve parents in their children’s education. The vast majority of parents and carers speak very highly of the school’s work. They are especially complimentary about how well staff at the school know their children.  The school uses the additional sports funding to provide a very good range of sporting activities during and after school. Pupils make good progress in physical education because of the very clear and innovative assessment strategies employed by the physical education teacher. He has taken concerted action to improve the participation of disadvantaged pupils in sport. This initiative, together with a consultation on what sports the pupils would like, has led to over three quarters of all pupils in the school engaging in at least one sporting club.  Leaders have taken robust and decisive action to improve attendance. This has been particularly effective

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

in reducing the proportion of pupils who are persistently absent. Leaders have adopted a strong stance towards the non-authorisation of holidays in term time. This has resulted in the desired improvements in attendance.  Parents were overwhelmingly positive about the school’s work. All those who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, would recommend the school to others.  The local authority has provided good support for the school. The brokered support from a local leader in education and the secondment of an experienced and talented senior leader has enabled the school to make accelerated progress.  The previous changes in staffing left a legacy of underachievement for some pupils, especially in Year 6. Quality teaching and carefully planned individual and small-group support in this year group is now successfully closing the achievement gap for these pupils.  The governance of the school

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Effectiveness of leadership and management is good

Governors have a good understanding of pupils’ achievement in comparison with the national picture. They speak knowledgeably about progress of specific groups and actions taken by the school to address gaps in pupils’ progress. Governors have a clear understanding of the quality of teaching in the school and support leaders to strengthen this through their challenging questions. Governors understand the links between teachers’ pay progression and achievement and use an effective approach in making decisions about pay. Governors check how funds for pupils eligible for the additional government funding, pupil premium, are being used to close any gaps in these pupils’ learning. They are also effective in checking that expenditure of sports funding is used to good effect.  The arrangements for safeguarding are effective and consistently well implemented by all staff. The school works well with parents to maintain a safe and welcoming school environment.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 Senior leaders’ decisive action since the previous inspection has led to improvement in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. It is now consistently good and is excellent in the early years. Pupils’ work and the school’s regular assessment of their attainment and progress show that all year groups are making more rapid progress than in the recent past. Any gaps in pupils’ learning caused by some previously weaker teaching have been closed for the majority of pupils.  Reading skills, including phonics (letters and the sounds they make), are taught well. This is reflected in the above-average attainment of children in Reception and pupils in Year 1. Effective use of time is made in the school’s breakfast club and ‘nurture group’ for adults to listen to pupils read. This ensures that all pupils are having regular opportunities to read. As a result, pupils’ reading skills and confidence are

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

soaring.  Pupils take great pride in their handwriting. The school’s handwriting policy is rigorously applied, particularly in key stage 2. As a result, pupils are developing a fluent cursive writing style.  There have been significant improvements in pupils’ writing quality since the previous inspection. Teachers’ marking and feedback to pupils supports their good progress in writing and mathematics. Teachers provide pupils with clear explanations so that the vast majority of them know how to improve their work to achieve their very best. Pupils take great pride in their work and enjoy writing at length. Standards of writing in Year 2 are particularly high.  The teaching of mathematics has also improved since the previous inspection. All teachers plan using the new national curriculum expectations and many are providing frequent opportunities in mathematics lessons for pupils to apply their skills through reasoning and problem solving activities.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

 High-quality teaching in physical education helps pupils to make good progress. For example, in a gymnastics lesson a video clip was used effectively to demonstrate skills for pupils to practise. Regular checks on pupils’ learning ensured that pupils made exceptional progress during the session. Pupils were motivated to succeed and used the ‘steps to success’ guidance provided by the teacher to challenge themselves. The teacher’s effective use of praise and demonstration ensured that pupils refined their movements to achieve their very best.  Teaching assistants are skilled and well trained. They make a valuable contribution to pupils’ progress.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability are included fully in lessons and are supported well in their learning. They also benefit from working in small groups. The positive relationships with adults and each other promote pupils’ confidence and belief in themselves. As a result, they become

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

resilient and resourceful in overcoming barriers to their learning and personal development.  Teachers have good subject knowledge and modify the curriculum creatively to plan topics and themes that hold pupils’ interest. As a result, pupils are motivated to do their very best. They respond well to teachers’ advice and this accelerates their progress.  Homework makes a good contribution to pupils’ learning. Pupils are particularly enthusiastic about the half-termly homework projects they do with their families. Pupils say this helps them to learn. The homework club ensures that every pupil has the opportunity to get support from an adult on home learning tasks.  Teachers’ focus on English grammar, punctuation and spelling has been effective in raising standards across the school. Pupils’ test results, their skills books and extended writing books show that pupils are developing in their knowledge and understanding effectively. However, teachers do not have such high

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

expectations for pupils writing in other areas of the curriculum. This sometimes prevents pupils, particularly some of the most able, from deepening their learning and making even better progress. Teachers do not move pupils’ learning on quickly enough once new skills and knowledge have been developed in subjects other than English and mathematics.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. The high-quality provision within the school has enabled pupils to flourish and catch up quickly.  The safeguarding of pupils is a priority. Pupils of all ages speak knowledgeably about keeping safe. This is because aspects of safety feature strongly in the school’s curriculum. For example, in a nurture group session with pupils from key stage 1 the teacher led a discussion about the use of matches. Pupils were able to talk about why it is unsafe for them to play with matches and what to do if they see someone else playing with them.  The school provides excellent opportunities for pupils to share any worries they might have with an adult. Pupils say that the counselling and support the school provides helps them to overcome personal difficulties. Pupils read regularly to a pet therapy dog. This strategy successfully supports those pupils

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Personal development and welfare

who need particular encouragement to read in addition to the one-to-one support they receive. These strategies support pupils’ well-being and help support their readiness to learn.  Leaders are relentless in ensuring good-quality care for those pupils who need additional support. Strong working partnerships with other agencies such as social care help to ensure the safety and well-being of pupils. Well-trained specialists in emotional and mental well-being provide good support for pupils. Carefully planned transition programmes for Year 6 pupils ensure that the secondary schools are well informed about the learning needs of pupils. This helps pupils to be ready for the next stage of their education.  Planned activities prepare pupils exceptionally well for life beyond school. In a school house activity, older pupils taught younger pupils about healthy eating and the importance of a balanced diet. Pupils illustrated

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Personal development and welfare

one aspect of the ‘Unicef Children’s Rights Charter’ and considered the difference between what we ‘want’ and what we ‘need’. Pupils were able to speak knowledgeably about basic human needs such as the need for food, water and shelter.  Governors have ensured the effective use of resources to promote personal development and well-being. The school employs a well-trained team of professionals to support pupils and their families. As a result, any barriers to learning that pupils encounter have been reduced, if not eliminated, so that most pupils are able to thrive and achieve well. Pupils say they feel safe from bullying and are very confident that staff would quickly sort things out should an issue arise.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is outstanding. The school’s work in this area is used as a model of good practice by the local authority. As a result, leaders at St Keyna have supported other schools in developing effective behaviour management systems.  The school provides a very nurturing and orderly learning environment where the focus on learning and well-being is strong. Pupils’ work is highly valued and celebrated through attractive displays which pupils say helps them to try hard and raises their aspirations.  Pupils come to school smart and ready to learn. They wear their uniforms with pride and demonstrate great care and respect for the environment within and beyond the school grounds. The school’s active ‘green team’ helps to maintain the profile of important environmental issues.  High-quality relationships and mutual respect equip pupils well to be responsible citizens. Their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is highly developed. The school council and the house captain

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Behaviour

system support pupils’ developing understanding of democracy. Some pupils take part in a ‘paint pals’ initiative where they visit a local home for the elderly and work together with residents on art projects. This work supports pupils’ understanding of others and enables them to make valuable contributions to the wider community.  Pupils’ attitudes towards their learning are extremely positive. They listen attentively to adults and demonstrate great resilience when working independently or in small groups. No time is lost in lessons because they are excited by the work that they are set. Pupils are prepared to work hard to achieve their goals. For example, in a Year 4 computer programming session pupils worked in pairs supporting each other to create an obstacle course for a robot to navigate. They set each other challenges, willingly shared their ideas and listened attentively to one another.  Pupils are extremely proud of and keen to contribute to the work of the school. They are provided with a

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Behaviour

wealth of opportunities to develop their leadership skills and take on responsibility. For example, a group of pupils have spoken at the Bath Guildhall in the ‘pupils’ parliament’. A team of pupils in an assembly presented to parents on the progress of the school since the previous inspection. Pupils recently led a whole assembly entitled ‘It takes allsorts to make a world’ where they shared their understanding of prejudice by celebrating the achievements of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender celebrities.  Attendance has improved and the number of persistent absences has greatly reduced. Attendance is still slightly below the national average. However, the school is working closely with families who find it a challenge to ensure that their children attend regularly.

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Outcomes for pupils are good

 The majority of pupils are making good progress from their starting points. The legacy of pupils’ underachievement is being successfully eliminated. Throughout the school, pupils’ work and the school’s accurate assessments of their achievements show a positive trend in improvement.  From their very low starting points in Nursery, particularly in language and communication skills, children achieve above average outcomes at the end of their Reception year. Almost a quarter of the children currently in the Reception class are on track to make better than expected progress.  In Year 1, all pupils make expected progress with many making better than expected progress. They achieved above the national average in the phonics screening checks.  Attainment at key stage 1 has been slightly below the national average. However, the improved quality of teaching, learning and assessment is having a positive impact. Work in books and the school’s accurate

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Outcomes for pupils are good

assessment data indicates that pupils are making good progress in reading and mathematics. Most are on track to achieve broadly in line with the national average by the end of the year. Standards in writing are on track to be slightly above the national average. This represents good achievement for this group of pupils based on their starting points at the end of their early years experience.  An increasing number of pupils are being identified as most able as a result of improvements in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. These pupils are making good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. They are achieving the high standards that they are capable of making.  The gap between the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and all pupils nationally is closing rapidly. The performance of these pupils in the 2015 tests was broadly in line with all pupils nationally.  Pupils who have special educational needs or disability make at least good progress from their starting

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Outcomes for pupils are good

points. Teachers ensure that pupils with extremely complex needs have their emotional needs effectively supported and this ensures they, too, make good academic progress.

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Early years provision is outstanding

 Outcomes for children have improved since the previous inspection. Children make excellent progress in all areas of learning. Leaders have ensured that the areas for development identified in the early years in the previous inspection have been effectively addressed. This has resulted in children making excellent progress compared to the good progress of others in the school.  Leaders ensure that children get off to a flying start to their learning through their effective liaison with parents. Home visits and close partnerships ensure that children have a seamless start to school. During the inspection, children were seen skipping to school and almost running into the classroom, beaming and eager to learn.  In 2014, three quarters of the children entered the school with skills and knowledge below that typical for their age. High-quality teaching resulted in a greater proportion of these children attaining a good level of

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Early years provision is outstanding

development than those nationally. This trend continued in 2015. The proportion of children who exceed expected progress continues to increase so that children are exceptionally well prepared to move on to Year 1.  Teachers in both the Nursery and the Reception class have high expectations of what children can do. Sessions are thoughtfully prepared, drawing on the children’s interests. When different-aged children learn together, staff skilfully intervene to extend children’s thinking skills. Often, children’s listening and communication skills are not well developed when they start Nursery. Staff use good-quality vocabulary and a calm, gentle manner to engage the children in their learning.  Children make large gains in developing their self-confidence and readiness to learn. The children learn in a stimulating, well-resourced environment where they engage confidently with adults and each other.

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Early years provision is outstanding

Adults ensure that nursery pupils have plenty of opportunity to work alongside Reception children which further aids the strong development of their communication skills. Where pupils need specific language support, the school’s own speech therapist works with the children and supports staff in ensuring that gaps in any aspect of learning are quickly resolved and do not become barriers to learning.  The abundance of inviting learning resources are deployed effectively to capture children’s attention. For example, enticing materials to promote children’s writing are readily available in lots of activity areas and are used well by the children when practising their writing skills.  The outside area provides an equally stimulating environment. A group of boys enjoyed pouring water down some guttering and trying to capture it below, ‘It’s all run out, we need more water,’ they cried! They listened to each other and cooperated well to collect more water. Another group of children worked

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Early years provision is outstanding

well together to ‘mend the bikes’ with a handy box of tools.  Clear routines and teacher’s high expectations result in children behaving extremely well. Where children have difficulties managing their behaviour, they are well supported by adults to remain focused on their learning and not to distract others.  Children demonstrate high levels of concentration, thinking and perseverance. For example, at the start of the day a Nursery child was using pincers to collect and sort fruit into bowls. Another child started to join in this activity. They worked together and attempted to count the different types of fruit and giggled with delight when adding, ‘another one’ and, ‘more, more’.  Phonics is taught well. Pupils have opportunities to practise writing their name and other words, for example during self-registration. Writing books reviewed by inspectors show that the most-able pupils were being appropriately challenged and were able to write several sentences with phonetically plausible

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Early years provision is outstanding

spellings.  Staff are thorough in their approach to safeguarding children. The learning environment is an extremely well organised and safe place for children to learn. Staff work carefully and sensitively with parents at all times. Staff make sure that children’s personal and emotional needs are developed alongside their academic needs. Children feel very safe and their positive attitudes to tackling new activities and growing resilience are extremely impressive.  Parents and carers value the information they receive about their child’s learning. They appreciate how teachers involve them in their child’s learning and say that teachers are very approachable.

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School details

Unique reference number 134917 Local authority Bath and North East Somerset Inspection number 10012347

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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 Maintained Age range of pupils 3–11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 243 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Christine Jorgensen Headteacher Adrienne Hughes Telephone number 0117 9863852 Website www.stkeynaprimary.co.uk Email address stkeyna_pri@bathnes.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 28–29 January 2014

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Information about this school

 St Keyna Primary School is an average-sized primary school.  The vast majority of pupils come from White British backgrounds.  The early years provision is part time in the Nursery and full time in the Reception class.  Both the proportion of pupils who need special educational needs support and the proportion of those who have disability or a special educational needs statement or education, health and care plan are above the national average.  The proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged and supported by the pupil premium is above the national average. The pupil premium is additional funding for those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals and those children who are looked after by the local authority.  There is an on-site breakfast club and after-school club, managed by the governing body which formed part of the inspection.  The school has received support from a local leader of education who is the headteacher of Batheaston

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Information about this school

Primary School.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress in English and mathematics.

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Information about this inspection

 There was one inspector on day one of the inspection and three inspectors on day two.  Inspectors observed learning in all year groups and classes. A short number of visits to classrooms were made to look at pupils’ work in their books and the range of activities on offer to pupils. The lead inspector jointly observed learning with the headteacher. Inspectors also observed an assembly, breakfast club, lunch and playtimes and the arrival and departure of pupils at the beginning and end of the school day.  Inspectors met with representatives of the governing body, a representative of the local authority and the local leader of education who has been supporting the school.  Inspectors met with a large group of parents and took into account 46 responses to Parent View (Ofsted’s confidential online questionnaire). They also took account of 28 responses to the online staff questionnaire.  Inspectors also met with groups of pupils and heard a further group read. They spoke with pupils on the

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Information about this inspection

playground and in lessons.  Inspectors spoke with a group of subject leaders.  Inspectors looked at a range of documentation, including senior leaders’ areas for improvement, information on pupils’ progress and records relating to attendance, safety and welfare.

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Inspection team

Tracy Hannon, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector Martin Bragg, team inspector Ofsted Inspector Dawn Breeze, team inspector 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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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