Kingsweston School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr Neil Galloway Headteacher Kingsweston School Napier Miles Road Kingsweston Bristol BS11 0UT

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Short inspection of Kingsweston School

Following my visit to the school on 11 April 2018 with Tracy French, Ofsted Inspector, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in July 2014.

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Short inspection of Kingsweston School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in certain areas. This may indicate that the school is improving towards being outstanding. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

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Short inspection of Kingsweston School

Through quiet dogged determination, you and others have built a school where children and their families are at the heart of everything. Your dedicated team of highly professional and skilled staff enables pupils to grow in self-esteem and flourish. Staff are kind, thoughtful and look out for each other too. This is a school where pupils and staff alike enjoy coming to learn and work.

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Short inspection of Kingsweston School

Since the previous inspection, there have been significant changes to the school. The governing body has invested in providing a warm, welcoming, wonderful learning environment. Outdoor areas have been carefully designed, with input from staff and pupils. The play areas contain stimulating and sensory pieces of equipment that are used effectively during break times and when pupils need them during the school day. The forest, horticultural and meadow areas also contribute well to the school’s curriculum. Likewise, inside spaces provide pupils with attractive and carefully thought-through learning areas. For example, glass windows and acoustics have been designed to reduce the sensory impact that pupils find disturbing. The ‘KEEP’ specialist unit is also relatively new. Pupils who receive the specialist therapeutic provision benefit greatly from the expertise and care they receive. However, the building is not of the same high standard as the rest of the school.

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Short inspection of Kingsweston School

Other changes have been made to the staff teams. The ‘team around the child’ provides specialist support for individual children and their families in times of crisis and greatest need. Leadership, management, and governing body roles have been enhanced, so that all staff are held firmly to account and play a fundamental part in the school’s improvements. Further changes are planned. However, you ensure that they are purposeful and done in a manner that is reflective and causes the minimum amount of anxiety for pupils and staff.

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Short inspection of Kingsweston School

In the previous inspection, the school was asked to ensure that secondary-aged pupils who are supported by additional government funding achieve as well as their classmates in English and mathematics. Leaders were also asked to monitor the impact of interventions more rigorously to support pupils’ academic and personal achievement at the host schools. You, the staff and the governing body rose to the challenges set. These previous points for improvement have been successfully accomplished.

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Short inspection of Kingsweston School

You, other leaders and the governing body ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. You and the staff work closely with other agencies to secure the safety and well-being of pupils.

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Short inspection of Kingsweston School

The safeguarding team keeps comprehensive records, which are used to inform those that need to know. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed and monitored, including by the governing body. For example, you rightly regularly check the environment to ensure that it is safe for pupils and staff. You are aware that the ‘KEEP’ building is nearing the end of its life and needs replacing with a suitable building for the pupils that use it. Nevertheless, the school makes appropriate adjustments to mitigate risk.

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Inspection findings

 Our first line of enquiry on this inspection was to see how the school ensures that secondary-aged pupils who are supported by additional funding are doing as well as others nationally from the same starting point. You and other leaders make sure that all pupils’ progress is accurately measured in all areas of the curriculum and in pupils’ personal development and well-being. Staff take great care to record even the small steps that some pupils make. They are vigilant in spotting where progress is, or is potentially, slowing down. They respond quickly, so that pupils make up any lost ground in their learning. The result of their hard work and high ambitions for all pupils means that no group of pupils, regardless of need or funding, slips behind from where they should be. Staff have a comprehensive understanding of each pupil and student in all areas of the curriculum. The governing body receives detailed information about pupils’ and

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Inspection findings

students’ achievement in English and mathematics. This includes information by different groups such as gender and race, by setting and by special educational need. Governors receive less information about other areas of the curriculum. This limits their ability to challenge other subject leaders to the same degree as they rigorously do for English and mathematics.  The second line of enquiry was to see how well you and other leaders monitor the impact of the interventions used at the host schools. The changes that have been made to the leadership teams ensure that monitoring pupils’ and students’ development is strong. Integration in the host mainstream settings is a strength. Pupils have work that is at a level appropriate to them and is matched to the work being undertaken by their classmates. Careful and considered use is made of ‘thinking spaces’ that help pupils to regulate their emotions and reduce their

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Inspection findings

anxieties.  The final line of enquiry looked at the quality and impact of the curriculum provided for older pupils and students. We found that enabling pupils to develop skills that will assist them to lead lives independently of others is at the heart of the school’s curriculum. The curriculum evolves smoothly across all key stages, developing and building upon what pupils have already learned, understand and can do. Mathematics and English skills are threaded through all subjects. This makes pupils and students understand the relevance of skills such as learning their times-tables. You recognise that pupils and students all struggle with mathematical problems that involve words rather than just numbers. A focus in all year groups to address this is helping pupils to grasp what the question is asking of them. As a result, pupils and students are increasingly well prepared for their external examinations.

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Inspection findings

 Work experience is wide ranging and dependent upon what students are interested in. The courses followed by older pupils and students are also varied. Again, they are available based on their interests and are undertaken at the level most appropriate for the individual pupil or student.  You know that some pupils do not attend school as often as they should. You and other leaders know where they are and ensure that they are safe. Your team works hard to increase pupils’ attendance. However, a few pupils are not getting the full rounded education to which they are entitled because of their frequent absences.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:  they continue to work with the local authority and others so that all pupils and students attend school as often as they can so that they get the full education to which they are entitled  the governing body is provided with more detail about the achievements of pupils and students in all subjects.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bristol City. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

We agreed the timetable and activities for the day. We worked extensively with you and other senior leaders throughout the day. We met with other leaders and members of the governing body. We spoke with groups of pupils and observed them during the day. We scrutinised the quality of pupils’ work and observed pupils’ learning in lessons.

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Information about the inspection

We considered a wide range of documentary evidence, including records relating to safeguarding, the quality of teaching, the curriculum, assessment information, the school’s self-evaluation and action plans.

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Information about the inspection

Inspectors visited the Napier Miles site including the ‘KEEP’, along with the co- located provisions at Shirehampton, Brightstowe and Ashley Down.

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Information about the inspection

Inspectors took account of the 13 responses by parents and carers to Ofsted’s online questionnaire Parent View and two emails from parents. The 26 responses by staff and the 22 responses by pupils to Ofsted’s electronic questionnaire were considered. In addition, an inspector spoke with a parent.

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