Setting

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

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Rachel Mollett Kings Avenue School Kings Avenue London SW4 8BQ

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School

Following my visit to your school on 25 April 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the monitoring inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave me and for the time you made available to discuss the actions you are taking to improve the school since the most recent section 5 inspection.

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School

The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005 and has taken place because the school has received two successive judgements of requires improvement at its previous section 5 inspections.

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School

At its section 5 inspection before the one that took place in May 2018, the school was also judged to require improvement.

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School

Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the recent section 5 inspection in order for the school to become good.

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Evidence

During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, members of the governing body, subject leaders and the school improvement adviser from the local authority. I visited all year groups in key stages 1 and 2 to look at learning, either with members of the leadership team or with subject leaders. I also looked at pupils’ work while in classrooms. I spoke to parents and carers at the end of the day and gathered pupils’ views about the school while in classrooms.

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Context

Since the previous inspection, there have been many changes to the school’s staffing. A new headteacher was appointed in September 2018. The executive headteacher and a vice-principal are no longer working at the school. A new deputy headteacher and four new teachers were appointed during the current academic year. The school is no longer part of a hard federation. A new chair of governors was appointed in October 2018.

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Main findings

The newly appointed headteacher has made improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment her main priority. She has an insightful knowledge of the school and provides strong direction with a clear vision. There has been a renewed focus on staff’s professional development, including through team teaching and personalised support for teachers. This is making a substantial difference to the quality of teaching and staff morale.

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Main findings

Parents and carers speak positively about the changes since the arrival of the new headteacher and, more recently, the deputy headteacher. They value leaders’ open- door policy and staff’s positive interactions with them. Parents recognise the improving opportunities that pupils receive through trips, workshops and in their learning.

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Main findings

Senior leaders have taken steps to empower subject leaders to take greater responsibility in their roles. Subject leaders benefit from taking part in more regular monitoring activities, including checking pupils’ work and supporting teachers. As a result, they are beginning to understand the potential of their roles for raising quality of provision and standards. This is particularly the case in English and mathematics, which have been whole-school priorities for improvement. However, other subject leaders are at different stages of development and their effectiveness remains inconsistent.

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Main findings

Following a recent external review, leaders and governors recognise the actions required to improve the school’s use of pupil premium funding. Currently, the school’s analysis does not give the information that leaders need to evaluate the impact of actions taken to raise disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes. Leaders and governors plan to rectify this during the next financial year.

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Main findings

The quality of teaching has improved considerably since the previous inspection. As a result, pupils’ progress and attainment have risen across the school, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Teachers demonstrate strong subject knowledge in English and mathematics. They now provide regular opportunities in mathematics for pupils to reason and discuss their strategies for solving mathematical problems. In English, teachers develop pupils’ understanding of vocabulary effectively, which helps pupils to share their learning with confidence. For example, Year 6 pupils described a character from a story using the words ‘nefarious’ and ‘sinister’. However, at times, adults are not quick to correct pupils’ misconceptions, such as mispronunciation in phonics and incorrect terminology in mathematics.

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Main findings

Teachers are positive role models. The school is a calm and orderly place. Pupils who I spoke to during the inspection told me that behaviour has improved considerably compared to last year. During the inspection, teachers demonstrated typically high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and attitudes. As a result, pupils work diligently and movement across the school is smooth. The quality of pupils’ presentation of their work has improved, particularly in Years 5 and 6. However, in other year groups the standards of pupils’ work is still variable.

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External support

Leaders benefit from decisive local authority support, based on good knowledge of the school. They value the use of school leaders and experienced teachers from local schools to provide additional support. The school had an external review of pupil premium funding in December 2018.

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External support

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

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