King Charles Primary School

Inspection of King Charles Primary School Wilkes Avenue, Bentley, Walsall, West Midlands WS2 0JN

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 11–12 February 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

Every morning at King Charles Primary School, adults provide a warm welcome for pupils and their families. This sets pupils up well for the day and ensures that they are settled and ready to learn.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have high aspirations for their pupils. Pupils feel valued and have positive attitudes to learning. Pupils enjoy learning a wide variety of subjects. They talk enthusiastically about challenges in mathematics. Pupils are particularly proud of the immersion room where they relish learning computing.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff provide lots of chances for pupils to participate in other activities, including cookery club, a debating group and the school choir. Pupils proudly represent the school in sporting events such as the Black Country Games. These opportunities support pupils to develop their talents and interests.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Pupils behave well in lessons and at other times of the day. They are polite, well mannered and respectful to all. Pupils understand the difference between bullying and being unkind. They say that bullying is not tolerated at King Charles. If it ever does happen, teachers deal with it quickly and effectively. Pupils feel safe at school. They have confidence in their teachers to look after them well.

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better?

Leaders and staff have worked together to design a well-sequenced curriculum. Most subjects are well planned. End goals are made clear to pupils before they begin learning anything new. A great emphasis is placed on recapping what pupils have been taught. This is helping pupils remember and know more as they move through the school.

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better?

The mathematics curriculum is well planned. Leaders focus on how mathematics is taught so that pupils acquire deep knowledge and understanding. Practical resources are used consistently across the school to help pupils ‘see the maths’. This enables pupils to explain what they are doing.

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better?

Leaders have made the teaching of early reading a high priority. Staff are well trained to teach phonics. They make sure that pupils practise saying the sounds they are learning as well as writing them down. Books help pupils practise reading the sounds they know. Skilled adults work with pupils at risk of falling behind to help them catch up quickly. Leaders are making changes to the way reading is taught in key stage 2. This is helping pupils build on their early success. Pupils talk confidently about reading and love to share books with each other. Nevertheless, the teaching of the more sophisticated reading skills is in the early stages of development.

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better?

Computing is a strength of the school. The planned curriculum is exciting and ambitious. It challenges pupils from the start. For example, Year 1 pupils design and 11–12 February 2020

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write programs to create a short film sequence. Teachers make good use of the immersion room to bring this and many other subjects to life.

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Most of the time work is well matched to pupils’ abilities. Occasionally, pupils find the work easy to complete and are not challenged quickly enough. Sometimes pupils produce work that is not their best. This is because teachers’ expectations can vary and some do not always keep a close eye on what pupils are doing. This slows the progress pupils make.

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There is a strong committed staff team. Leaders use an ongoing system to develop staff skills and knowledge. Staff value the support and coaching they receive.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are successfully included in school life. Staff are very clear about their needs and know how best to adapt the curriculum for them.

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A highly effective system is in place to check on the progress of pupils who are disadvantaged. As a result, these pupils do well in school and develop confidence.

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Pupils develop their speaking and listening skills from the start. In early years, children enjoy playing and learning together. Relationships are strong. There is good provision for the teaching of early reading, writing and mathematics. Classrooms for early years provide opportunities for children to explore and investigate. Children enjoy their forest school experiences. Overall though, the outside environment for children in early years is not as well developed as the indoors.

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All staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour. In lessons, teachers treat pupils fairly and consistently. Pupils are motivated to behave well by the school’s ‘good to be green’ policy and ‘privilege’ cards.

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Attendance is improving. Staff make sure that pupils and their families understand the importance of good attendance.

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Pupils have lots of opportunities to be active citizens and to contribute to their local community. For example, the school council introduced a safe walking zone around school. Leaders’ work to promote pupils’ understanding of tolerance and respect is strong. Pupils demonstrate this through the kindness they show one another.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff have a good understanding of how to keep pupils safe. They are well trained and understand the issues locally that pose a risk to pupils. Leaders act quickly whenever a concern is raised. They work closely with outside agencies to ensure that vulnerable children and families receive timely help. 11–12 February 2020

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Safer internet work is a real strength. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They carry out sophisticated checking of any website before they use it. Recently appointed ‘keeping safe’ pupil ambassadors work with staff to make sure school is a safe place to be.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In subjects such as mathematics and computing, teachers demonstrate good subject-specific pedagogy. This is not yet the case across the whole curriculum. This holds back learning. Leaders should continue to support staff to develop their subject knowledge so that all curriculum areas, including those promoting the development of more complex skills, particularly in reading, are taught consistently well.  Teachers’ expectations vary and some do not keep a close enough eye on what pupils are doing. This means that some pupils occasionally produce work that is not their very best. Leaders should support teachers to increase the level of challenge for pupils. They also should ensure that teachers systematically check what pupils understand and provide appropriate help when needed.  The outdoor learning environment does not reflect the strong learning opportunities offered in the early years classrooms. This means that children do

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

not learn so well when they are outside. Leaders should further develop the outside learning environment so that pupils engage in a wide range of learning opportunities.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 11–12 February 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10132949 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 13–14 July 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Bentley Federation, consisting of two primary schools and a children’s centre.  The school has expanded to two-form entry.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

 We undertook deep dives in the following subjects: reading, mathematics, science, history and computing. We talked to curriculum leaders about how these subjects are planned and taught, visited lessons, talked to teachers, looked at pupils’ work and talked to pupils about their learning in these subjects.  We talked to pupils about their learning and experiences in school.  We met with the principal of the federation, the head of school, lead teachers and subject leaders for English, mathematics, history, science, computing and physical education. We met with the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) to discuss provision for pupils with SEND. 11–12 February 2020

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 We held discussions with three governors, including the chair and vice-chair of the governing body. We also had a telephone discussion with a representative of the local authority.  We met with groups of teachers to discuss how they are supported to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including school policies, curriculum documents, safeguarding information (including the checks that leaders make on staff prior to employment), minutes of governors’ meetings, and published information about pupils’ performance. The school website was also scrutinised.  We spoke to parents at the start of both days of the inspection and at the end of the first day. We considered the 12 responses to Parent View and the 10 free-text responses. We also considered the 24 responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Nicola Harwood, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Deborah Allen Ofsted Inspector 11–12 February 2020

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regulates and inspects to 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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