Setting

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Rachel Mollett Headteacher Kings Avenue School Kings Avenue London SW4 8BQ

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School

Following my visit to your school on 18 May 2021, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the monitoring inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions that have been taken 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(2) 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

This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic began. I discussed the impact of the pandemic with you and have taken that into account in my evaluation.

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School

Having considered the evidence, I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Leaders and those responsible for governance are taking effective action

in order for the school to become a good school .

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Leaders and those responsible for governance are taking effective action

The school should take further action to:

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Leaders and those responsible for governance are taking effective action

 strengthen subject leadership to develop curriculum plans further, to include more opportunities for pupils to debate and to revisit subject knowledge  develop governors’ understanding of their allocated subject curriculums, which will help them to offer more support and challenge to subject leaders.

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Context

A new chair of governors has been in post since December 2020. The local authority appointed a new school improvement partner to work with leaders from November 2020. Governors have brokered support from a local outstanding school. This will take effect from September 2021.

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Main findings

Since the last full inspection, you and your senior leaders have created a culture of reading for pleasure. You develop this further through the English curriculum. Teachers now plan their English lessons around whole-class texts. Staff model reading aloud to their classes every day. Pupils are enthusiastic about the books they read in class and at home. Recently, the school library reopened after its closure due to COVID-19. Pupils enjoy their fortnightly visits.

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Main findings

You have continued to prioritise pupils’ fluency in reading. From Reception onwards, all pupils learn to read using a phonics programme. Teachers check pupils’ progress and provide timely support. Pupils now get extra help with their reading in small- group phonics sessions. They also read aloud to a familiar adult every day. If unsure of a word, they know how to sound out the letters and blend the sounds together. This year, you have ensured that all teachers are trained in teaching phonics.

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Main findings

Since the third national lockdown, subject leaders have built opportunities for debate and discussion into the curriculum. This is because they were concerned that pupils were not speaking accurately when they came back to school. For example, pupils were confusing ‘was’ and ‘were’. Becoming confident speakers is helping pupils to write more accurately. They can write at length and for a variety of purposes and audiences. Pupils now take greater pride in the presentation and volume of their written work.

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Main findings

You continue to work with staff to improve the quality of education. They have rewritten all subject schemes with the aim of aligning them to the national curriculum. New subject leaders would like to tweak their plans further. Rightly, they want to include more opportunities for pupils to debate and to revisit subject knowledge. They would also like to plan together to develop curricular links as well as share ideas with subject leaders in local schools. This collaboration has been more difficult to arrange due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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Main findings

Teachers have improved the way they adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They work with senior leaders to adjust tasks and resources so that all pupils can do well. You have employed specialist staff to support pupils with specific SEND and behavioural needs in class. As part of your plan to improve the quality of education, you want pupils to remember more of what they have learned. Pupils could tell me about all the ways their teachers help them to remember knowledge. However, they were not as confident about recalling precisely what they had learned. Staff now begin each lesson with a revision activity. They identify common gaps in knowledge, which they share with subject leaders. Together, they use this information to deliver a ‘remember more’ day each term. You hope this will help pupils to improve their

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Main findings

ability to recall what they have learned in the future.

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Main findings

Since the additional monitoring inspection in March, you have reviewed the curriculum in art. This term, teachers are filling gaps in pupils’ knowledge through discrete days of art teaching. You plan to introduce a new art curriculum in September.

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Main findings

Governors did not delay in acting on the feedback from the additional monitoring inspection in March 2021. This recommended that they take measures to check what pupils are learning. Now, each member of the governing body has responsibility for a subject area. However, they do not know enough about effective curriculum planning. This could make it difficult for them to challenge and support effectively.

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Additional support

You have received support from the local authority. School improvement partners know the strengths and weaknesses of the school. They understand the barriers that you face. They have helped to enhance reading and have supported work on the quality of education. In recent months, contact has been more limited due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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Evidence

During the inspection, I held meetings with the headteacher, other senior leaders, pupils, staff, subject leaders, members of the governing body and two school improvement partners from the local authority to discuss the actions taken since the last inspection. I visited the early years provision and all classes in key stages 1 and 2, either with members of the senior leadership team or with subject leaders. I looked at pupils’ work while in classrooms and reviewed some documentation provided by the school.

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Evidence

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 reports website. Yours sincerely

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