Kenilworth Primary School

Inspection of Kenilworth Primary School Kenilworth Drive, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire WD6 1QL

p.1

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 Requires improvement 27 and 28 April 2022

p.1

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this caring school. They value the warm and friendly ethos. Pupils are polite, kind and respectful to one another and to adults. Pupils feel listened to. They know that staff care about their learning and their well-being.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe. They say that adults are always there to help them and keep them safe. The school’s vision statement, ‘high aspirations today, inspiring the leaders of tomorrow’, permeates school life.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate their teachers, and they enjoy learning. Pupils experience a broad and rich curriculum which prepares them well for the next stage of their education

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils conduct themselves well around school. Pupils play happily together during their breaktimes. Pupils say that they can talk to adults if they need help, and that bullying is dealt with swiftly if it occurs.

p.2

What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and pupils enjoy looking after animals and growing vegetables. A good range of clubs is on offer, including art, typing and climbing, which broaden pupils’ interests. Pupils make a positive contribution to school life through leadership roles that develop their interests. These include organising playground games, serving as eco-councillors and house captains and helping to collect eggs from the chickens.

p.2

better?

Leaders and governors want pupils to achieve their best. Staff share this view. The curriculum that leaders provide supports pupils’ academic and personal development well. Pupils build their knowledge and skills effectively across all curriculum subjects. As a result, pupils achieve well. Teachers make lessons engaging and interesting, which inspires pupils to learn. Pupils are well prepared for the next steps of their education. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teaching assistants are well trained and support pupils’ learning effectively.

p.2

better?

Teachers have strong subject knowledge. Assessment is used well in English and mathematics to plan lessons that build on what pupils know and to address misconceptions. In some other subjects, such as geography and science, teachers are not using the school’s new assessment systems as effectively to check how much pupils are understanding.

p.2

better?

Reading is given a high priority. Leaders ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge they need to teach early reading well. Pupils develop strong phonics knowledge. The books that children read are closely matched to the sounds that they are learning. Pupils learn to read with fluency and confidence. Pupils thoroughly enjoy reading. Pupils talk about their favourite books with enthusiasm, and can describe characters, themes and story endings in an eloquent way. Pupils who are 27 and 28 April 2022

p.2

3

less confident in their reading receive the additional support they need to become successful readers.

p.3

3

Children in the early years get off to a good start. Adults are well trained. They ask children challenging questions that get them thinking. Adults help children to settle quickly into school routines. During the inspection, children in the Reception class were busy making houses for their ducks to live in. They used a good range of words such as ‘shelter’ and ‘habitat’ to describe where the animals live.

p.3

3

Pupils develop positive attitudes to learning. They are interested in the subjects they learn. Pupils settle quickly to tasks set by their teachers. Teachers provide plenty of opportunities for pupils to work cooperatively. Pupils listen carefully to each other during class discussions. However, the quality of written work that teachers expect from pupils is not consistently high across subjects.

p.3

3

Leaders ensure there is a strong focus on pupils’ personal development. Pupils learn to appreciate different faiths and cultures. Pupils learn to be caring, active and responsible citizens through the broad range of opportunities available to them, for example trips, sporting clubs and financial planning lessons. Pupils learn about the democratic process through electing class representatives to the eco council and as house captains.

p.3

3

Staff are proud to work at Kenilworth Primary School. Leaders ensure that staff receive effective professional development. This supports their teaching of the curriculum. Leaders are considerate of their staff, who appreciate the support they receive, particularly for their well-being.

p.3

3

Governors hold leaders to account for the school’s work and check that statutory requirements are met. Governors challenge school leaders and hold them to account for the quality of education in the school. Governors gain a good awareness of what it is like to be a pupil at the school through their own monitoring visits to the school.

p.3

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

p.3

Safeguarding

Leaders and staff are vigilant. They know how to identify when pupils are at risk from harm. Staff know what to do should they have a concern. Appropriate referrals are made to outside agencies to secure the help for pupils and families. Any necessary actions are followed up without delay.

p.3

Safeguarding

The curriculum and other events, such as assemblies, offer opportunities for pupils to learn to be safe. This includes learning about online safety and healthy relationships.

p.3

Safeguarding

Governors check that the systems in place to keep pupils safe work effectively. 27 and 28 April 2022

p.3

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have recently changed the school’s approach to assessment in the foundation subjects. In some subjects, teachers are not as adept at using different assessment strategies to gauge what pupils know and can do. Leaders should train staff so that they use assessment effectively and are better able to check on how pupils are faring in those subjects.  In English, mathematics and science, pupils produce work that they are proud of and that demonstrates a good level of knowledge and understanding. In other subjects, pupils’ written work is not well presented, and the content does not reflect the depth of knowledge and understanding pupils have been taught. Leaders should ensure that teachers’ expectations of pupils’ written work are consistently high across all subjects.

p.4

How can I feed back my views?

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

p.4

How can I feed back my views?

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

p.4

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 .

p.4

Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

p.4

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. 27 and 28 April 2022

p.4

School details

Inspection number 10227307 Type of school Primary

p.5

School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

p.5

School details

Date of previous inspection 5 – 6 June 2018, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

p.5

Information about this school

 The current headteacher took up the post in January 2021.  The school has a Nursery class for three- and four-year-olds, and offers places for 15 hours or 30 hours a week.  The school runs a breakfast club providing childcare.

p.5

Information about this inspection

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

p.5

Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the school business manager and members of the school’s leadership team.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics, science and geography. For each deep dive, the inspectors met with 27 and 28 April 2022

p.5

6

subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at pupils’ work.  Inspectors met with the special educational needs coordinator. Inspectors met with leaders who have responsibility for disadvantaged pupils, the curriculum, assessment, and personal development.  Inspectors met with the chair of governors and three members of the governing body.  Inspectors looked at the single central record of pre-employment checks. They spoke to leaders, school staff, governors, and pupils to review the school’s arrangements for safeguarding.  Inspectors spoke to parents at the start of the school day. They considered the 67 responses made by parents to Ofsted Parent View, Ofsted’s online questionnaire, including 54 free-text responses. Inspectors also considered the 27 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire for staff and the one response to Ofsted’s pupil

p.6

Inspection team

Nick Rudman, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

p.6

Inspection team

Karen Stanton Ofsted Inspector 27 and 28 April 2022

p.6

7

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.

p.7

7

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 .

p.7

7

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, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.7

7

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

p.7

7

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.7