Kingsway Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Kingsway Primary School Kingsway North, Braunstone Town, Leicester, Leicestershire LE3 3BD

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Outcome

Kingsway Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have established a caring, learning environment at Kingsway Primary School based on the core values of truthfulness, kindness and equality. Every pupil is well known. Staff treat pupils with kindness and respect. Leaders are committed to inclusion. They are ambitious that all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), will do as well as they can.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils give visitors a warm welcome to their school. They are polite to everyone. They are happy to come to school. In lessons, pupils concentrate on their work. They participate well because they know that this is what their teachers expect. These high expectations are established from the moment pupils join the school in the Reception Year. Pupils enjoy social times, for example pupils chat together happily as they eat their lunch. They enjoy the wide range of games and activities that are available for them to play.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils understand what bullying is. If it happens, pupils know that they must tell an adult who will sort it out for them. Pupils are taught about diversity and equality. Pupils accept each other’s differences. They recognise that everyone is unique. One pupil said, ‘Everyone is special in their own way. We welcome everyone.’

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders understand the importance and value of teaching pupils to read from an early age. Pupils learn phonics from their first few days in school. Phonics lessons are well organised and are taught by experts. Pupils read with increasing fluency and independence because books are well matched to their phonic knowledge. Teachers in the early years prioritise the development of children’s oracy skills. They know that some children’s ability to communicate well has been impacted by the pandemic. In response to this, teachers have created a language-rich environment to accelerate children’s progress in this area. This commitment to developing pupils’ vocabulary is maintained throughout the school. For example, in a Year 5 and 6 class, pupils were considering the word 14–15 June 2022

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‘incarnation’ in a religious education (RE) lesson. Pupils were also confidently using ‘Messiah’ and ‘Saviour’ to discuss their ideas.

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The curriculum for mathematics is well designed. Teachers have good subject knowledge. They explain new learning well and build pupils’ understanding of new concepts step by step. Teachers use assessment well in mathematics. In lessons, teachers quickly spot and address pupils’ misconceptions or identify pupils who need extra help. Plenty of time is given for pupils to practise their new skills. Pupils who need extra challenge enjoy tackling the ‘silver star’ work.

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In other subjects, the curriculum is not yet planned as well. In some foundation subjects, the key knowledge that pupils need to know and remember is not precisely identified. It is not always clear how new learning builds on what pupils have been taught before. Assessment is not always precise enough to identify the next steps for pupils in some of the foundation subjects. This results in time not being fully maximised to enable pupils to learn in greater depth in these subjects.

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Pupils with SEND are well supported. Their needs are quickly identified. Teachers use appropriate strategies to make sure that these pupils can achieve as well as they can. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works closely with parents and external agencies. The vast majority of parents of pupils with SEND are positive about the support their child receives. One parent said, ‘Moving to Kingsway is the best thing that has happened to my child.’

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Pupils’ personal development is a strength of the school. Each class is given a ‘mission’ to complete. For example, pupils are currently thinking about how they can be more welcoming to migrants. These real-life experiences help pupils to understand that each of them has personal potential to influence others and make a difference to society. Pupils also learn about how to have healthy relationships, how to manage money and about the beliefs of different religions. Pupils enjoy the clubs and trips the school offers. On a recent trip to a farm, children in the early years foundation stage (EYFS) were delighted to witness the birth of a lamb.

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Governors know the school well. They are knowledgeable about the school’s effectiveness and offer strategic support to leaders. Staff are positive about the support they receive from leaders and the trust. They say that leaders are considerate of their well-being and workload. They are proud to work at the school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders and staff understand their responsibilities to keep pupils safe. Appropriate checks are carried out to ensure that the adults who work in school are safe to work with children. Staff receive regular safeguarding training. They are aware of the potential risks to pupils. Staff pass their safeguarding concerns on promptly. Designated leaders make sure that pupils, and their families, get the help they need without delay. 14–15 June 2022

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Pupils learn about how to keep themselves safe in a range of settings. Leaders have appointed a number of pupils as e-cadets. These pupils promote how to stay safe online to their peers.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders know that existing foundation subject curriculum plans do not precisely identify the key knowledge that pupils need to learn. In these subjects, teachers are not always clear about what pupils need to know and remember. Teachers are not always precise about how new learning builds on prior learning. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum for some foundation subjects sets out exactly what pupils should learn and make explicit how new knowledge builds pupils’ learning step by step. For this reason, the transitional arrangements have been applied.  Assessment in some of the foundation subjects lacks precision. This is because the curriculum does not clearly identify the key knowledge that teachers need to cover. This can mean that teachers are not always making the right checks to ensure that pupils are remembering prior learning in the long term. Leaders must ensure that teachers assess the progress that pupils make against the key knowledge identified in

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

curriculum plans and use this information effectively to inform future planning.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the predecessor school Kingsway Primary School to be good in May 2014.

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How can I feed back my views?

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.

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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. 14–15 June 2022

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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. 14–15 June 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10226924 Type of school Primary

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Kingsway Primary School converted to become an academy school in January 2018. It joined the Life Multi-Academy Trust. When its processor school, Kingsway Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school uses one registered alternative provider.  The school runs a unit for pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs. Currently, there are four primary-aged pupils who attend.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspector held meetings with the headteacher, two deputy headteachers and the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo). The inspector also met two members of the governing body, including the chair of governors and three representatives from the trust.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and RE. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, 14–15 June 2022

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visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, looked at samples of pupils’ work and spoke to pupils about their learning. The inspector also listened to pupils reading to members of staff.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector scrutinised safeguarding records, checked staff’s understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and met with three designated safeguarding leaders.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and at lunchtime. The inspector also met with pupils to discuss their views about the school.  The inspector considered parental views of the school through the responses to Ofsted’s online survey and free-text messages. In addition, she spoke to parents at the start of the school day. The inspector also considered the responses to the staff online survey.

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Inspection team

Caroline Poole, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 14–15 June 2022

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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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