King's Academy Northern Parade (Junior)

Inspection of a good school: King’s Academy Northern Parade (Junior) Doyle Avenue, Hilsea, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO2 9NE

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Outcome

There has been no change to this school’s overall judgement of good as a result of this initial (section 8) inspection. However, the evidence gathered suggests that the inspection grade might not be as high if a full inspection were carried out now. The next inspection will therefore be a full (section 5) inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Northern Parade feel happy and proud to be part of the school. They form good relationships with their friends and appreciate the care shown to them by school staff. Pupils work hard in lessons, trying their best to meet the high expectations set by teachers. This reflects the school’s vision of ‘eager to learn, live to learn’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils behave well in lessons and feel safe. Pupils understand the different forms of bullying and say that sometimes it happens. Pupils say that teachers take bullying seriously and act quickly. Some pupils feel that not all issues are completely resolved.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils appreciate the memorable experiences they have in their learning. The Year 5 space dome experience was described by pupils as ‘epic’. A recent trip to the beach empowered pupils to swim in the sea for the very first time. Pupils describe the thought- provoking environmental learning within the school grounds as ‘mega’.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders want the best for pupils. However, they have not made sure that those pupils who are behind in their reading catch up quickly enough. Teachers’ approach to reading is not consistent, and some pupils are given books they find difficult to read.

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

Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum that captures pupils’ interests. It incorporates the many opportunities provided by the school’s grounds and locality.

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

Interesting topics such as ‘Out of this world’ stimulate pupils’ imagination and inspire a love of learning. Planning in the majority of subjects, such as science and art, is well sequenced so that pupils learn concepts in the correct order. In other subjects, leaders have not yet looked closely enough at the order of things pupils need to learn. As a result, 21 and 22 June 2022

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some pupils are unable to build upon their existing knowledge and skills.

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Leaders have rightly prioritised reading, and most pupils are taught to read effectively. Pupils focus on building their vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. They enjoy discovering new words through their experience of interesting stories. Weaker readers have extra phonics sessions, which are intended to help them catch up. However, the teaching of phonics is not as effective as it could be. Teachers have not had sufficient training in phonics. Some pupils are given reading books that do not match the sounds they are learning. As a result, these pupils do not practise their reading at the right level and do not catch up quickly enough.

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Mathematics is well taught. Learning is well planned and sequenced so that pupils can build on what they know and understand. There are many opportunities for pupils to practise their skills so that they know and remember more. Number is particularly well taught. Pupils use the correct mathematical language and often check their answers, applying previous learning.

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Most subjects are well planned, with quality experiences for pupils to enjoy. In music, pupils enthusiastically played in the steel band, with an impromptu performance. In Spanish, pupils of all abilities show real confidence and an ‘I’ll try’ attitude that builds self- esteem.

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Teachers have high expectations for how they want pupils to behave and what they want them to learn. This is a supportive and inclusive school. There are appropriate plans in place to help those pupils who find learning more difficult. Many pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive regular academic and emotional support.

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Pupils in this school participate enthusiastically in lessons – even throw themselves into their learning and work together purposefully when required.

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Pupils are tolerant and accept pupils’ differences. Their positive attitudes are underpinned by the school’s ‘Dragon values’ such as teamwork and independence. Pupils enjoy the opportunities to become prefects or members of the school council.

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Some parents believe that communication with the school could be improved. Parents told inspectors that sometimes when they raise a concern, they do not receive feedback to indicate that the issue has been resolved. Leaders recognise that they need to do more to make sure that parents feel confident that their concerns have been acted upon.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff realise that keeping pupils safe is everybody’s responsibility. Ongoing, good-quality training is improving the culture of safeguarding in the school. Staff at all levels understand how to raise and record concerns if they are worried about pupils’ welfare. 21 and 22 June 2022

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Pupils learn how to stay safe and have regular sessions on how to keep safe when using the internet.

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Leaders work closely with outside agencies to make sure that pupils and their families get the help they need. The effective work of the pastoral leader reflects the importance the school places on emotional support and is appreciated by parents.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils who have fallen behind in reading are not making good progress to catch up. Leaders should ensure that staff teaching phonics are fully trained to deliver the school’s phonics scheme. Pupils’ reading books need to match the sounds they are learning so that they can catch up quickly.  Some subject leaders are new to their posts. Senior leaders should ensure that they have the necessary skills and knowledge to develop the subjects for which they have responsibility. Subject leaders need to make sure that the sequence of learning in individual subjects is correct so that pupils can build on their skills and knowledge.  Some parents feel that communication with leaders could be improved. Leaders should make sure that parents receive regular communication and feedback when they raise concerns.

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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, Northern Parade Junior School, to be good in November 2012.

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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. 21 and 22 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. 21 and 22 June 2022

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is federated with King’s Academy Northern Parade (Infant). Both schools became part of King’s Group Academies on 1 February 2018.  The headteacher was appointed in September 2020. ◼ An executive headteacher has been in the post part time for two years. ◼ An interim governing body was in place for the autumn term of 2019, as the previous governing body was dissolved. In January 2020, a new governing body was established across the two schools. In September 2021, this amalgamated with the governing body of King’s Academy College Park, another infant and junior school in the trust. ◼ A significant number of staff have joined the school since the school converted to become an academy. ◼ The school shares a specially resourced provision for four pupils with visual and hearing impairment with the infant school. ◼ The governing body manages before- and after-school childcare provision. ◼ The school does not currently use any alternative provision.

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 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.  The lead inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteachers, the executive headteacher and other school staff.  The lead inspector also met with members of the local governing body, including the chair, and spoke to a representative of trustees.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and Spanish. For each deep dive, the lead inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum planning, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the lead inspector spoke with staff, pupils and the trust’s safeguarding lead. The lead inspector met with the designated

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safeguarding leads to review their knowledge, records and actions. The inspectors also looked at safeguarding records and actions and reviewed information about the safer recruitment of staff.  Inspectors spoke to staff and groups of pupils from different year groups, and observed behaviour in classrooms and at lunchtime.  The views of staff and pupils, including responses to Ofsted’s online staff and pupil surveys, were considered.  The responses to Ofsted Parent View, including written responses, a phone call with a parent and two meetings with individual parents were also taken into account.

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Inspection team

Bill James, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 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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