King Athelstan Primary School

Inspection of a good school: King Athelstan Primary School Villiers Road, Kingston upon Thames, Surrey KT1 3AR

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Outcome

King Athelstan Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud members of the school community. They show great respect towards each other and celebrate everyone’s differences. They are happy and safe. No one is afraid to be themself because they know that they will be accepted. Behaviour in class and around the school is calm. There is no disruption to learning. Experienced staff help any pupils who struggle with their behaviour to self-regulate. Bullying of any kind is extremely rare. When it does happen, pupils tell staff, who deal with it urgently. It is not repeated.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Children in the early years enjoy their outside environment. They engage with purposeful learning activities across the provision. The two-year-olds in Nursery benefit from their interactions with older children. Pupils appreciate the new playground facilities. They make good use of the multi-use games area, their allotment and climbing equipment.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are many opportunities for pupils to develop their leadership skills and have their voice heard. Apart from the school council, there is also a junior leadership team. There are also house captains, ‘eco warriors’, prefects and the newly appointed pupil equality and diversity leader. The junior leadership team writes a newsletter which is sent home to families each term.

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

Leaders have made sure that the curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced. It is carefully designed so that it is ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The progression of key knowledge and skills in each subject is mapped out from early years to Year 6. Pupils in the specialist resource provision are provided with the resources and support to access the full curriculum.

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

Subject leaders are confident and knowledgeable. They have a clear overview of strengths and next steps for their subjects. They provide training for teaching staff and help them with their planning and resourcing of lessons. They have identified the best 19 and 20 July 2022

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way to assess pupils in each subject and have put clear systems in place for this to happen.

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Leaders have chosen big themes in and across subjects, that are revisited regularly. Because of this, pupils are starting to make purposeful links. They remember what they have learned over time. In history, for example, pupils build their understanding of chronology. In early years, they start by studying familiar routines and putting them in the right order. In Year 2, pupils can place the Great Fire of London events in the right order. By the time pupils are in Year 6, they can place the events of World War Two on a timeline. They have a good understanding of other points in history.

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In physical education (PE), pupils remember the links to prior learning at the beginning of each lesson. In Year 4, pupils remember how to do an overarm throw. They move from developing this skill to working with a partner and then as part of a team in a game of cricket. Pupils refer to the skills and knowledge documents displayed in the playground throughout their lessons. In each lesson, teachers make adaptations so that pupils can choose the level they feel most comfortable with. In Reception, for example, children have a choice of hurdles at different heights to jump over.

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Despite the ambitious and clear curriculum, work in pupils’ books does not consistently reflect the intentions of the curriculum. Pupils in each class within a year group often access different resources. Their learning outcomes vary. Leaders agree that they need to work with staff to ensure there is consistency between classes. They must make sure that the tasks given to pupils better reflect the intended curriculum.

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The teaching of reading is strong. Leaders have a clear overview of the reading programme, and the progress children make. All staff are extremely well trained. They have secure subject knowledge. They make appropriate adaptations to lessons for those who have fallen behind. In addition to this, catch-up programmes and interventions are in place. As a result, these pupils have made excellent progress. Books are well matched to pupils’ decoding levels. A lot of work has gone into ensuring the texts pupils read represent a cross-section of diverse characters and themes. Pupils value that.

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Pupils have a good understanding of life in modern Britain. They practise their democratic rights in school. They are actively involved in community projects and charity work. Recently, pupils in Year 5 helped the local police by talking to drivers caught speeding past their school gates. Most pupils attend at least one club. These range from sports to cooking and art. They fondly recollect the school trips and residential visits they have been on.

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Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Staff love working here. They enjoy working with the children and value the relationships they have with their colleagues. They feel supported by senior leaders and are included in big decisions. 19 and 20 July 2022

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

All staff are extremely clear about all safeguarding procedures. They know what signs to look out for. They understand their responsibilities and routinely report their concerns to the designated safeguarding leaders. The team members are experienced. They know their local context and families well. They have built positive links with the local authority and with all agencies they are involved with.

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Safeguarding

Pupils are safe at the school. They all have someone they can talk to if they are worried. They know how to keep safe online.

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Safeguarding

Governors understand their statutory duties. They receive regular training and are well informed of the local issues their families face.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have made sure they have a well-sequenced curriculum in place for all subjects. However, it is not currently delivered consistently across each class. This means there is some variability in what pupils learn and produce as a result. Work in books does not always reflect the ambition of the curriculum. Leaders need to make sure all subjects are implemented consistently. This will enable all pupils to know and remember more of the intended curriculum.

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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 second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in October 2011. 19 and 20 July 2022

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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.

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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. 19 and 20 July 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.kingathelstan.kingston.sch.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 14 March 2017, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a specialist resource provision to support children with an education, health and care plan for social, emotional and mental health needs. There are six places available, and all pupils are on roll at the school.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with all senior leaders, a number of teaching staff and support staff, governors and a representative from the local authority.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, history and PE. For each deep dive, the inspector met with subject leaders, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector looked at curriculum plans for history, design and technology and religious education. 19 and 20 July 2022

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 The inspector scrutinised a range of documents, including leaders’ evaluation of the school and priorities for school improvement.  The inspector looked at the effectiveness of the school’s work on safeguarding by reviewing the record of pre-employment checks for staff, speaking to staff, governors and pupils and meeting with the safeguarding team.  The inspector took account of the views of pupils, parents and staff, as gathered through discussions and Ofsted’s surveys.

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Inspection team

Aliki Constantopoulou, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 19 and 20 July 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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