Kennington Church of England Academy

Inspection of a good school: Kennington Church of England Academy Upper Vicarage Road, Kennington, Ashford, Kent TN24 9AG

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Outcome

Kennington Church of England Academy continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There is a strong feeling of community at Kennington Church of England Academy. Warm and supportive relationships are evident between staff and pupils, as well as between pupils themselves.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be members of this school. They are polite and welcoming to visitors, talking readily and confidently about what makes their school unique. All pupils can talk confidently about the school’s values of giving, using your talents, forgiveness, love and care and that everyone is important. They talk with pride about earning recognition for their contributions to the school, such as the ‘marvellous milkshake’ award where pupils can nominate their peers for embodying these school values. Similarly, the headteacher’s awards and values stickers are worn with pride, reflecting the seriousness with which the values in this school are viewed by all involved.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel safe in this school. Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour, and pupils meet these expectations well. Behaviour around the site is calm and settled. Bullying happens occasionally, but very rarely. If it does take place, pupils are confident that it will be dealt with quickly by staff. The playground is busy but settled, and pupils play well together. They enjoy learning and engaging in their lessons.

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

Leaders have considered carefully what pupils need to know and in what order throughout the curriculum. This planning is ambitious for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This is especially strong in the core subjects of reading and mathematics, where both the knowledge and skills pupils need have been carefully identified. In some foundation subjects, there is clearly considered mapping of skills, although the knowledge that supports this skill development is not yet as clearly identified. 7 and 8 March 2023 In lessons, teachers select activities that help support the intended learning, and there are carefully considered adaptations to most activities to support all pupils in making effective progress. Behaviour in lessons is settled and pupils are keen and motivated to learn. They are keen to ask and answer questions, and often choose activities that will

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

Staff have a variety of methods to check what pupils know and understand. In lessons, staff ask precise questions and they design activities to ensure that they pick up on any misconceptions quickly. This supports pupils in their learning and prevents further misunderstandings. In many subjects, end of unit assessments are used to gauge what pupils have remembered in the long term, as well as being used to inform staff about how the learning that comes afterwards needs adapting. This is not yet embedded across all subjects, meaning that sometimes teachers may not revisit key knowledge or skills that need to be recapped or developed, meaning that pupils may not recall their learning in the longer term.

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

The teaching of reading is effective and pupils receive daily ‘guided reading’ sessions that expose them to a variety of interesting texts. For those who struggle with reading, staff provide targeted sessions to support them in becoming increasingly confident and fluent readers. Leaders have thought carefully about the selection of texts that pupils have access to, to develop their reading knowledge. These choices are becoming increasingly diverse and expose pupils to a range of worlds beyond their own experience.

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

Leaders have thought carefully about the wider development of their pupils. They have put together a well-considered personal, social, health and economic curriculum. This is carefully connected to the assembly programme, which, again, helps to reinforce these important messages, such as how to keep yourself safe, and how to stay healthy.

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

Pupils are proud of the leadership roles they have the opportunity to fulfil in school, such as the school council, ‘worship warriors’ and ‘pupil advocates’.

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

Leaders are supportive of their staff and consider their workload and well-being carefully in making plans. At points, however, some of the current processes create a heavier workload for staff than necessary. Leaders have already begun to consider how to address this, and this work continues.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school.

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Safeguarding

Leaders ensure that all staff have the relevant training to help them identify pupils who may be at risk of harm. Staff know their pupils well and are swift to report any concerns. Governors and trustees ensure that leaders take the right steps to check that adults are safe to work in the school. Staff liaise effectively with external agencies and are unafraid to challenge them to ensure that pupils and their families get the help they need. 7 and 8 March 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Assessment is not yet well embedded in some foundation subjects. As a result, staff do not know how much knowledge pupils have remembered over time in these subjects. They do not routinely use this information to inform the next steps of teaching. Leaders need to ensure that all foundation subjects have the same systematic approach to assessment as is evident in the core.  Some processes, including those around assessment practices, have built up over time to create unnecessary burdens for staff. Leaders should continue with plans to streamline their procedures to reduce overall staff workload.

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in October 2017.

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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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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. 7 and 8 March 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10256451 Type of school Primary

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 11 and 12 October 2017, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has been part of The Diocese of Canterbury Academies Trust since November 2014.  The school currently does not use any alternative providers.

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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 this evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders, teachers and pupils. The inspector met with the members of the board of trustees and the chief executive officer of the multi-academy trust. The inspector also met with the chair of the governing body.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, physical education. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about 7 and 8 March 2023 their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector listened to some pupils read to adults they know.  To inspect safeguarding, the inspector held meetings with safeguarding leaders,

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Information about this inspection

governors, teachers and pupils. They scrutinised the single central record and checked safeguarding records.  The inspector also took account of a range of other information, including the school’s development plans, school policies and minutes of governors’ meetings. They also considered external reports of the school from the local authority, as well as stakeholder engagement surveys undertaken by the school.  The inspector spoke with pupils about their experience of the school. They took account of parent and carer and staff views through conversations and responses to Ofsted’s surveys.

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Inspection team

Marian Feeley, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector 7 and 8 March 2023 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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