Khalsa Primary School

Inspection of an outstanding school: Khalsa Primary School Wexham Road, Slough, Berkshire SL2 5QR

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Outcome

Khalsa Primary School continues to be an outstanding school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils feel part of one big happy family at this school, where everyone is valued and treated as equals. As one parent put it, ‘This is a fantastic school where teachers, parents and children all work together.’ From the start of Nursery, pupils learn a deep respect for humanity and the earth, reflecting daily on the positive contributions they can make. Pupils know by heart the school values of kindness, honesty, achievement, love, service, and aspiration, and diligently strive to live up to them.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are highly ambitious for all pupils, continually refining the curriculum so that there are no limits to what can be achieved. They encourage pupils to explore possible future careers linked to the subjects they are learning. When on science trips to Kew Gardens and the zoo, pupils learn what being a horticulturalist or zoologist involves.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils consistently behave with great maturity and kindness towards each other. They play harmoniously together at social times. In class, pupils listen intently and relish the challenges teachers set for them. Pupils attain exceptionally well in all areas of the curriculum, but speak of this with humility, saying that working hard and doing a good job will serve to make the world a better place.

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

Leaders have an unwavering vision that all pupils will achieve highly and become exemplary citizens. Leaders’ belief that ‘better never stops’ has driven them to create an inspirational curriculum from Nursery to Year 6. In every subject, leaders have captured the key knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils must understand and learn in a logical order. As a result, right from Nursery, teachers know precisely what pupils must learn. In the Nursery and Reception Years, teachers skilfully weave children’s interests through the curriculum. For example, in mathematics, children solve problems in the context of favourite story characters. In music, they learn rhythm while marching to the beat of traditional nursery rhyme action songs. Pupils in all year groups delight in their learning and are exceptionally well prepared for what comes next. 11 and 12 July 2023

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Throughout the curriculum, teachers systematically ensure that pupils understand and remember long term what they have been taught. Teachers present and explain new concepts motivationally. They make links with previous learning, so that pupils incorporate new knowledge into larger ideas. Teachers regularly check pupils’ understanding and address any misconceptions within lessons, or through focused tuition sessions. Pupils have many opportunities to practise new learning and revisit it periodically, through challenges and quizzes, so that knowledge is deeply embedded in their long-term memories. Pupils’ subject knowledge is excellent across the curriculum. They explain excitedly that fluency is an essential prerequisite to reasoning and solving problems, just as real scientists, musicians, historians and mathematicians do. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified quickly. Leaders ably support them,

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leaving no stone unturned to ensure that they gain access to expert support, and learn the same curriculum as their peers.

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Leaders firmly place reading at the heart of the curriculum. As soon as children start school, they are immersed in language through fables and traditional tales. Teachers make connections with stories from familiar cultures for the many pupils at the early stages of learning English. In regular family reading mornings, teachers inspire children and their relatives to become avid readers. These happy occasions build strong relationships between home and school and valuable opportunities for staff to model ways to support children on their reading journey. Reading is taught exceptionally well, and in class pupils focus intently on practising their letter sounds. Very few pupils fall behind, but any that do have expert coaching to attain as well as they can. The books pupils read in school provide opportunities for them to practise familiar sounds. They achieve fluency quickly, enabling them to read and find out more for themselves about every subject.

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The curriculum is rich in opportunities for pupils to develop more widely. Pupils’ service in roles such as school parliamentarians, peer mentors and fundraisers is recognised through ‘super citizen assemblies’. Pupils are inspired by visiting role models who have contributed to society through their work as authors, engineers and business leaders. Pupils develop interests through well-attended extra-curricular clubs such as Spanish, cookery, chess, and ninja warriors. They learn to appreciate the natural world through growing their own vegetables, which they cook in the school’s dedicated food technology kitchen. Pupils learn about different religions by visiting their peers in neighbouring faith schools and exploring other beliefs. They appreciate that every single person is unique, and that variety constitutes the world’s richness.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have created a strong culture of vigilance. Staff are highly trained to spot any concerns about adults’ behaviour or pupils who may need support. Staff confidently report their observations, knowing they could form part of a bigger picture. Leaders are immediately alerted and take swift action to secure the help that pupils or their families need. Trustees provide highly effective safeguarding expertise and challenge for leaders. 11 and 12 July 2023

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Pupils are taught how to recognise visitors who have had safeguarding checks through their lanyard colour. On the internet, they keep personal information private, and report concerns about website content or user’s behaviour.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be outstanding, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains outstanding. 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 predecessor school, Khalsa Primary School, to be outstanding in January 2020.

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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. 11 and 12 July 2023

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School details

Inspection number 10268001 Type of school Primary

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provision

Date of previous inspection January 15 2020

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Information about this school

 The headteacher took up post in January 2023.  The school does not currently 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 have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics and music. For each deep dive, they discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector also spoke to leaders about the curriculum in some other subjects.  During the inspection, the inspector met with the headteacher, assistant headteacher and phase leaders. 11 and 12 July 2023

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 The views of parents and carers were considered through their responses to Ofsted Parent View. Further views of pupils and staff were gathered through Ofsted’s online surveys, interviews and discussions conducted throughout the inspection.  The inspector reviewed the arrangements for safeguarding through scrutinising safeguarding records and discussions with leaders, staff and pupils.  The inspector reviewed a range of the school’s documents, including self-evaluation reports, minutes of governing body meetings, attendance records and behaviour incident logs.  The inspector observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at playtimes. They spoke with pupils about bullying, behaviour, and leaders’ expectations of pupils’ behaviour.

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Inspection team

Jo Brinkley, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 11 and 12 July 2023

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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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