St Kenelm's Church of England (VC) School

Inspection of a good school: St Kenelm’s Church of England (VC) School Wenrisc Drive, Minster Lovell, Witney, Oxfordshire OX29 0SP

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Outcome

St Kenelm’s Church of England (VC) School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

St Kenelm’s is a welcoming and inclusive school. The school’s ethos, based on the parable of the lost sheep, is realised so that every pupil is valued for the unique qualities that they bring to their school community. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the care and attention that they need to help them thrive. Pupils are happy in school and they feel safe. Pupils are consistently kind and friendly. This is because staff set such a positive example for pupils. They show pupils how to behave kindly and respectfully towards each other. Pupils rightly demonstrate confidence that any rare incidents of bullying will be taken seriously and quickly resolved.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils’ learning. Ambitious leaders have designed a curriculum which has a broad offer of academic subjects and a carefully designed programme of enrichment activities. Pupils are keen to learn, and they achieve well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to participate in a wide range of sporting activities and competitions. Different extra-curricular clubs are available to develop pupils’ talents and interests, such as handbells, karate and gymnastics. Pupils enjoy serving their community through events such as singing for the elderly at Christmas.

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

There is an ambitious and carefully designed school curriculum in place. For every subject, the school has planned what pupils will learn and when they will learn it. The curriculum begins in Reception and progresses in a logical sequence to Year 6. It ensures that pupils’ knowledge builds over time. This prepares pupils to be ready to move on to secondary school.

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

Pupils achieve well across much of the curriculum. The school is aware of any difficulties pupils may have that could prevent them learning as well as they could. Staff routinely adapt tasks to meet the needs of individual pupils. Pupils with SEND are given effective support. This helps them to confidently develop their knowledge and understanding. The 1 November 2023

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school ensures that staff receive high-quality training to teach the curriculum well. In most subjects, staff regularly recap previous learning. This helps pupils to know and remember more over time. However, in some subjects, the school does not systematically and rigorously check whether pupils have learned as much as they should. Pupils, therefore, have some unidentified gaps in their understanding and cannot always recall and apply the knowledge they have learned.

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The school prioritises the teaching and enjoyment of reading. Staff use their secure subject knowledge and teaching expertise to help pupils learn to read confidently. New information is presented in a carefully considered way. The school’s phonics scheme sets out the sounds and words that pupils should learn in a logical order. It is taught well. Pupils develop useful strategies to be able to read harder words. Children begin to learn to read from their first days in Reception. They enjoy listening to a wide range of stories. This helps to foster a love of reading from a young age. Pupils who are at the early stages of reading get targeted support from well-trained staff. This helps them continue to develop their confidence and fluency as a reader.

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The school has effective systems to identify the needs of pupils with SEND. Staff keep parents closely involved, offering support where needed. There is clear ambition for pupils with SEND to access the same curriculum as their peers. They benefit from useful resources that help them to do this successfully.

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Classrooms are calm and purposeful. Across the school, staff work intelligently to support pupils to manage their emotions. This means that everyone is able to focus on their learning without disruption.

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The personal development of pupils lies at the core of the school’s values. Pupils are keen to explain their understanding of how to make a positive contribution to society. They learn to respect others’ opinions during discussions and debates in lessons. A wide range of experiences, such as visiting art exhibitions and participation in national theatre workshops, ensure that learning extends beyond the classroom. Equality and diversity are increasingly well promoted throughout the curriculum. Pupils show maturity and develop as responsible citizens. They take pride in their efforts to help others, such as their recent coffee morning to raise money for a national charity.

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Governors hold the school to account in how well the quality of education is serving pupils. Committees dig deep so that they are well informed about the school’s strengths and weaknesses. Full governing body meetings are used well to share this information so that all governors are equally knowledgeable, which helps ensure that school improvement priorities are addressed.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 1 November 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, checks on how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum are not precise enough. This means that misconceptions are not always identified and gaps in understanding are not consistently addressed promptly. The school should ensure that current refinements to how assessment is used lead to pupils learning consistently well across the full 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 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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 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.

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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’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 1 November 2023

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 20 March 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher took up post in September 2018. Further changes to the leadership team have taken place over recent years.  St Kenelm’s Church of England (VC) School is part of the Diocese of Oxford. Its most recent section 48 inspection was in October 2019.  The school is not currently using any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, the assistant headteacher, senior leaders, subject leaders, the leader responsible for pupils with SEND, teachers and support staff.  Inspectors met with governors and spoke with a representative of the local authority. 1 November 2023

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 Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  Inspectors observed some pupils reading to a familiar adult.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils and staff to hear their views.  Inspectors considered the responses to the confidential Ofsted surveys for staff and pupils and the responses to Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Clare Morgan, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Rachel Roberts Ofsted Inspector 1 November 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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