King's Academy College Park (Infant)

Inspection of King’s Academy College Park (Infant) Crofton Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO2 0LB

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Inspection dates: 21 and 22 November 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Rachel Carlyle. The school is part of King’s Group Academies, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Nick Cross, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Ben Williams. There is also a director of academy improvement, Sarah Howells, who oversees the work for this school and eight others.

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Overall effectiveness Good

Ofsted has not previously inspected King’s Academy College Park Infant School under section 5 of the Education Act 2005 as, until November 2020, the school was exempt by law from routine inspection, so there has been a longer gap than usual between inspections. Judgements in this report are based on the current inspection framework and also reflect changes that may have happened at any point since the last graded inspection of the predecessor school. 21 and 22 November 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and safe in this vibrant school. The school’s ‘dragon values’ of kindness, responsibility, resilience, teamwork, challenge, independence and creativity are well understood by pupils. They are proud that these values guide them in school and beyond. Pupils know that staff expect them to behave well. They are respectful and considerate of each other. Pupils say, ‘Everyone is kind here, so no one has any broken feelings.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

Teachers make lessons fun and interesting so that pupils enjoy their learning. Pupils are keen readers. Children in early years love retelling the many stories they hear and read. The school develops pupils’ wider interests well through an impressive range of extra-curricular activities. Pupils enjoy attending clubs such as choir, netball and origami. They are excited about the trips and residentials that help bring learning to life.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school gives pupils opportunities to develop their leadership skills. Pupils help serve the wider community by helping to supply the local foodbank and singing in the nearby residential home. Many pupils are members of the school council or serve as kindness or anti-bullying ambassadors. Pupils know these roles are important because they help make the school an even better place.

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better?

Over recent years, the school has gone through a period of change, with many new leaders and staff starting at the school. They are determined that all pupils achieve well. As a result, the school has improved across many areas. Pupils’ current achievement in subjects such as reading and mathematics is also strengthening.

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better?

The school has developed a broad and ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including children in the early years. It is carefully sequenced across all subjects and allows pupils to build on what they already know. Teachers consider carefully how pupils will widen their vocabulary. This is particularly true of early years, where skilful staff encourage children to develop their communication skills well. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) study the same curriculum. The school ensures that teachers receive training to help them to support pupils with SEND effectively.

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better?

Staff have good subject knowledge. Teachers use effective strategies to check pupils’ recall of previous learning. Pupils remember their learning well and are keen to talk about it. Most teachers use appropriate activities and resources. In mathematics, for example, pupils grasp ideas well with the help of carefully considered resources. However, occasionally, activities are not focused sharply enough on what pupils should learn, and they occasionally become confused or their attention drifts. Here, pupils do not learn as well as they could. 21 and 22 November 2023

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The school prioritises reading. Well-trained staff deliver the school’s phonics programme well, from the very start of Reception. They make sure that all pupils, including those with SEND, learn both the sounds and the meanings of words. Staff are adept at identifying and supporting pupils who are struggling to read. Pupils read books that are well matched to their phonics knowledge. Daily reading makes them confident and increasingly fluent.

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Pupils’ personal development is strong. They learn about relationships, health and well-being and keeping safe. In early years, children form strong relationships. They cooperate creatively with each other, for example when building a house to protect themselves from the dinosaurs. If pupils need extra pastoral support, the school provides it readily. Pupils talk confidently about different types of religions and families. The school gives them an age-appropriate understanding of equality and prepares them well for life in modern Britain. While the school encourages disadvantaged pupils to take full advantage of the wide extra-curricular offer, currently, too few do.

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The school’s behaviour policy is clearly understood by all. There are positive relationships between staff and pupils. From the early years, pupils are keen and enthusiastic learners. There is often a buzz of excitement in classrooms. Almost all pupils focus attentively on their work.

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School leaders are mindful of staff’s workload and well-being. They engage positively with staff who feel very well supported. Staff appreciate the many training opportunities provided by the school. These help them to improve in their roles.

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The trust provides helpful and timely support to the school. Trustees have a very clear understanding of the school. However, the historic model of local governance did not allow governors to carry out their role as effectively as they could have. The trust has rightly changed the structure of local governance in response to this. The new local governing board fulfils its statutory duties but is still at the beginning of helping the school to improve further.

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Parents endorse the work of the school. One parent, summing up the views of many, commented, ‘My child has thrived in this school.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 While the school has designed a precise and well-sequenced curriculum, a few teachers do not always make the best pedagogical choices to deliver the curriculum effectively. This means that occasionally, some pupils do not learn as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that staff receive training on 21 and 22 November 2023

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appropriate pedagogical and activity choices so that the delivery of the curriculum is consistently effective.  The model of local governance is in a transitional stage. Many local governors are new to the role. Local governance is not yet as effective as it could be in supporting the school to further improve. Leaders should ensure that local governors understand their roles and that training supports local governors to quickly become effective in their roles.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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). 21 and 22 November 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 December 2020, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher has been in post since 2021. She is also headteacher of the neighbouring King’s Academy College Park Junior School. This school and the junior school work very closely together.  The school is part of King’s Group Academies. It joined the trust in 2018. The trust runs nine primary and secondary schools in Portsmouth and the south-east of England.  The school does not currently use any alternative providers.  The school runs a pre-school and after-school club.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.  Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 21 and 22 November 2023

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with school leaders, including the headteacher, other leaders and the special educational needs coordinator.  The lead inspector spoke to the trust’s chief executive officer and the director of academy improvement.  The lead inspector met with three members of the local governing board, including the chair.  The lead inspector spoke to two trustees, including the chair.  Deep dives were carried out in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, computing and history. For each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also reviewed the

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curriculum more broadly in other subjects.  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 safeguarding culture that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspectors gathered evidence to explore the impact of pupils’ behaviour and attendance, and the school’s wider curriculum.  Inspectors talked to pupils and staff throughout the inspection to gain their views about the school.  Inspectors considered the views of parents, including the responses given via Ofsted’s confidential parent survey.

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Inspection team

Maria Roberts, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Lea Hannam Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 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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