Kingfisher CE Academy

Inspection of Kingfisher CE Academy Peglars Way, Wichelstowe, Swindon SN1 7DA

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Inspection dates: 20 and 21 February 2024

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

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

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The headteacher of this school is Sharon Bishop. This school is part of the Diocese of Bristol Academies Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Stephen Mitchell, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Nigel Daniel. 20 and 21 February 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Kingfisher wants the best for all pupils and aims for them to be successful. Together, the trust and the school have prioritised the development of the curriculum. While leaders have taken steps to improve the quality of education pupils receive, it is still early days. The curriculum does not yet support all pupils to build their knowledge well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The behaviour of some older pupils impacts the atmosphere across the school. As a result, some pupils report being a little worried by this. The school is aware of this and is taking appropriate action to address it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils get off to a positive start in the early years. They learn routines quickly and behave well. The curriculum meets younger pupils’ needs well. However, some older pupils in key stage 1 engage less well with their learning.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school is at the heart of the community. Staff know pupils and families well. The school is quick to identify when families need extra support. Parents comment positively about the school’s efforts to engage with the community.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides many opportunities to promote pupils’ personal development. Pupils learn the importance of the school’s values. They learn how to stay safe. The school ensures that all children have full access to a broad range of extra-curricular experiences.

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better?

The trust and the school have recently taken steps to improve how well the curriculum is designed. These curriculum developments are at an early stage. The curriculum now identifies the knowledge pupils need to know and remember. However, the implementation of the curriculum lacks precision to ensure that the needs of all pupils are met well enough. As a result, pupils find it difficult to remember important knowledge and to talk about their learning.

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better?

Learning is not adapted quickly enough to enable pupils to develop a deeper understanding. Assessment is not used with enough precision. Staff do not routinely check what pupils know and remember from previous key learning. As a result, some pupils develop gaps in their learning, which are not always addressed. This prevents pupils from building their knowledge based on what they already know and remember.

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better?

The reading curriculum is well designed and sequenced. Children learn phonics as soon as they start school. Books are matched to the sounds they have learned. Staff are well trained in the programme, and they deliver it according to agreed strategies. Reading is a high priority in the school. Pupils enjoy reading. They vote to decide the books that adults read to them in class. Pupils recommend books to each other in ‘rave about reading’ sessions. 20 and 21 February 2024

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In the early years, adults know the needs of the children well. They reinforce language and model key vocabulary. Adults support children in the early years to think for themselves and share their own ideas. The early years foundation stage curriculum is well designed. The school has decided on the most important knowledge that children need to learn. Children in the early years learn how to stay safe and healthy. For example, a group of children in Nursery wore gardening gloves when planting some flowers. They explained the importance of keeping their hands clean to ‘avoid getting germs’.

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The school has developed an inclusive environment. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified at an early stage. The school ensures that parents of pupils with SEND are fully involved in their children’s education. Pupils with SEND participate in all aspects of school life. However, pupils with SEND experience the same weaknesses in the curriculum as their peers. Learning is not always adapted to meet pupils’ needs.

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The school has designed an effective curriculum to develop pupils’ personal development. It is underpinned by the school’s values. Pupils learn about healthy relationships and know what it means to be a good friend. Pupils know the importance of eating a healthy diet. A child in Reception commented, ‘Fruit is healthy and makes you strong’, while painting a still-life picture of a pear. The curriculum teaches pupils how to keep safe online.

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The school understands its community well. It involves the parents and the local community in the life of the school at every opportunity. Pupils can attend a variety of clubs. They enjoy the extra-curricular opportunities that are available to them. Older pupils take on responsibility as school librarians. Pupils learn about fundamental British values, such as democracy.

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Trustees and local governors understand their roles well. The trust has correctly identified the school’s priorities for improvement. Support from trust leaders has had a recent impact. There is an honest recognition that there is still much to do.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Work to improve the curriculum is recent. It is not yet being implemented well enough to ensure that pupils learn the precise knowledge they need. As a result, pupils do not build their knowledge as well as they could. The trust needs to ensure that the curriculum is implemented effectively to ensure that pupils learn well over time. 20 and 21 February 2024

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 Learning is not adapted to deepen pupils’ knowledge and understanding. This is particularly the case for some pupils with SEND. As a result, pupils’ knowledge is not as in depth as it could be, and pupils develop gaps in their learning. The trust needs to ensure that learning is adapted when necessary to enable all pupils, including those with SEND, to progress as well as possible through the curriculum.  Assessment is still being developed. It is not yet used well enough to check that pupils have remembered the knowledge they have been taught. Therefore, pupils move through the curriculum unable to recall their prior learning and make links with their current learning. The trust needs to ensure that assessment is used to inform teaching, to ensure there are no gaps in learning and to consolidate pupils’ understanding.

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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). 20 and 21 February 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 This school opened in 2021. The school currently has pupils from Nursery to Year 2.  Kingfisher CE Academy is a sponsored academy school. It is part of the Diocese of Bristol Academy Trust.  The school has not previously received a Section 48 inspection for schools of a religious character.  The school currently uses one unregistered alternative provider.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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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. 20 and 21 February 2024

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 The inspectors met with the headteacher, the assistant headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator and the early years leader for the school. Inspectors also met with a range of teaching and support staff.  The lead inspector held meetings with the chief executive officer from the trust, the chair of the board of trustees and the other trust leaders.  The lead inspector met with representatives of the local governing board.  The lead inspector held a phone conversation with the alternative provider.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the 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.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector discussed the

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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 inspectors also discussed the curriculum in other subjects.  The inspectors listened to pupils in Year 1 and 2 read to an adult.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons and around the school site.  The inspectors gathered parents’ views by considering the responses to Ofsted’s online survey, Ofsted Parent View, and by talking to parents before and after school. The inspectors also evaluated responses to Ofsted’s staff and pupil surveys.

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Inspection team

Matt Fletcher, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Julie Fox Ofsted Inspector 20 and 21 February 2024

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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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