Kings Copse Primary School

Inspection of Kings Copse Primary School Kings Copse Road, Hedge End, Southampton, Hampshire SO30 0PQ

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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 Previous inspection grade Good 19 and 20 March 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their inclusive and caring school. The school’s values of respect, independence, resilience, collaboration, motivation and curiosity are embedded into daily life. Pupils respect the school’s clear rules and routines, which helps them to feel safe. They know that adults will listen and help them with any worries. Pupils learn to play together kindly and look after each other. New pupils quickly make friends. As one pupil commented, ‘The best thing about Kings Copse is that it’s really friendly.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high ambitions for every pupil, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils with vision impairment are supported effectively to access the curriculum. Most pupils live up to the school’s expectations by working hard and behaving well, both in lessons and at breaktimes. Leaders have responded quickly to ensure that pupils’ current achievement is much stronger than the weak 2023 published results in writing and mathematics.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a broad range of interesting experiences. This includes different leadership roles, such as being a member of the school council or a cyber ambassador. They take these roles seriously. Pupils keenly learn about the challenges that vision impaired people face and how to best provide support.

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better?

The school has robustly reviewed the curriculum following weak 2023 published results. It has carefully identified what pupils need to learn and in what order. The revised curriculum is ambitious and designed thoughtfully to help pupils build their knowledge gradually over time. Pupils are now achieving much more strongly in reading, writing and mathematics. However, pupils do not develop as deep an understanding as they could in some other curriculum subjects.

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better?

Across the school, most teachers have secure subject knowledge and present content clearly. Staff encourage pupils to talk about their learning to encourage deeper thinking. They carefully check pupils’ understanding well and focus on the most important content that pupils need to be able to recall. Staff are quick to identify and address misconceptions, especially in mathematics. Pupils produce quality work in many subjects that supports them to secure their learning and remember more over time. However, at times, staff do not have consistently high expectations of pupils’ written work. As a result, their work in some subjects lacks pride and is not reflective of their high level of understanding.

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better?

Teaching is adapted well for pupils with SEND. Staff use careful identification to ensure that these pupils receive help that is appropriate to their needs. As a result, most pupils with SEND are making good progress from their starting points. Lessons are adapted strongly to help pupils with vision impairment access the curriculum effectively, including with the use of Braille. Carefully considered adaptations ensure that these pupils succeed across the whole curriculum. 19 and 20 March 2024

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Leaders have a determined focus on teaching pupils to read. Teachers follow the agreed phonics programme closely and ensure that books are well matched to the sounds that pupils know. As a result, pupils generally learn to read quickly. Staff use extra sessions effectively to support any pupils who begin to fall behind. Leaders recognise that there is still some work to do to ensure that all staff are equipped with the required expert knowledge to teach reading effectively.

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Children in Reception settle in very quickly due to the high-quality care and support that staff provide. They are taught to recognise and manage their emotions successfully. Throughout the rest of the school, pupils benefit from a calm and purposeful learning environment. They demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Staff are quick to support pupils if their behaviour does not meet the school’s expectations.

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Personal development is promoted well. Leaders at all levels are keen to support every child to fulfil their aspirations and to become good citizens. The school has designed a programme of opportunities that encourages pupils to develop their interests and talents. Pupils enjoy different opportunities in the local area, such as performing at the local church. They build a secure understanding of world faiths and cultures and learn how to keep safe online and in the local community.

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Staff generally feel well supported to fulfil their roles. Most staff welcome how the school reduces unnecessary workload so they can focus on teaching pupils. Governors provide effective challenge and support to the school to focus on continued improvements. Most parents and carers are also positive about the care that pupils are given. One parent commented, ‘My child has blossomed since starting at the school.’

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has inconsistent expectations of pupils’ written work. This means the quality of work is sometimes not as good as it should be. The school should ensure that staff maintain high expectations and that these are consistently met across the curriculum so that pupils’ written work reflects their detailed understanding.  The teaching of phonics needs refining. As a result, some pupils do not pronounce sounds correctly, and this impacts on their ability to blend sounds accurately to make words. The school should ensure that all staff are equipped with the expert knowledge to reach reading effectively. 19 and 20 March 2024

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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). 19 and 20 March 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 October 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils with SEND. This is for up to nine pupils with vision impairment.

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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. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science and religious education. For each deep dive, the inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to 19 and 20 March 2024

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teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  Inspectors also looked at samples of pupils’ work in other subjects, including geography, English, and art and design.  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 lead inspector met the chair and vice-chair of the governing body and held a call with a local authority representative.  The inspectors analysed responses to the staff survey and spoke to staff about their views of the school.  The inspectors took account of the responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey, including the additional free-text responses. An inspector also spoke with parents on the morning of the second day of the inspection.

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 Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and at other times and also discussed with pupils their views of the school.

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Inspection team

Baljit Bhabra, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Jo Petch His Majesty’s Inspector 19 and 20 March 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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