Victoria Road Primary School

Inspection of Victoria Road Primary School Victoria Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 7HQ

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 21 and 22 May 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend this caring and inclusive school. They have positive relationships with staff and each other. Pupils participate in lessons excitedly and develop a passion for learning. They share their learning with adults enthusiastically. Teachers have high ambitions for pupils and meet them through hard work and resilience. Most pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well and are well prepared for their next steps.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy and feel safe. They have a number of trusted adults who they know will address any concerns they have. Pupils understand the school’s values of fairness, honesty, enjoyment, respect and courage. They demonstrate these through their excellent conduct and courteous behaviour. Pupils volunteer for a range of responsibilities. For example, Year 6 pupils welcome prospective parents on school tours. Older pupils act as strong role models for other pupils.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are active members of the local community. They take part in litter picking and recycling projects to improve the school environment, raising money for a number of local and national charities through annual events. They also sing for the residents of local care homes at Christmas. Pupils are keen to act as ambassadors for the school.

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better?

The school has a culture of high expectations. The well-designed curriculum is broad and ambitious. Pupils learn important skills and knowledge in a logical sequence of lessons. They revisit prior learning and deepen their understanding over time. For example, pupils in Year 1 order historical events in a timeline and by Year 6 they also assess the impact of each event.

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better?

Staff know pupils well and identify the needs of those with SEND accurately. Teachers use this to plan adaptations to the curriculum, and this ensures that most pupils with SEND achieve very well. However, the amended curriculum that a small number of pupils with SEND learn is not designed carefully enough. As a result, these pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

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better?

Teachers explain learning clearly and use subject vocabulary well. Pupils are enthused by teachers’ activities. However, teachers do not always design activities that support pupils to learn the intended curriculum well enough. Leaders have addressed low outcomes in mathematics swiftly. Pupils now have ample opportunities to develop their reasoning and problem-solving. They read and write at age-appropriate levels and are well prepared for their next steps.

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better?

In most subjects, teachers check pupils’ understanding carefully. They use this to plan support that helps pupils catch up and keep up with learning. Leaders have clearly identified end points for all subjects. They have begun to identify the steps of learning in a number of subjects to make assessment even more effective. 21 and 22 May 2024

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Pupils are fluent and confident readers. Reading starts in Reception Year, where highly trained staff teach phonics well. Pupils with English as an additional language receive high-quality support. As a result, they learn the sounds and letters they need alongside their peers. Teachers identify pupils who are not keeping up accurately. They catch up quickly due to swift intervention. Pupils enjoy diving into books and have frequent opportunities to read to adults.

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The school is calm and purposeful. From Reception onwards, pupils have exceptionally positive attitudes to learning. They concentrate deeply and listen intently to teachers. Pupils play happily together and include everyone in their games. Teachers model expectations very clearly and pupils meet them. Leaders carefully analyse pupils’ attendance. They support families well and improve attendance as a result. Pupils attend frequently.

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Leaders have designed a rich range of activities to enrich pupils’ wider development. All pupils visit art galleries and historical sites to enhance their learning. They learn how to stay safe online and in their local community. Pupils have a wide range of opportunities to develop their skills and talents. They enjoy a broad offer of clubs and activities. Pupils have ample opportunities to share their interests. They represent the school in a variety of sports and perform in local venues.

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Parents are very positive about the school. They feel that pupils benefit from the exciting opportunities the school offers. Parents of pupils with SEND feel that pupils are well supported and thrive as a result. Staff are proud to work at Victoria Road. They enjoy high-quality training that helps them to improve their practice. Staff feel well supported by leaders. Governors share leaders’ high ambitions and hold them to account well.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Occasionally, teachers’ activities do not deliver the ambitious curriculum well enough. As a result, pupils do not always deepen their learning as well as they could. Leaders should ensure that the activities that teachers design deepen pupils’ learning consistently well across all subjects.  The curriculum for a small number of pupils with SEND is not designed clearly enough. As a result, these pupils do not learn as well as they could. Leaders must ensure that all pupils with SEND learn the breadth of the school’s ambitious curriculum with appropriate support and adaptations. 21 and 22 May 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 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 May 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 15 January 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses no alternative provision.  The school manages before- and after-school clubs for pupils.

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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 the school’s education provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This is the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The lead inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in this evaluation of the school.  The inspection team met with the headteacher as well as with other leaders and staff. The lead inspector also held a telephone conversation with a representative from the local authority. 21 and 22 May 2024

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 The inspection team carried out deep dives in the following subjects: reading, mathematics, physical education and history. They also sampled pupils’ work from art. For each deep dive, the inspector 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.  The lead inspector considered the views of parents and carers through their responses to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View. The inspectors spoke to staff and pupils during the inspection and took account of staff responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector 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.

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Inspection team

Gavin Thomas, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Caroline Clarke Ofsted Inspector 21 and 22 May 2024

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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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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