Kingfisher School

Inspection of a good school: Kingfisher School Radley Road, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3RR

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Outcome

Kingfisher School continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Lorraine Wilson. This school is part of The Propeller Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Tom Pegler, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Jane Edwards.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Kingfisher School is a special community. Those who work in the school are well trained to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff show enormous care and kindness to every pupil. This means that pupils love coming to school because they feel happy and safe. Parents are very positive about their child’s experiences. One parent echoed the sentiments of others, saying, ‘You walk down the corridor and look in the classes and all have a smile on their faces. The teachers go above and beyond with the children. I am so lucky to have found a school where my SEN child is happy, relaxed and improving every single day.’

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations and is ambitious for what pupils can achieve. The primary aim is to develop effective communication. The school ensures that pupils are able to use a variety of resources and strategies so they can express their thoughts and wishes. Staff know their pupils well, and they give them the time and space to be as independent as possible. Pupils have all the help they need to manage their feelings and emotions. As a result, behaviour across the school is calm and purposeful.

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

The curriculum is ambitious and well planned to support pupils’ learning. Different learning pathways enable pupils to learn in a way that best suits their needs. For example, one pathway is for those with speech, language and communication needs. Across the curriculum, subject knowledge is broken down into small, well-sequenced steps. Students in the sixth form study a varied curriculum that gives them opportunities to work towards a range of qualifications. Subject leadership in many subjects is strong, 19 and 20 June 2024

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although in a few subjects this is still developing. This impacts on the school’s oversight of pupils’ learning in these subjects.

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Staff support pupils well to engage in their learning. They work with a range of specialists, including speech and language therapists and occupational therapists, to plan each pupil’s targets. They ensure that pupils have many opportunities to develop their knowledge, skills and understanding. Checks of what pupils know and remember in many subjects are effective. This enables staff to move pupils on to the next step in their learning. However, the school recognises that, for some subjects, this is not yet fully in place.

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Communication skills are well taught. This enables pupils to express themselves with increasing proficiency. All pupils develop a love of stories, whether through song or ‘sensory’ or ‘massage stories’. Reading is a priority in the school. Staff are well trained and expertly deliver phonics lessons. Many pupils learn skills such as letter sounds and blending. They go on to become confident readers with strong comprehension skills.

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The school promotes pupils’ broader development well. It succeeds in its mission to ‘prepare pupils to be happy, active and lifelong integral members of the community’. Personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education is well planned. The school takes the time to develop pupils’ specific talents and interests. Recently, this has been through activities such as riding, snake handling or karaoke. The school provides many opportunities to get involved in the community, whether this is through helping at a community food bank or a charity shop. Staff follow a coherent programme to teach pupils how to stay safe, such as when online. The school’s swimming pool is well used to support those with complex physical needs . During their time at the school, all pupils become increasingly proficient in water.

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Students in the sixth form achieve well. The curriculum develops students’ life skills carefully. Cookery skills, for example, are developed through food shopping and making nutritious meals. Some students take part in The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme, which promotes independence and resilience. The school provides clear careers information, education, advice and guidance. This gives students a detailed understanding of the opportunities open to them for their future education and/or employment. Students are encouraged to learn about enterprise. They enjoy designing and selling clothing. Other students recently hosted a very successful ‘Bacon Roll Day’.

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Leaders analyse attendance information carefully. They work closely with families and follow up on any unexplained absences quickly. Pupils behave well. They show respect and kindness towards one another. All pupils have plans that help them to understand their emotions. The school’s sensory garden provides an inviting and calm space where pupils can relax, touch and smell the different herbs.

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Staff speak highly of the school. They praise the sense of teamwork that leaders encourage. Staff say their workload is always considered before any changes are put in place. Those with governance responsibilities, including the local governing body and trustees, fulfil their roles effectively. 19 and 20 June 2024

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, systems for checking what pupils know, remember and can do are still developing. This means that staff do not have always have a clear picture about whether pupils have learned and remembered the intended curriculum. The school should continue its work to implement a clear system for assessing what pupils know and understand in these subjects.  Subject leadership in a few subjects is not yet fully developed. This means that, in these subjects, the school does not always have sufficient oversight of pupils’ learning. The school needs to further refine subject leadership so that staff have a precise understanding of how well pupils are learning across the 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 November 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. 19 and 20 June 2024

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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 June 2024

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School details

School category Academy special sponsor-led

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CEO of the trust

Date of previous inspection 29 January 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The Propeller Academy Trust.  All pupils who attend the school have an education, health and care plan. These are for a range of needs, but most notably: complex autism; severe and profound learning difficulties; and speech, language and communication needs.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  The school has provision for two- and three-year-olds. At the time of the inspection, there were too few pupils in the early years foundation stage to report on this provision.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships. 19 and 20 June 2024

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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.  Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, senior leaders and staff. There were meetings with the chief executive officer and others who have governance responsibilities, including the chair of the local governing body and the chair of the trust.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: communication and early reading, mathematics and PSHE. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. Inspectors also considered

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Information about this inspection

evidence from other areas of the curriculum.  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.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documents, including attendance records, pupil records, minutes of local governing body and trustee meetings and school development plans.  Inspectors considered the views of parents through their responses to the online survey for parents, Ofsted Parent View. They spoke to parents dropping their children off at school and also during a school summer event outside. Inspectors also took account of responses to both the Ofsted pupil and staff surveys.

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Inspection team

Liz Bowes, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Mark Bagust Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 June 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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