Castle Park School

Inspection of Castle Park School Sedbergh Drive, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 6BE

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Inspection dates: 22 and 23 October 2024

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

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The headteacher of this school is Ross Knaggs. This school is part of Kendal Primary Multi 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 (CEO), Ross Knaggs, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Wendy Gibson. 22 and 23 October 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a strong sense of belonging at this caring school. They are happy to be part of a community where they all work together. Pupils told inspectors that everyone who is kind and considerate is welcome at their school. They are highly respectful about differences between themselves and others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Over recent years, the school has raised its expectations for pupils’ achievement further, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Typically, pupils rise to meet these aspirations. They strive for recognition for their hard work, including by receiving house points, ‘gold bar’ treats and certificates.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils behave well during lessons and at social times. They have positive attitudes towards their learning. Pupils know the importance of following the school’s values and ‘golden rules’, which include being resilient and responsible. They know that they will learn well if they keep on trying, especially if they encounter difficulties.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy a variety of rich experiences, which broaden their horizons. For example, they relish visits to art galleries, theatres, the church and other cities. Pupils participate in local shows, carnivals and sports tournaments. They attend clubs in sports, arts and sewing. Pupils can also learn how to play a musical instrument.

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

The school has recently focused on improving its educational offer. It has adopted a broad and balanced curriculum, which identifies the important knowledge that pupils should learn and the order in which teachers should introduce it. This begins from the provision for two-year-old children, who make a flying start to their early education.

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

Most pupils achieve well across a range of subjects. They can recall their learning well, including how it connects to their prior knowledge. However, the school has not focused sufficiently on helping pupils to develop their written and spoken communication skills. This hinders some pupils’ accuracy in their speech and in their written work.

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

Teachers have benefited from training and coaching that have helped them to develop their subject knowledge. This empowers them to deliver the curriculum well, for example by choosing appropriate learning activities. Teachers use a range of strategies to shape future learning. Nonetheless, in some lessons, they do not check closely enough how well pupils are learning. At times, this means that some pupils make errors and have misunderstandings that go unchecked. They repeat these mistakes in subsequent work.

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

The school is tenacious in identifying pupils with SEND as quickly as possible. Staff are determined to understand and remove any barriers to learning that may exist. They work with external professionals, parents and carers to help pupils with SEND to learn well alongside their classmates. 22 and 23 October 2024

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The school has prioritised reading. It has constructed the curriculum around well-chosen, high-quality texts. The school has invested heavily in new books. Pupils spend time in inviting reading areas in classrooms. They spoke of visits to book fairs and a ‘book bus’.

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Much of children’s learning in the early years begins with the sharing of plentiful rhymes, stories and songs. Staff are trained to deliver the phonics programme with fidelity, from the beginning of the Reception Year. Pupils practise reading from books that contain the sounds that they already know. If they struggle with reading, staff provide targeted and effective support to help them to learn to read well. Pupils read widely and often.

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Staff build nurturing relationships with pupils. In the classroom for two-year-old children, they gently encourage children to have a go and to develop their self-confidence. Pupils are courteous and well mannered. They learn to share and take turns with others. This adds to the calm atmosphere across the school. Most pupils have high attendance, and the school works effectively to support some families where this is not the case.

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The school supports pupils’ personal development well. Pupils learn how to stay safe and how to look after their health. They develop leadership skills by being house captains and school councillors. Some pupils are training to become ‘young leaders’. Eco-councillors have helped to make compost to plant flower seeds in the school’s grounds. Pupils raise money for charities, and those in the choir visit the local home for older people.

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The trust and the local governing body work closely with the school, with a focus on the school’s quality of education. Staff appreciate a collegiate approach, which facilitates them in honing their practice. This enables them to fulfil their roles well. Staff told inspectors that they are excited to contribute towards the school’s continual improvement.

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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 not focused enough on developing pupils’ written and spoken communication skills. This limits how well some pupils develop fluency and accuracy in their speech and in their writing. The school should ensure that staff better support pupils in securing the building blocks of knowledge that they will need for their next stages of education.  From time to time, staff do not check precisely enough that pupils have understood new learning. This means that some pupils make mistakes that go unaddressed. The school should support staff in identifying and addressing these errors as they arise to help pupils to learn as well as they could. 22 and 23 October 2024

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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.

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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). 22 and 23 October 2024

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School details

Date of previous inspection 9 January 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of Kendal Primary Multi Academy Trust.  Since the previous inspection, a new headteacher has been appointed. There have also been several changes to the school’s governance arrangements.  The school makes use of one unregistered alternative provider for a small number of pupils.  The school provides a before- and after-school club for pupils.  The school provides early education for children aged two years and above.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years provision). Schools 22 and 23 October 2024

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receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation 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 carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, English, mathematics, art and design, and history. In each deep dive, inspectors discussed the curriculum with subject leaders and visited a sample of lessons. They spoke with teachers and with some pupils about their learning. Inspectors looked at samples of pupils’ work. They also considered the curriculum in some other subjects.  The lead inspector observed some pupils from Years 1 to 3 read to a familiar adult. He discussed reading with a group of older pupils.  Inspectors met with the headteacher and other school leaders. The lead inspector met

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with representatives of the academy trust and local governors, including the CEO, the chair of the trust and the chair of the local governing board. He also spoke with a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and around school, including at playtime, at breakfast club and during lunchtime. They spoke with several groups of pupils about their experiences at school.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single central record and took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils. They 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 the school’s self-evaluation documents, improvement plans, minutes of trust and governor meetings, and documents pertaining to pupils’ behaviour and levels of attendance.

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 Inspectors spoke with staff about their workload and their well-being. They considered the responses to Ofsted’s online survey for staff.  Inspectors took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. An inspector met with some parents at the start of the school day. Inspectors also considered some letters from parents addressed for their attention.

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Inspection team

David Lobodzinski, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Lisa Whittaker Ofsted Inspector 22 and 23 October 2024

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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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