King's House Moorlands

Inspection of King’s House Moorlands King’s House, High Street Leagrave, Luton LU4 9JY

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils benefit from a rich set of experiences to deepen their learning and inform their future aspirations. They have their eyes opened to a world beyond their locality that they would not otherwise see. Older pupils visit carefully selected prestige businesses and universities. This ignites their interests in careers such, as law, medicine and management.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are inspired to work hard, persevere and succeed. They are self-motivated and firmly committed to their studies. They are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils of all ages rise to what is expected of them. They demonstrate impeccable manners. The school’s diversity is celebrated. Pupils value being able to openly discuss different cultures, lifestyles and religions. This fosters high levels of mutual respect and understanding for each other and wider society. Pupils’ conduct is consistently very high in lessons and at breaktimes. They appreciate the individual attention they receive from trusted staff.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are eager to be prefects, house captains or on the school council. They are confident and articulate speakers. Pupils enjoy taking part in performances, going on residentials and organising fundraising. Pupils have the opportunity to learn to play a musical instrument and there is strong take up of the clubs offered.

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better?

Leaders have successfully steered the school through a period of expansion into secondary-age provision. Through this change, the school has maintained its high educational standards. Pupils across the whole school, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. This is shown in national assessments and from pupils’ work.

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better?

The school has recently updated its curriculum content. Across all subjects, teachers are clear as to what they need to teach and when. Staff know their subjects well and benefit from sharing expertise with each other. However, some curriculum changes are still in the early stages. The impact of recent staff training and mentoring is not yet fully evident or is still to start. This means there are some inconsistencies in how well the curriculum is currently delivered. As a result, opportunities to extend some pupils’ learning further or fill gaps are not yet fully maximised.

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better?

Staff regularly recap on prior learning. They routinely check what pupils can remember. However, these checks are not always used sufficiently well to adapt the learning to meet the specific needs of the class. Some pupils are given work they can complete with ease, or for some the learning moves on before their understanding is secured. 1 to 3 October 2024 Pupils throughout the school read widely and often. Younger pupils enjoy their daily phonics lessons and read books matched to their reading ability. A new system to track how quickly pupils progress in reading has just been introduced. This targets pupils who need to catch up and is beginning to have a positive impact. Pupils talk about different genres they have read. They access a rich and varied range of texts and ambitious vocabulary. Pupils become fluent and confident readers.

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better?

Pupils have excellent self-discipline. They apply themselves well in all lessons and with all teachers. They are not concerned about bullying and they know it would be dealt with. Pupils themselves do not tolerate any discriminatory behaviours and such incidents are, therefore, rare. Pupils know the rules and want to follow them. Staff apply the behaviour policy consistently and fairly. This results in a calm school, where pupils learn without disruption.

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better?

The school is unwavering in its commitment to ensure all pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Pupils in every year group follow a carefully considered personal development programme. In addition to knowing about how to be safe and healthy, pupils also learn about economics, helping others less fortunate and how to develop resilience. They understand in detail different cultural and religious beliefs and the importance of fundamental British values. Parents are consulted on any topics of a potentially sensitive nature so that pupils are given all the information they need to prepare for adulthood.

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better?

The propriety body knows the school well. They and the governors ensure that the school meets all the independent school standards, including the requirements under schedule 10 of the Equalities Act 2010. They quality assure health and safety, safeguarding and ensure staff well-being is considered. Leaders are aware that more focus is required in monitoring the impact of staff training on the quality of education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 In some instances, pupils are set work that is not always well matched to their ability. This limits how well some pupils achieve what they are fully capable of or gaps in learning are not addressed quickly enough. Staff need to use their checks on learning to adapt activities to meet the specific needs of their class. Leaders, including governors, then need to check that this is happening.  Some aspects of the curriculum have recently been updated. Staff are still getting used to these changes. Leaders need to continue to provide pedagogical training to ensure staff know how to consistently teach the revised curriculum as 1 to 3 October 2024 intended. Leaders, including governors, need to ensure this professional development is coherently planned and its impact monitored.

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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. 1 to 3 October 2024

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School details

Unique reference number 109726 DfE registration number 821/6000

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School details

Inspection number 10341994 Type of school Other Independent School

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School details

Proprietor Moorlands Grammar School Limited

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School details

Email address enquires@kinghouseschool.co.uk

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School details

Date of previous inspection 8 to 10 March 2022 1 to 3 October 2024

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Information about this school

 The school is an independent day school. There is a trustee board, which is responsible for the governance of the school.  The school is owned by Moorlands Grammar School Limited. In December 2023, the Department for Education (DfE) approved a change from the previous proprietor, The King’s House Moorlands Trust. The chair of the proprietor body has not changed since the previous inspection.  The proprietor body is also responsible for a nursery and early years provision, Tots Academy, located at 140 High Street, Leagrave, Luton LU4 9LJ. The nursery is separately registered and inspected by Ofsted.  The school does not currently use any alternative provision.  In October 2024, the DFE approved the school to reduce its lower age range from age four to age five Reception class is now within the separately registered Tots Academy.  In March 2024, Ofsted conducted a material change inspection as the school

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Information about this school

requested to increase its upper age range to 16 years. The inspection judged that the school was likely to meet the relevant independent school standards should the change be granted. The material change was subsequently approved.  In July 2023, Ofsted conducted a material change inspection as the school requested to increase its upper age range to 14 years. The inspection judged that the school was likely to meet the relevant independent school standards should the change be granted. The material change was subsequently approved.  In May 2021, Ofsted conducted a material change inspection as the school requested to increase its upper age range to 13 years. The inspection judged that the school was likely to meet the relevant independent school standards should the change be granted. The material change was subsequently approved.  The school’s last standard inspection was in March 2022 where it was judged to

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Information about this school

be good overall. At this inspection the school also met all of the independent school standards.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014. 1 to 3 October 2024  Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors held meetings with the executive headteacher, senior leaders, the special educational needs coordinator teaching staff and support staff.  The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, science and art and design. For each deep dive, the inspectors spoke to leaders, visited lessons, spoke with pupils, look at pupils’ workbooks and spoke with staff.  The lead inspector held meetings with the chair of the proprietor body and the chief executive officer.

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Information about this inspection

 To check compliance with the independent school standards, inspectors spoke to the executive headteacher, members of the proprietor board, staff and pupils. Inspectors visited lessons, observed social times and toured the school site.  The lead inspector scrutinised a range of documentation including the school’s own self-evaluation, school improvement plan and governance minutes.  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 considered the responses gathered through Ofsted Parent View, which included 15 free-text comments. There were nine responses to the staff survey. No pupils answered the pupil survey. However, the inspectors spoke to

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Information about this inspection

several pupils from different year groups during the inspection, as well as a range of staff.

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Inspection team

Sara Boyce, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Helen Jones Ofsted Inspector 1 to 3 October 2024 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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