Furley Park Primary Academy

Inspection of Furley Park Primary Academy Reed Crescent, Park Farm, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent TN23 3PA

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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 Requires improvement

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The headteacher of this school is Emma Collip. This school is part of ACE Learning Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the interim chief executive officer, Joanna Ronayne, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Gail Spragg. 3 and 4 December 2024

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils work hard and achieve well at this calm and caring school. They have excellent attitudes to learning and strive to meet the high expectations of teachers. Pupils concentrate well and share their learning excitedly. ‘Time flies at this school,’ said one pupil. This starts in the early years, where teachers embed strong routines quickly. As a result, classrooms are busy and purposeful.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils know the school values, including respect, well. This helps them to treat each other with courtesy and kindness. Pupils have warm and positive relationships with each other and staff. Teachers apply the well-defined school rules consistently. As a result, pupils behave well. Pupils feel happy and safe. They know that staff care and will address any concerns they may have.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn important skills of leadership at school. They are keen to take up prestigious roles such as head boy and girl or represent their class on the school council. Pupils aspire to these roles and are proud of the work they do. Year 6 pupils have clearly defined responsibilities as part of their class rota. They take these responsibilities seriously. The school values pupils’ opinions. For example, pupils choose the clubs that the school offers or select new playground equipment.

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

The school has been through a period of significant change since the last inspection. The trust has built an increasingly strong understanding of the school. This has allowed it to take decisive action to empower key staff within the school. As a result, the school has acted swiftly to design an ambitious and engaging curriculum. The curriculum sets out the knowledge, skills and vocabulary that pupils need to learn clearly.

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

Pupils become confident and independent readers. This starts in early years, where well- trained staff teach phonics consistently well. Staff select books carefully matched to the sounds and letters pupils know. This helps pupils to practise their reading and become increasingly fluent. Staff identify pupils who fall behind accurately. This helps them to plan support to help pupils catch up quickly. Older pupils read widely, including a range of poetry and plays.

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

Teachers have secure subject knowledge. They use this to select well-designed activities that help pupils to learn the curriculum content they need. Teachers explain learning clearly. They choose high-quality resources that help pupils to deepen their understanding. Children in early years benefit from an exciting and well-designed learning environment. Teachers’ checks on pupils’ learning are not consistent enough. Teachers do not always identify pupils’ gaps in learning quickly.

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

Staff know the pupils well. This allows them to identify the needs of pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), accurately. Teachers adapt learning effectively. As a result, the majority of pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum content as their peers. The small number of pupils not working at age- 3 and 4 December 2024

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appropriate levels are well supported and learn skills and knowledge matched to their individual needs.

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The school has rightly prioritised the teaching of writing and has introduced a new approach to this. Pupils’ work shows that they write accurately at length and apply the techniques they learn effectively. Pupils, including those with SEND, are well prepared for their next steps. They learn the important skills of reading and mathematics they need and can recall the majority of their prior learning accurately.

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Pupils move quietly around the school and take great pride in their environment. Consequently, the school is calm and orderly. Children in the early years share resources happily and play together cooperatively. Breaktimes are well ordered and pupils chat excitedly with each other.

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The school has worked hard to improve attendance, tracking pupils’ attendance and responding quickly to any absences. The school’s pastoral team offers a range of support, including referral to external agencies that break down barriers to attendance effectively. As a result, the majority of pupils attend regularly and this is improving over time. However, the persistent absence of disadvantaged pupils is still too high. As a result, the most vulnerable pupils are missing too much of their vital education.

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The school recognises the value of experiences beyond the curriculum. Pupils have a range of opportunities to develop their skills and talents. They enjoy a wide range of clubs at breaktimes and after school. These include football, choir and gymnastics. Pupils share these talents within school and beyond. For example, pupils represent the school in a range of successful sports teams or perform Shakespeare in local theatres. The school ensures that pupils have these opportunities to develop their sporting prowess or deepen their cultural experiences.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Occasionally, the use of assessment is not precise enough. It does not always identify gaps in learning and inform future teaching. As a result, some pupils do not fill gaps in learning swiftly enough. The school should ensure that teachers use assessment to identify gaps in learning and inform their next steps of teaching consistently well.  Persistent absence at the school is too high for too many pupils, particularly those who are more disadvantaged. This means that the most vulnerable pupils are missing out on too much of their vital education. The school must continue and strengthen its work to support these pupils in attending more frequently and learning more over time. 3 and 4 December 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). 3 and 4 December 2024

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School details

CEO of the trust Joanna Ronayne (Interim CEO)

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 5 and 6 July 2022, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use any alternative provision.  The school manages wraparound breakfast 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. 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 and/or sixth form provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of the school’s education provision. 3 and 4 December 2024

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 This is the second 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 their evaluation of the school.  The inspection team met with the headteacher as well as with other leaders and staff. The lead inspector met with trustees. They also held a meeting with members of the trust executive team.  The inspection team carried out deep dives in the following subjects: reading, mathematics, science, computing and geography. For each deep dive, the inspectors 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 inspection team also sampled pupils’ work in English, art and Spanish.  The inspection team considered the views of parents and carers through their responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View. The inspectors spoke to staff and

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pupils during the inspection and took account of staff responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey.  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.

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Inspection team

Gavin Thomas, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Louise Lythgoe Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 December 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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