Kings Norton Primary School

Inspection of Kings Norton Primary School Pershore Road South, Kings Norton, Birmingham, West Midlands B30 3EU

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Outstanding Early years provision Good

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Previous inspection grade Not previously inspected under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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The headteacher of this school is Mark Sheehan. This school is part of The Elliot Foundation Academies 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), Hugh Greenway, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Tim Coulson CBE. 25 and 26 March 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend Kings Norton Primary School. The school’s values underpin every aspect of its work. Pupils aspire to be ambitious, supportive, polite, inclusive, resilient and empathetic. The way they demonstrate these values is impressive. Pupils have strong relationships with both their peers and staff. Pupils know that if they have any concerns then staff will support them. As a result, pupils feel happy and safe in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all its pupils. Its vision is to inspire a community of lifelong learners. It wants all pupils to reach their full potential. The school is now a place that enables this vision to become a reality.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has the same high ambition for how pupils should behave. Pupils behave well in lessons because they want to learn. Pupils replicate the positive behaviour they show in lessons during social times. The school provides a wealth of activities to encourage pupils to become active. Older pupils relish the opportunity to support the younger pupils, for example on the playground. This helps to strengthen the strong family feel in this friendly, improving school.

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

The school has successfully introduced a broad and balanced curriculum. Pupils enjoy their learning and achieve well in different subjects. The curriculum follows a clear order of learning that starts in the early years and builds in each year group. The school makes learning relevant and meaningful for pupils. For example, in geography, pupils learn about the school’s woodland before the school widens its focus to the features of the local area and then further afield. In different subjects, including mathematics, pupils have plentiful opportunities to apply their knowledge through solving problems. In most subjects, teachers make careful checks to see if pupils have remembered important knowledge. However, in some subjects, the impact of the curriculum on pupils’ learning is not being checked carefully enough. This results in some pupils having gaps in their knowledge.

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

The needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified well. Timely, targeted support and considered adaptations to the teaching of the curriculum ensure that these pupils achieve well. Through the school’s ‘Hub’ and ‘Hive’ resources, pupils receive individual support in a nurturing environment. The trust supports the school well by providing additional resources for these pupils when needed. However, on occasion, the school does not support some pupils well enough to communicate with other pupils and staff. This holds back the development of some pupils’ communication skills.

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

The school ensures that it gives high priority to teaching pupils how to read. This starts as soon as they start at the school. Teachers use the school’s chosen phonics programme well. Pupils learn the sounds that letters make in focused phonics lessons. Those who fall behind get the extra support they need. Many pupils can read fluently by the time they leave key stage 1. 25 and 26 March 2025

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Leaders have ensured that there are supportive systems in place to make sure pupils attend regularly and on time. When needed, leaders work skilfully with pupils and families to improve attendance.

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Children in the early years benefit from a wide range of well-thought-out activities, inside and outside the classroom, that ignite their interest in learning. Over time, children in the early years become increasingly independent and develop effective learning habits. Children learn important new words and are encouraged to use these in their play and when explaining their learning through positive and skilled interactions with staff.

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The school has an effective and well-considered programme for pupils’ wider development. Pupils know what the fundamental British values are and their importance. They learn that people have different families, backgrounds, cultures and beliefs. Pupils are very tolerant and inquisitive about these differences and characteristics. Through the school’s personal, social, health and economic education curriculum, pupils consider important topics, such as the importance of teamwork. They also learn to understand people’s emotional needs and what healthy relationships are. Pupils know how to deal with dangers, both in the real world and online.

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Leaders, ably supported by the trust, have successfully and very effectively taken the school through a period of rapid and significant change. Staff have received high-quality training and support, ensuring they have the skills and knowledge to deliver the curriculum as intended. They are extremely positive about the improvements in the school’s work. Staff appreciate that their workload and well-being are supported well by the school and the trust. Leaders, including trustees, make precise and detailed checks on the impact of the school’s actions to improve its work. This has helped to drive significant improvements across the school, especially for the education of its pupils.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some foundation subjects, the school does not identify and resolve gaps in pupils’ knowledge well enough. This means that, on occasion, some pupils learn the curriculum less well than they could. The school should develop its assessment strategies so that staff identify and address gaps in pupils’ curriculum knowledge effectively.  Strategies to support some pupils’ communication needs are not established as well as they could be. This limits how well the school helps some pupils to communicate with their peers and with staff. The school should ensure that staff enable pupils to communicate well with other people. 25 and 26 March 2025

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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). 25 and 26 March 2025

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school does not make use of any alternative provision.  The school is part of The Elliot Foundation Academies Trust.  The school operates breakfast and after-school clubs on the site.  Kings Norton Primary School converted to become an academy in June 2022. When its predecessor school, Kings Norton Junior and Infant School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be inadequate for overall effectiveness.  A new headteacher took up post in September 2023.

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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 25 and 26 March 2025

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provision). Schools 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. The 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: mathematics, geography, early reading and physical education. For each deep dive, 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.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects. The lead inspector listened to a sample of pupils in Years 1 to 3 reading to staff.  Inspectors met with groups of pupils across the school. There were no responses to consider from Ofsted’s pupil survey.

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 During the inspection, inspectors met with the headteacher, members of the school’s senior leadership team, a selection of subject leaders, teachers and support staff.  Inspectors met with leaders to discuss early years, SEND, disadvantaged pupils, behaviour, attendance and personal development.  The lead inspector met with the chair of the trustees and the CEO, as well as members of the trust board.  Inspectors scrutinised a wide range of documents, including those related to pupils’ wider development, behaviour and attendance. They also observed pupils’ behaviour in lessons, around school and during breaktime.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, 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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 Inspectors considered the views of parents submitted via Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

James Dean, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Tracey O’Keeffe-Pullan Ofsted Inspector 25 and 26 March 2025

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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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