Kingsham Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Kingsham Primary School Hay Road, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 8BN

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Outcome

Kingsham Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Lee Dallinger. This school is part of the University of Chichester 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), Jennese Alozie, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Symeon Dagkas.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Familiar morning routines set the positive tone for the day. Staff on the gate and at the classroom doors greet pupils by name and with a welcoming smile. They are ready to hear what is going on in pupils’ lives beyond school, answer parents’ and carers’ questions and sort out any worries. From Reception upwards, early morning tasks make the most of the time with activities designed to reinforce learning or practise skills.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Three simple rules, ‘ready, respectful and safe’, underpin the upbeat atmosphere in classrooms, around school and at breaktimes. Pupils learn about choice and consequence. They are welcoming to new classmates and see diversity and difference as normal. The school’s ‘CROWN’ values nurture the important attributes pupils need to be successful learners. They rise to these expectations, learning many new facts and skills.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are, as the school promises, ‘transported beyond the walls of the academy’ to give them experiences that they might not otherwise have and to broaden their horizons. Great care is taken to nurture pupils’ empathy and awareness of issues facing people wherever they may be in the world. They come to understand the importance of, and the part they can play in, for example, tackling homelessness, treating people fairly and caring for the planet. 10 and 11 June 2025

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

The parent who commented that they ‘have seen the school go from strength to strength’ captured Kingsham’s journey over recent years perfectly. School leaders, the local governing body and the trust are united in their ‘no excuses’ approach. They are single- minded in focusing on the different components that will make the most difference for pupils and keeping a watchful eye on the impact. An example of this is the support and challenge for families that has significantly improved attendance.

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

The school’s academic curriculum has been overhauled. Staff share leaders’ sense of purpose. They appreciate the care for their well-being and workload and the support for their professional development to help them be at their best for pupils. Teaching is, therefore, mostly well thought through. Occasionally, learning activities are not pitched at the right level. The school’s practice of encouraging pupils to ‘think out loud’ to check their understanding is not fully embedded.

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

Whatever point pupils join the school at, and no matter how long they stay, there is an unwavering commitment to giving them the best experience possible. Pupils are taught to recognise and manage their feelings. High expectations of how pupils will behave and how staff support pupils to behave well are embedded. Strong pastoral care and mentoring help to keep those who need it on track and to experience success. Well- established systems identify pupils who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Learning is adapted or extra support put in place and progress monitored carefully to determine if more is needed, and what.

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

The provision for pupils’ personal development and wider opportunities has been enhanced. The school’s work to nurture confident, respectful and responsible citizens is strong. Pupils learn the importance of listening to and considering other views through debate, first in school and later in the council chamber. The performing arts ‘showcase’ in the university theatre is a highlight of the year, fostering self-assurance as well as talent. Older pupils make a significant contribution to school life through their various leadership roles. As one parent put it simply, pupils ‘finish Year 6 happy and well equipped for secondary school’.

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

Pupils enjoy reading. Most now reach the expected standard for their age by the end of Year 6. Pupils have not necessarily got off to the best start learning to read in the recent past. The majority do now, although some need a little longer to consolidate their skills. The trust’s chosen phonics programme is established and staff well trained. Teaching starts promptly in Reception and is typically precise, checking if pupils are hearing and saying sounds correctly. A concerted focus on swiftly putting in extra support for pupils who are not keeping up is reaping benefits.

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

The redesign of the wider curriculum is also paying dividends. Learning in each subject is plotted carefully to build on the early years curriculum through to the end of Year 6. Teachers are guided to consider what pupils should be taught and the skills they need to work like, for example, a scientist or a historian. There is though, a lot of content. It is not sufficiently clear exactly what pupils need to remember at each stage to be prepared for 10 and 11 June 2025

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future learning. Pupils are not explicitly taught how to remember and recall important information. So, while they can talk confidently about what they are studying currently, pupils do not find it as easy to recollect key learning from the past.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 At times, the tasks that teachers design do not take sufficient account of whether pupils have the foundational knowledge they need to undertake them. The school’s focus on oracy to check and extend pupils’ understanding is not consistent. Where this is the case, pupils’ learning is not consolidated. The school needs to make sure that the teaching of the intended curriculum is consistently high quality.  The curriculum in the foundation subjects does not distinguish clearly enough between what is interesting and what is essential learning. Pupils do not, therefore, readily recall important learning from the past. The school should ensure that teachers are clear about the essential learning pupils should already know before a series of lessons and what they ought to understand by the end. Furthermore, it should continue its work to ensure that teachers have the necessary expertise to help pupils embed and then

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

retrieve key knowledge and skills from their long-term memory.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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. 10 and 11 June 2025

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This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in January 2020.

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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). 10 and 11 June 2025

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School details

Website https://kingshamprimary.chimat.uk/

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 21 and 22 January 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The headteacher joined the school in September 2020 and the current deputy headteacher, who is also the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator, in April 2025. Around half of the class teachers are also new to the school since the last inspection.  A significant number of pupils join and leave the school during the course of each school year. The proportion who speak English as an additional language has increased in recent years. Currently, it stands at around one in six pupils who, between them, speak almost 40 different languages. Their proficiency in English ranges from those who are new to English through to those who are fluent English speakers.  Starting with the 2024 Reception intake, the number of pupils that can be admitted to each year group is 30. Previously, it was 45, so most pupils in key stages 1 and 2 are currently taught in mixed-age classes.  On site before- and after-school clubs are managed by the school.

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Information about this school

 The school does not currently use any alternative provision. 10 and 11 June 2025

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Information about this inspection

 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 inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher and school leaders as well as the CEO and two members of the trust’s academy improvement team. They also held discussions with the co-chairs and other members of the local governing body, and with a representative of the board of trustees.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: 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

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Information about this inspection

safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector considered the responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View. They also took into consideration the online Ofsted staff and pupil surveys. The inspector also met with pupils and staff during the inspection and talked to pupils around school and outside at breaktime.

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Inspection team

Alison Bradley, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 June 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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