Kingsway Primary School

Kingsway Primary School Inspection report

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106334 Unique Reference Number Trafford Local Authority 287488 Inspection number 27 °28 March 2007 Inspection dates Julie Price Grimshaw Reporting inspector

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This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Primary Type of school Community School category 3 °11 Age range of pupils Mixed Gender of pupils Number on roll 164 School

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The governing body Appropriate authority Mr Jonathan Francis Chair Mrs Alison Bowden Headteacher 8 October 2001 Date of previous school inspection Kinsway Park School address Davyhulme Urmston Manchester M41 0SP

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0161 748 1867 Telephone number 0161 912 2917 Fax number

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3 °11 Age group 27 °28 March 2007 Inspection dates 287488 Inspection number .

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Kingsway Primary School is slightly smaller than average. It serves an area that includes some social and economic disadvantage. The proportion of pupils entitled to free school meals is in line with the national average, as is the proportion of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities. The school's population is largely White British, with few pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds. Over the past few years there has been significant disruption to staffing, which has had a negative impact on the work of the school.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 3 of 11 Inspection Report: Kingsway Primary School, 27 °28 March 2007

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Grade: 4

In accordance with section 13 (3) of the Education Act 2005, HMCI is of the opinion that this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement. Children's standards on entry to the school are below those expected for their age. They make good progress during the Foundation Stage due to high quality teaching, and by the end of the Reception year, the attainment of most pupils is in line with national expectations. Although there are some examples of good and satisfactory teaching in Key Stages 1 and 2, the overall quality of teaching and learning is inadequate; this results in pupils reaching lower than average standards by Year 6, and represents significant underachievement. Over the past few years, the headteacher has been successful in developing the school's links

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Grade: 4

with the wider community. Pupils enjoy fundraising for local charities and good working relationships have been established with other schools. An example of this is the beneficial partnership with a local secondary school, which has enhanced the quality of the physical education provision at Kingsway. Parents are positive about the school's work within the community and appreciate the efforts made by staff. Pupils' personal development is satisfactory. The school has worked well with other agencies in order to improve attendance. Recent figures show an upward trend with the current attendance rate being close to the national average. Behaviour is satisfactory, as are pupils' attitudes on the whole; however, a significant minority of pupils have a negative attitude towards their learning. The curriculum is satisfactory. Recent initiatives, such as the introduction of modern foreign languages, have enriched pupils' experience. There is a good range of extra-curricular activities,

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Grade: 4

in which most pupils are keen to participate. However, provision for information and communication technology (ICT) is inadequate. The school has insufficient resources, most of which are out of date and therefore of limited use. Pastoral care is good, and there are early signs that recent improvements to the systems for tracking pupils' progress are beginning to improve the academic guidance that pupils receive. Leadership and management are inadequate. The headteacher and senior leadership team show high levels of commitment to the school and have a sound understanding of what needs to be done in order to bring about improvement. Nevertheless, the school's self-evaluation overestimates the quality of some aspects of the school's work. In addition, development plans are weak. They are not sufficiently concise, focused and specific in order to drive up standards, and this limits their usefulness and impact. Whilst governors discharge all statutory

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Grade: 4

responsibilities, they do not take a sufficiently active role in addressing areas that require urgent improvement. The school provides inadequate value for money. Although senior managers have worked hard to implement a range of strategies for improvement, they have had limited impact on pupils' achievement and on the overall quality of teaching and learning. There is therefore insufficient evidence of secure capacity to improve.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Improve achievement and raise standards, particularly in Key Stage 2. 4 of 11 Inspection Report: Kingsway Primary School, 27 °28 March 2007 • Improve the quality of teaching so that it ensures that pupils make the progress of which they are capable. • Address weaknesses in ICT provision by ensuring that the school has sufficient up-to-date resources. • Refine development planning so that it is concise and focused and effective in raising standards and achievement.

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Grade: 4

The effective management of provision in the Foundation Stage compensates well for the below-average starting point for most children. The enthusiasm and skill of the teachers make learning exciting and fun. As a consequence, children's achievement is good in all areas of learning. Most attain the targets expected of them by the end of their Reception year. A small proportion however, find socialising and sharing with others a problem. In Key Stages 1 and 2, pupils are not always sufficiently challenged and this has held back their rate of progress, which is inadequate overall. The 2006 national tests results show a slight improvement in the school's overall performance in English, with standards in this subject being broadly average. Although standards have improved slightly in mathematics, they remain below average, as do those for science. Inspection evidence and school assessment data show that

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Grade: 4

there are some early signs of improvement, especially in English, but the rate of improvement is not rapid enough. Pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities are well supported but their progress is also inadequate, as they are not always provided with tasks that motivate or stimulate them to learn.

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Grade: 3

Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is satisfactory. Their cultural development is particularly well provided for, giving them a strong awareness of other cultures and world faiths. In the Foundation Stage, children settle in quickly and make good progress in most aspects of their personal development, although a small minority still find it hard to share or relate to others when they leave Reception. Behaviour throughout school is satisfactory. Where tasks in lessons are not sufficiently challenging, or the pace of learning is too slow, pupils lose interest and their concentration wavers. A significant minority openly say that they do not enjoy school and blame 'boring lessons'. Attendance, which has been below average in recent years, has improved recently and is now satisfactory. Pupils respond enthusiastically to any responsibilities given to them. They commit themselves wholeheartedly to the needs of others by holding successful charity fundraising events

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Grade: 3

throughout the year, which are enjoyed by all. Pupils' contribution to the community is another developing strength, with close links with the nearby church and local businesses. A woodland walk created recently is used well to support learning. These experiences are effective in preparing pupils well for the future. The school council enables pupils to contribute to decision-making. Their work has resulted in the provision of playground equipment and improvements to the toilets. Most have a good understanding of the importance of leading a fit and healthy lifestyle. The school's good links with parents ensure that they are well informed about their children's personal development. 5 of 11 Inspection Report: Kingsway Primary School, 27 °28 March 2007

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Grade: 4

There is considerable inconsistency in the quality of teaching and learning across the school. Overall, teaching does not enable pupils to enjoy their education and make the progress that is expected of them. The best practice in some lessons includes a variety of well prepared enjoyable and interesting activities, coupled with brisk pace and much encouragement. In such lessons, pupils respond very well, are keen to learn, and make at least satisfactory progress. However, this practice is not yet sufficiently widespread, and too much teaching in the school relies on repetitive activities that fail to challenge pupils, combined with lack of good quality feedback to the pupils on how well they are doing. This limits the progress made by pupils. Recent initiatives, such as the introduction of pupils' self-assessment, are just beginning to show some positive outcomes. However, all staff do not yet apply these initiatives consistently

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Grade: 3

The curriculum is satisfactory. A range of subjects ensures satisfactory breadth and balance, and there is evidence of the positive impact of some recent developments, such as the introduction of a modern foreign language for all pupils. The curriculum is being reviewed to give a greater emphasis to developing more imaginative links between subjects to enliven learning. The lack of sufficient up-to-date resources for ICT results in inadequate provision in this area. Pupils enjoy participating in a good range of extra-curricular activities, including a particularly wide range of sporting ventures provided as a result of the effective partnership between the school and a local specialist sports college. The curriculum in the Foundation Stage is stimulating and promotes enjoyment of learning and good achievement.

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory overall with some good features. Staff know the pupils and their families well, and this helps them to support any pupils experiencing learning difficulties or emotional problems. Procedures for safeguarding pupils meet all statutory requirements. Pupils say they feel safe and cared for. A typical comment is, 'any problems we have are sorted out right away'. Support staff work hard to ensure that pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities receive the help they need during lessons. Academic guidance given to pupils' is satisfactory. Recently, pupils have become more involved in assessing their own work and setting targets for future development. In spite of this, pupils do not always have a sufficient understanding of what they need to do in order to improve their work, and this restricts their progress. 6 of 11 Inspection Report: Kingsway Primary School, 27 °28 March 2007

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Grade: 4

Leadership and management are inadequate. The senior leadership team is aware of the main issues that the school needs to address in order to improve the overall effectiveness of the provision. A good feature of the planning documentation is the emphasis placed on the areas set out nationally in Every Child Matters. However, improvement planning is over-complicated and lacks a sharp focus on raising standards; there are too many issues identified with little sense of prioritisation. This, combined with the lack of precisely focused success criteria, makes it difficult for managers to closely monitor and evaluate the school's performance and the impact of any actions taken to secure improvement. School managers have taken steps to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning and, as a result, have introduced strategies to improve these aspects. Too many changes in staffing have made it difficult to successfully

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Grade: 4

monitor the implementation of strategies, and currently there is limited evidence of impact. Governors are committed to the school and have recently increased their involvement with day-to-day school work. For example, members of the governing body are now involved in scrutinising pupils' work. Nevertheless, given the school's current situation, governors do not yet adopt a sufficiently high profile role in assisting school managers in their drive towards improving those aspects of the school's work that are currently inadequate. 7 of 11 Inspection Report: Kingsway Primary School, 27 °28 March 2007 .

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Grade: 4

in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 8 of 11 Inspection Report: Kingsway Primary School, 27 °28 March 2007

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Inspection judgements

School Overall Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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Overall effectiveness

How effective, efficient and inclusive is the provision of education, integrated care and any extended services in meeting the needs of learners? How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? 2 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 4 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 4 The capacity to make any necessary improvements No Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

4 How well do learners achieve? 3 The standards 1 reached by learners How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners 4 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

3 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 3 The behaviour of learners 3 The attendance of learners 3 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 2 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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and interests of learners?

3 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average to below average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low. 9 of 11 Inspection Report: Kingsway Primary School, 27 °28 March 2007

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and supporting all learners?

How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can How effectively and efficiently resources, including staff, are deployed to achieve value for money The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities Yes Do procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements? Yes Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 10 of 11 Inspection Report: Kingsway Primary School, 27 °28 March 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for making us feel so welcome in your school. We really enjoyed talking to you, hearing your views and watching you learn. There were lots of things that we liked about your school. One of the best things was the charity work that you enjoy so much and your involvement in the local community. We thought that you had a good understanding of healthy lifestyles, and many of you told us how much you like the sporting activities offered to you. We were delighted to hear that you are enjoying your French lessons. Attendance rates at the school have improved quite a lot over the past few years, and we know that lots of you come in to school early to take part in the 'Wake up and Shake up' sessions. You told us that the staff care about you and that they work hard to sort out any problems you might have. We feel that Kingsway needs to improve as a matter of urgency and we have recommended

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

that it is made subject to special measures. This means it will receive extra help and inspectors will return to check that everything is going to plan. Although some of you are working hard to make as much progress as you can, we think that many of you are capable of doing even better. We saw some really good lessons where everyone was doing their best and learning quickly, but we were disappointed when a few of you told us that you didn't really enjoy learning, and you were not sure what you needed to do to improve your work. We have asked the school to think about ways of making sure that all your lessons include enjoyable activities that help you to make as much progress as you can. We also think that you need some new computer equipment, which should help to support your learning. You have a very important part to play in improving your school. We would like you to help your teachers by always behaving as well as you can, and working hard in all your lessons. We

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

hope that you and the staff will build on all the good things about your school and make it really successful in the future. 11 of 11 Inspection Report: Kingsway Primary School, 27 °28 March 2007

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