Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre

Inspection Report Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre

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120066 Unique Reference Number Leicester City Local Authority 291617 Inspection number 21 °22 November 2006 Inspection dates David Driscoll 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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Knighton Fields Road West School address Primary Type of school Leicester Community School category LE2 7NP 3 °11 Age range of pupils 0116 2330666 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 0116 2330666 Fax number 207 Number on roll (school) Ann Clarke Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Pete Wood Headteacher 1 March 2001 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 291617 21 °22 November 2006 3°11 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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

The school serves a disadvantaged area of Leicester. Around a quarter of pupils are from minority ethnic groups, including several pupils who have recently arrived in this country and who speak little or no English. The proportion of pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities is above average. Many pupils join the school partway through their primary education. A new headteacher, deputy headteacher and four new teachers were appointed at the start of this term.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre, 21 °22 November 2006

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Grade: 4

In accordance with section 13 (3) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty's Chief Inspector 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 in the school. Standards have fallen at the school since it was last inspected. The quality of provision is considerably less effective than it was and the school's overall effectiveness is now inadequate. As a result of a reduction in the time spent teaching the basic skills of literacy and numeracy, pupils now leave with exceptionally low standards and there is widespread underachievement. The systems for checking on the school's performance are ineffective, so managers have had little idea of where strengths and weaknesses lie. Governors and other managers have failed to take decisive action to halt the

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Grade: 4

school's decline. The main reasons for the underachievement are the inadequate teaching and the curriculum. Teaching does not pitch work at the right level for pupils or tell them what they need to do to improve their work. The result is that pupils are not adequately challenged. The situation has been made worse by mixing pupils of different ages and abilities in the same class, so the range of individual needs is very wide. Managers do not sufficiently check that what should be happening is actually carried out in practice. Procedures for checking that the school is a safe and healthy place have not been carried out adequately and procedures for ensuring that children are properly protected are not clear. This has led to the school failing to provide an adequate level of care. Pupils' personal development and well-being are satisfactory. They develop well socially, behave satisfactorily, and are aware of the importance of moving safely about

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Grade: 4

the school. They also have a reasonable awareness of how to keep fit and healthy but they do not come to school often enough. The teaching and curriculum in the Nursery and Reception Year are satisfactory, so children make steady progress at this early stage. Some improvements are starting to be made this term. The new headteacher and deputy headteacher have already made several important changes, most notably increasing the time devoted to teaching basic skills. Their evaluation of the school's performance as satisfactory is over-generous because the changes they have implemented have not led to significant improvements. There has not been enough time for any initiative to show a real impact on pupils' achievement, and therefore the effectiveness of leadership and management remains inadequate. The systems for checking the school's performance are still not rigorous enough.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Ensure that procedures for making the school a safe and healthy place are implemented rigorously. 2 Inspection Report: Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre, 21 °22 November 2006 • Raise the standards achieved by pupils and set work that is pitched at the right level and provide guidance that will help improve their work. • Carry out rigorous monitoring of the school's performance to identify exactly where weaknesses are and take swift action to bring about improvement. • Implement a curriculum that caters for the needs of all pupils, including those at the early stages of learning English. • Improve the pupils' attendance.

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Grade: 4

Children start the Nursery with standards far below those expected for their age. By the end of Reception, they have made satisfactory progress in all areas, but their standards remain very low. From this point on, their progress is inadequate. Pupils leave the school with exceptionally low standards and are ill equipped in the basic skills required for their future. There is widespread underachievement across the school, regardless of pupils' background, ability or how long they have been at the school.

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Grade: 3

Pupils' spiritual, moral and cultural development is satisfactory. The pupils' social development is good. Although attendance is well below the national average, most pupils enjoy school and want to learn. Pupils demonstrate care and concern for others and work and play together well. Most behave well and form good relationships. They are confident in approaching staff when they require help and support. Pupils demonstrate appropriate understanding of what it means to be part of a community and frequently consider the needs of others to raise funds for charity. For example, the School Council organised a very successful event for 'Children in Need'. The School Council helps to improve the quality of school life. For example, it decided how the playground was to be organised for different activities. Pupils feel safe and know how to take care of themselves, through regular opportunities to discuss issues

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Grade: 3

of bullying, for example. They understand the benefits of taking regular exercise and adopting healthy eating habits, with older pupils running a healthy tuck shop.

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Grade: 4

Pupils are not making enough progress as the teaching does not meet their needs. Information about how well pupils have done in previous years or how well they should be doing in the future has not been used to set work that is at the right level. Individual education plans for pupils with learning difficulties, have been too vague, so teachers 3 Inspection Report: Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre, 21 °22 November 2006 and teaching assistants have not met their needs. Teachers and their assistants now have more information on pupils' needs and progress, but have not yet come to terms with how to use it when planning lessons. Often, expectations of what other pupils can achieve are too low, so pupils do not learn enough either in individual lessons or in the longer term. The strength in the teaching lies with the good relationships that exist between teachers and pupils, which lead to pupils enjoying their time at school. These are most evident

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Grade: 4

when adults work on a one-to-one basis with pupils, such as when supporting them with reading.

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Grade: 4

Although there have been some recent improvements, for example in implementing better strategies to support pupils with learning difficulties, the curriculum does not meet the needs of most pupils. A positive development is that more time is now being devoted to literacy and numeracy. However, the curriculum is not planned to take account of the pupils' differing needs in mixed age and ability classes. Provision to help the school's increasing number of pupils who are new to learning English is inadequate. Visits to places of interest support learning well in many subjects. The residential visits open to all year groups help pupils to develop their social skills, particularly their independence and self-confidence. Many attend various clubs and events that include sporting activities that promote their understanding of how to keep fit and healthy.

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Grade: 4

Pupils are confident that if they have problems or concerns, staff will deal with them promptly because relationships are good. Other than pursuing persistent absences through welfare agencies, the school is not doing enough to make sure pupils attend regularly. Attendance has declined significantly over the last year, although there are some emerging signs of improvement since September. Whilst all staff have been given guidance regarding the school's child protection procedures, their understanding and interpretation of this guidance is inconsistent and some staff have had no training. The required checks to ensure the school is as safe as possible have not been carried out. Significant issues regarding aspects of care, health and safety have been brought to the school's attention. Academic guidance is inadequate. Other than in the Nursery and Reception Year, teachers have not used information from assessments to identify personal targets to

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Grade: 4

challenge pupils fully. Because too little use is made of assessment information, staff are unable to explain to pupils in sufficient detail, either orally or through marking, what they need to do to improve their work. Pupils with learning difficulties are now being supported satisfactorily, particularly through one-to-one guidance, support 4 Inspection Report: Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre, 21 °22 November 2006 from external agencies and much improved individual education plans. Pupils receive good support to help their move to secondary school.

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Grade: 4

The school has not made enough progress since it was last inspected and standards have fallen. Too little emphasis has been placed on developing the key skills of literacy and numeracy. Year after year, the school has failed to reach its realistic targets and pupils have underachieved. Middle managers have not played a significant role in the work of the school. Weaknesses in performance have not been identified and rectified. Governors have had insufficient understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses and have not provided the school with adequate challenge. As a result, they have not taken the decisive action needed to halt the school's decline. There have been improvements since the start of the current term. Pupils' progress is now tracked more accurately and targets for the school's performance are appropriate. The curriculum has started to improve, as has the provision for pupils with learning

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Grade: 4

difficulties. The new leaders of the school have not yet had time to tackle all the weaknesses or to show that actions already taken will prove successful. 5 Inspection Report: Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre, 21 °22 November 2006 .

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Grade: 4

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre, 21 °22 November 2006

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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? 3 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 Yes 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? 4 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 4 The attendance of learners 3 How well learners enjoy their education 3 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 3 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles 3 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?

4 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. 7 Inspection Report: Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre, 21 °22 November 2006

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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 No 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? 8 Inspection Report: Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre, 21 °22 November 2006

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Thank you very much for talking with us when we visited your school. You gave us a lot of help, which made our job much easier. You told us how much you like your teachers, and we agree that you get on well with them and with each other. Unfortunately, we found that you are not learning enough. Lots of the work is too easy for you. We have asked teachers to make sure that you are given work that is just hard enough and to tell you what you need to do to get better marks. The school has not been improving quickly enough but the headteacher is starting to make some important changes now. We have asked the adults to improve how they make sure the school is successful in all the different ways in which it cares for you. We have also asked the adults to improve the way they check up on how well you are learning so that they can keep on making the right improvements for you. You can help too. Some of you are not coming to school enough, so please make sure you come

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

to school as often as possible and work hard all the time. Thank you once again for being so helpful. Best wishes for your future. 9 Inspection Report: Knighton Fields Primary School and Community Centre, 21 °22 November 2006

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