Kingsfleet Primary School

Inspection Report Kingsfleet Primary School

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124627 Unique Reference Number SUFFOLK Local Authority 293058 Inspection number 8 °9 March 2007 Inspection dates David Herbert 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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Ferry Road School address Primary Type of school Felixstowe Community School category Suffolk IP11 9LY 4 °11 Age range of pupils 01394 277897 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 01394 285680 Fax number 198 Number on roll (school) Dr T Finnegan Chair The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs K Beattie Headteacher 27 May 2002 Date of previous school inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 293058 8 °9 March 2007 4°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 is average in size compared with others nationally and takes pupils from Old Felixstowe. Approximately 60% of pupils live outside of this catchment area. Children enter school in the September of the year in which they are five years old with the majority having attended the adjacent nursery school. Fewer pupils are entitled to free school meals than in most schools and few come from minority ethnic backgrounds. All children speak English as their first or main language. Overall, attainment on entry is average and the number of pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities is below average. Over the past four years, the school has experienced a number of temporary changes in the teaching and leadership of the school.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Kingsfleet Primary School, 8 °9 March 2007

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Grade: 3

Kingsfleet Primary School provides a satisfactory standard of education and is showing signs of improvement. Changes in staffing in the last three years impacted negatively on pupils' progress and attainment. Indications are that the decline has been halted and standards are rising. Pupils' achievement is generally satisfactory and standards are average. Those with learning difficulties and disabilities progress at a comparable rate to that of their peers. Children enter the Reception with similar abilities as those found in most schools. They make satisfactory progress, reaching standards that are expected for their age. Standards at the end of Year 2 showed a marked recovery in 2006, coming in line with the national average in reading and writing. They were slightly above average in mathematics. The progress of pupils currently in Years 1 and 2 is at least satisfactory. Traditionally pupils made exceptionally good progress between Years 2 and 6. However,

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Grade: 3

the rate of progress declined steadily over the last three years so that test results fell from being particularly high in 2004 to average in 2006. This fall in achievement and standards was due in large part to the turbulence caused by staff changes. Teaching and learning were not monitored carefully enough. The indications are that this downward trend has now been halted and pupils' progress is improving as a result of better evaluation and development work. For example, standards in English are now slightly higher than average. School leaders analyse pupil performance data well and have accurately identified the areas where further development is needed. New leadership posts have been introduced and the school is clearly focused on improvement, though targets are not sufficiently precise for the impact of development work to be fully evaluated. The extended team has not yet had time to show its full effect, so the leadership and management and

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Grade: 3

the capacity of the school to make further improvement are only satisfactory. Teaching and learning are satisfactory. Strengths are in the attitudes that pupils bring to their learning and the positive way in which they apply themselves to their work. This reflects their good personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Their overall behaviour is good and they enjoy school, leading to high rates of attendance. An area for improvement is the use of assessment by teachers to ensure that different groups of pupils have appropriately challenging tasks in lessons, and that marking gives them guidance as to what they need to do to improve further. Although the pastoral support for pupils is good, the overall welfare, care and guidance of pupils are only satisfactory due to the need for improvement in academic guidance. The curriculum is satisfactory, and the good extra-curricular

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Grade: 3

activities enhance learning for the large number of pupils who take part. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep healthy and safe because they are taught about these issues though the wider curriculum. A significant proportion of parents indicated that they do not feel properly consulted or involved about school decisions, or understand the impact that school policies have 2 Inspection Report: Kingsfleet Primary School, 8 °9 March 2007 on their children. Senior leaders and governors agree that this partnership is not yet strong enough.

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What the school should do to improve further

• Raise the level of achievement of all pupils in English, mathematics and science. • Ensure all teachers consistently use their assessments and marking to inform pupils about the next steps in their learning. • Set precise targets, actions and success measures for school improvement so that the impact of development work can be evaluated effectively. • Improve the partnership with parents to increase their involvement in their children's learning and their understanding of the school's provision.

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Grade: 3

Achievement and standards are satisfactory, although they have been at higher levels in the recent past. In the Reception class, children make satisfactory progress and reach satisfactory levels of attainment. Their progress in personal development is strong. Progress between the Reception year and the end of Year 2 has varied but is now satisfactory. After a decline to below average levels between 2003 and 2005, standards have risen and are now average overall, though reading remains slightly below average. Between 2004 and 2006, the rate of progress between Years 2 and 6 fell. As a result standards dropped. This decline has been reversed. Standards are now in line with the national average and are rising. In 2006, girls in Year 6 did significantly better than boys in English, whilst the boys did much better in mathematics. New systems to analyse progress are being used to set targets that are challenging and realistic.

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Grade: 2

Pupils enjoy school and their attendance is good. Although some of the pupils and their parents expressed concerns about rough play during breaks and lunch times, most of the pupils say that such incidents are rare and are not really a problem. Pupils behave well in lessons, although some become frustrated because their work is too easy. Working relationships are warm and pupils are keen to adopt a safe and healthy lifestyle, eagerly participating in the wide range of sporting activities and physical education lessons that are led by sports specialists. Pupils' co-operative attitudes, coupled with their satisfactory basic skills in literacy and numeracy, equip them soundly for their future lives within the world of work. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is good. Their social development is enhanced through a residential visit in Year 6 and schemes such as 'playground pals' and selling snacks during the mid-morning break. Pupils' cultural

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Grade: 2

development is satisfactory; although pupils learn about major world faiths, they have 3 Inspection Report: Kingsfleet Primary School, 8 °9 March 2007 limited knowledge of the multicultural world in which they live. Their contributions to the school and local community are satisfactory, raising funds for charities and voicing their views through the school council.

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Grade: 3

Teaching and learning are satisfactory. There are good relationships between pupils and all staff. Pupils' application and attitudes are good across the school. Pupils behave well in lessons, working well independently and together, showing their good personal development. There is satisfactory support for pupils with learning difficulties. As a result, their rate of progress is sound. The school's systems for monitoring pupil progress are thorough and give an accurate picture of what pupils achieve. This information is not used well enough by teachers to adapt lessons and activities to fully meet the needs of different groups of pupils. In some lessons, therefore, more able pupils are not always challenged to do their best and try hard. Teachers' marking generally tells pupils how well they have done in lessons but does not consistently tell them how to improve their work further. The practice of setting targets for groups or individual pupils is not consistent across the

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Grade: 3

school, and where targets are in place, pupils do not refer to them often enough for them to be effective.

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Grade: 3

The curriculum and provision for different groups within the school are generally satisfactory. Most teachers consider the range of needs of their pupils when planning lessons, although more could be done to meet the needs of the most and least able. The Foundation Stage curriculum is satisfactory. The quality and range of learning resources and the indoor and outdoor learning environment have improved significantly since the last inspection and are used well to provide practical and stimulating experiences. Raising standards in physical education was an issue from the last inspection. This has been effectively resolved through the introduction of specialist teaching. This gives all pupils a rich experience of different skills and sports and creates opportunities for them to compete with other schools. The library has been developed recently and now provides a good base for pupils' research and the promoting of

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Grade: 3

enjoyment of reading. The school provides a good range of enrichment activities which the pupils thoroughly enjoy. These include theme days, day trips, a residential visit in Year 6, visitors and a wide range of after-school clubs. 4 Inspection Report: Kingsfleet Primary School, 8 °9 March 2007

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Grade: 3

Care, guidance and support are satisfactory overall. Procedures for health and safety and child protection are good. Satisfactory links with external agencies including the educational welfare officer, the school nurse and a nearby special school, ensure good support for vulnerable pupils and those with learning difficulties. Behaviour in lessons and at playtimes is good. Although a few parents voiced concerns about specific incidents of boisterous play, these are rare and are dealt with appropriately. Academic guidance is satisfactory. A revised system for tracking pupils' academic progress has recently been introduced and information on pupils' attainment is shared satisfactorily with teachers and teaching assistants. The provision and use of targets for improvement, however, varies from year to year. In addition, the marking of pupils' work and the quality of teachers' verbal feedback to pupils is not consistent, so pupils

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Grade: 3

do not always know what they have to do to improve their work. Targets for improvement were introduced several years ago but the extent to which pupils are aware of them, and use them to raise the standard of their work varies.

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Grade: 3

The temporary arrangements put in place to cover staff absences over the last three years did not facilitate robust monitoring of teaching and learning. This contributed to a fall in standards and adversely affected pupils' achievement. The school is now recovering from this unsettled period. The leadership team is now complete and all members are focused on improvement. As a result, leadership and management are satisfactory. The school judges its own performance accurately, and has appropriately identified the areas in which it needs to improve. The school improvement plan accurately records the main development priorities but does not include enough precise targets by which to judge the success of the actions taken. Leadership and management of individual subjects are satisfactory. Monitoring by subject leaders gives a suitable indication of the quality of provision though the intended outcomes for pupils are not always defined

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Grade: 3

clearly enough. Governors are strong supporters of the school and are led by a well informed chairman. Governance is satisfactory overall as the governing body is still developing its role of strategic leadership. They have helped determine specific areas for development, such as the use of specialist teaching in physical education which has contributed to the good resolution of the issues from the last inspection. Resources are deployed appropriately and the school gives satisfactory value for money. 5 Inspection Report: Kingsfleet Primary School, 8 °9 March 2007 .

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Grade: 3

set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 6 Inspection Report: Kingsfleet Primary School, 8 °9 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? 3 The quality and standards in the Foundation Stage 3 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation 3 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

3 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 3 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development 2 The behaviour of learners 2 The attendance of learners 2 How well learners enjoy their education 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices 2 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?

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. 7 Inspection Report: Kingsfleet Primary School, 8 °9 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? No Does this school require special measures? No Does this school require a notice to improve? 8 Inspection Report: Kingsfleet Primary School, 8 °9 March 2007

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

9 March 2007 Dear Children Kingsfleet Primary School, Ferry Road, Felixstowe, Suffolk, IP11 9LY This letter is to thank you for your welcome when Mrs Smith and I visited your school. We thought that you would like to know what we found out about your school. These are some of the good things. • You said that you enjoy school because everyone is friendly and helpful and we agree. • You behave and work well in lessons, paying attention and listening carefully. • The headteacher and deputy headteacher really know how well you are doing because they look at your work closely. • We can see that you like your sports lessons and the after-school activities. • You use the computers in the school well and enjoy using the new library. • You listen and sing well in assemblies. There are some ways that you and your teachers could make things even better. • We want the staff to help you make even faster progress in your English, mathematics and

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

science work. • When teachers mark your work we want them to let you know how you can make it better next time. • We have asked the staff to talk to your parents more so that they understand what you are doing and how they can help you. • We have asked the staff and governors to make sure that they can measure what they do so that they know if the improvements they make to the school are helping you. Keep enjoying everything at Kingsfleet School. Best wishes to you all. Yours sincerely, David Herbert Lead inspector 9 Inspection Report: Kingsfleet Primary School, 8 °9 March 2007

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