Kenley Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Kenley Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 6 March 2018, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in November 2013. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have restructured the senior and middle leadership team and successfully recruited teachers with a range of skills and experiences in all key stages. The school's supportive governing body has worked with you effectively to ensure that there is a ...strong focus on school improvement.

Governors are ambitious for the school and proactive in developing their own skills and knowledge. Pupils are proud of their school and enjoy attending. Parents report that the school is a happy and welcoming place.

Several parents who have older children in the school said that the changes in recent years have been positive. However, some parents feel that the school could do more to challenge higher-attaining pupils. You have worked effectively on the areas for improvement identified at the time of the last inspection, for example by investing heavily in reading resources.

In addition to a well-stocked library, classrooms now have a range of interesting and exciting reading books for pupils to enjoy. Pupils speak positively about reading and choose to read themselves for pleasure. You have also improved sports provision by ensuring that all pupils participate in a range of sporting activities, both during physical education (PE) lessons and by participating in competitions between local schools.

Lunchtime and after-school sports clubs are well attended. In addition, staff have received training in a range of sports and are now more confident in delivering a varied, skills-based PE curriculum. Safeguarding is effective.

You have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are in place and are fit for purpose. Pupils' safety is of paramount importance to all. Pupils report that they feel safe at school and parents agree that they are safe.

Pupils demonstrate good knowledge and understanding of how to keep themselves safe including when online, in the local community and using local roads, both walking and cycling. Pupils understand what to do if they or their friends are bullied. They said that there are very few incidents of bullying in school.

They feel confident that the adults around them would deal with bullying effectively if it occurred. The school works effectively with external agencies to help safeguard pupils. Leaders have ensured that records are detailed and of high quality.

Action is taken where there are concerns relating to pupils' safety and well-being. Leaders ensure that staff are regularly trained and kept up to date with the latest safeguarding guidance. As a result, staff clearly understand their responsibilities and know what to do if they have any safeguarding concerns.

Inspection findings ? The first aspect I explored on inspection was the achievement of disadvantaged pupils. Progress and attainment for these pupils are not as good as for pupils nationally. I found that leaders have rightly identified this as an area for improvement.

They have included appropriate actions in the school development plan. As a result, leaders and teachers know the needs of this group of pupils well. ? You have used additional funding effectively to support both the academic and social development of disadvantaged pupils.

Other professionals, such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists, have provided training to staff so teachers can deliver a range of effective interventions to support learning where needed. You have introduced clubs and developed target group activities which have improved pupils' confidence to participate and try new things. This, together with targeted teaching, is improving disadvantaged pupils' learning skills.

Pupils' workbooks and the school's own data show that disadvantaged pupils' progress is improving over time. ? I then considered how well pupils, particularly higher-ability pupils, are challenged in reading, writing and mathematics. This was because fewer pupils achieved the higher standard of greater depth than pupils nationally.

Middle leaders know what needs to be done. They have implemented appropriate and effective actions to secure improvement for these pupils. Although relatively new to their roles, middle leaders have already had an impact on raising standards in reading, writing and mathematics.

• You have ensured that there is now a systematic approach to the teaching of reading and phonics across the school. As a result, children in Reception now confidently use sounds to build words. Pupils in key stage 1 have a good understanding of how to spell words and use this knowledge effectively to read and write.

Where practice is strongest, teachers expect pupils to explain their answers using the text to support their views. You have introduced more challenging texts across the school, and consequently pupils read widely across a range of subjects. Pupils report that they enjoy reading and older pupils talk confidently about their favourite books and authors.

However, teachers do not consistently build on pupils' growing confidence in reading by expecting them to apply skills at greater depth. ? The impact of improvement in pupils' reading is also evident in improvements in their writing. In some classes teachers routinely model how to use vocabulary well.

Where this happens, pupils' progress is strongest and they are confident writers who use rich language. Leaders ensure that pupils have opportunities to write in all curriculum areas. For example, in science by the end of key stage 2 pupils are learning how to record experiments.

However, some inconsistency remains in the standard of writing in books. ? In mathematics, teachers focus first on ensuring that pupils develop their recall skills, for example of multiplication tables, number bonds and place value. Once this is secure, teachers ensure that pupils apply their mathematical knowledge to problem-solving activities.

Teachers encourage pupils in all year groups to understand how different aspects of mathematics work. As a result, pupils are developing a range of methods which show and check their understanding, using written calculation methods, writing and diagrams. However, at times teachers do not encourage pupils to move quickly enough to more demanding tasks.

As a result, pupils' progress rates slow down. At times the most able pupils spend too long working on things they already know or can easily do. ? I then considered the breadth of the curriculum and how well it meets the needs of all learners.

Pupils study a broad and balanced curriculum which is enriched by a range of educational visits and visitors. Displays around the school show that pupils produce art of a good quality and study a range of subjects, including science, history and geography. PE is a strength across the school.

Pupils not only learn the sporting skills needed to participate in games, they also learn about being healthy and how to develop team and leadership skills. ? Finally, I considered how effective leaders' actions have been to improve attendance and reduce persistent absence, particularly for disadvantaged pupils. Leaders are ensuring that attendance for disadvantaged pupils is improving.

All absence is quickly followed up and families are alerted to the importance of good attendance. However, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils is still not as good as that of all other pupils at the school, or the same group of pupils nationally. Leaders are working closely with the education welfare service to provide support for families to address this issue.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? all pupils, particularly the most able in mathematics, are given appropriately challenging work, so they reach their full potential ? good practice that exists is shared across the school so that inconsistencies in teachers' expectations are eliminated ? they continue to support families whose children have poor attendance so that these pupils benefit fully from the effective interventions the school has put in place to accelerate their learning and progress. I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Croydon. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Lou Anderson Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection I met with you, senior and middle leaders, governors and a representative from the local authority. I scrutinised pupils' work in books. I visited lessons in the early years and key stages 1 and 2 to observe learning and talked to pupils about their learning, both at formal and informal times throughout the day.

I listened to pupils reading in class in key stages 1 and 2. I met with parents at the start of the school day and analysed 45 responses to Parent View, Ofsted's online questionnaire for parents. I scrutinised a range of documentation, including the school's self-evaluation, the school's improvement plans, pupils' attendance information, documentation related to safeguarding, and the school's assessment and behaviour information.

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