Kennett Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Kennett Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 26 June 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 October 2014. This school continues to be good.

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. It has addressed the areas for improvement arising from the previous inspection. You and your staff have created a welcoming school that you maintain to a high standard.

You are constantly finding ways to enhance the environment for pupils an...d staff alike. For example, you have invested in the superb outside learning classroom for the early years children so that they have access to a good-quality environment at any time of the year. There are also plans to increase the size of the school building, which will help with the small classrooms that you currently have.

You are reflective and listen to the views of your staff. You recognise where you need to strengthen the school's quality of education and you devise effective plans to secure continuously improving progress for pupils. You take action promptly and ensure that your staff implement strategies to improve pupil outcomes with consistency.

Along with the advisory board, the multi-academy trust and other leaders, you are ambitious to ensure that there are constantly high standards across the school. Teachers give pupils the skills that they need to be able to review and edit their work. As a result, pupils understand clearly what they need to do in order to improve the quality and accuracy of their work.

They are proud of their achievements, and this is reflected in the quality of the work seen during the inspection. Where teachers do not provide the same high level of questioning, pupils' progress is not consistently strong across the school. Pupils' positive attitudes towards learning contribute to the good progress that they make.

Their behaviour is extremely good and examples of low level disruption are rare. Outcomes for pupils at the end of the early years foundation stage, key stage 1 and key stage 2 have been consistently higher than national averages for several years and pupils have made good progress. Analysis of pupils' workbooks and your own assessment information shows that once again, in 2018, academic standards will be above average across the school.

Members of the local advisory board are extremely capable and skilled. They have a good understanding of the school and provide an effective blend of challenge and support. They are proactive and use school visits to check that the school improvement plan priorities are being implemented effectively.

The multi-academy trust has a clear understanding of the strengths of the school and areas for development. It provides effective support, while recognising the capability and effectiveness of senior leaders. You have ensured that children in the early years foundation stage get off to a good start.

The early years environment is welcoming and engaging for children. Staff plan interesting and challenging learning activities so that children make good progress. The outdoor environment is used well to stimulate children's curiosity.

Children are settled and happy and socialise well. Leaders keep all aspects of provision under review so that they continue to develop and improve. Classrooms and corridors support the curriculum well, as every available space is used to showcase pupils' work.

The phonics tree is an example of how well your staff engage and enthuse pupils. The rich curriculum is very well planned in almost all areas to provide interesting experiences for pupils. For example, pupils' participation in effective field trips to local places of interest enrich the curriculum.

The vast majority of parents spoken to during the inspection, and those who accessed Ofsted's online questionnaire, were very positive about the school. Parents are confident that their children are happy and safe in a caring and nurturing environment. Parents feel that they are valued and that their concerns are always listened to.

One parented commented, 'I could not be happier with Kennett Primary School as my son's school. We have had the best experience.' Another commented, 'Kennett is a fantastic little school and I wouldn't want my children to be taught anywhere else.'

These views are typical of the many comments provided by parents. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

Safeguarding arrangements are understood by staff. Staff receive regular training and are kept up to date on relevant safeguarding issues. Staff are vigilant.

They identify vulnerable pupils quickly and ensure that they receive appropriate guidance. Leaders work with other agencies very effectively. Pupils say that they feel safe at school.

They learn about how to keep themselves safe. They also understand how to stay safe online. They understand the different forms that bullying can take.

They speak confidently about how teachers deal quickly and effectively with any rare incidents of bullying. Pupils also explained to me that there is an adult in school who they can talk to should they have concerns or worries. Members of the advisory board keep themselves informed with safeguarding training and successfully use their knowledge to ensure that the school's safeguarding procedures are compliant.

Inspection findings ? My first line of enquiry focused on reading outcomes at the end of key stage 1. Since your appointment, you have been relentless in your drive to ensure that staff receive training to update their practice. Staff have benefited from high-quality training, and work collaboratively with the multi-academy trust and each other to share ideas and expertise.

As a consequence, teachers deliver purposeful reading sessions across the school. Staff make sure that pupils have the opportunity to apply their skills and knowledge across other curriculum subjects. Changes in the way that you teach reading ensure that pupils have an increasing awareness of more challenging vocabulary.

Parents have been involved in this process too. Successful 'Class Cafes' were well received by parents, where they were given activities that they could complete at home to support their child's reading progress. As a result of these developments, outcomes for pupils are improving across the school, particularly within key stage 1.

• My second line of enquiry centred on the school's work to support disadvantaged pupils. We discussed the actions that you have taken to tackle the barriers to learning for disadvantaged pupils. You have identified barriers to learning accurately.

You and your dedicated staff establish positive relationships with potentially vulnerable families. Skilled staff work with a number of agencies and other professionals to support pupils and their families effectively. ? Pupils' work and the school's assessment information show that disadvantaged pupils benefit from strategies to strengthen their reading, writing and mathematics skills.

For example, pupils were observed working with a member of staff who was pre-teaching a concept within mathematics to good effect. Leaders use the pupil premium funding effectively, providing this group of pupils with a range of support activities. These include individual tuition or extra sessions for small groups of pupils in English and mathematics.

The money also helps to fund a learning mentor, part of whose role is to provide support for disadvantaged pupils' emotional and mental health needs. ? My third line of enquiry, to check if the school remains good, involved assessing how well the school has addressed the areas for improvement from the previous inspection. Along with the multi-academy trust and the local advisory board, you have brought about improvements since the last inspection.

Younger pupils who I spoke to had a comprehensive understanding about how to stay safe when they are using the internet. They told me about lessons that teachers provide and recited the 'SMART' advice in great detail. Analysis of pupils' workbooks shows that teachers are using the school's marking and feedback policy consistently across all subjects and all year groups.

The most able pupils are attaining well as a result of your drive to challenge and stretch them. An improved tracking system has been introduced to monitor their progress. As a result, your staff have a greater understanding of what is needed for these pupils to reach the higher-than-expected standard across the curriculum.

During the inspection, the most able pupils were observed receiving 'diamond challenges' within mathematics that required them to challenge themselves and each other. As a result, their progress was strong. However, prior middle attaining pupils did not receive the same level of challenge.

Pupils in this latter group are not being consistently challenged to aim for the higher-than-expected standards. ? My final line of enquiry was to see how well subject leaders monitor provision in their areas of responsibility. You have ensured that subject leaders are given adequate time to fulfil their duties.

As a result, they have a comprehensive understanding of the progress pupils are making in each subject. Due to highly effective monitoring, which includes analysis of pupils' work, planning and lessons, subject leaders have planned staff training to address aspects of practice that could be improved. Consequently, staff receive training, across the school and the multi-academy trust, which is purposeful and impacts directly on pupil outcomes.

Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teachers use highly effective questioning to allow pupils to explain their reasoning and understanding of activities and tasks ? middle prior attaining pupils receive the same high level of challenge that the most able pupils receive in order to achieve the higher-than-expected standard. I am copying this letter to the chair of the advisory board, chair of the board of trustees (academies) and the chief executive officer, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Cambridgeshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

Yours sincerely Joseph Figg Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I spoke with you and your subject leaders, members of the advisory board and a representative from the multi-academy trust. I spoke to a group of pupils as well as individual pupils and members of staff around the school. We made visits to lessons to observe pupils' learning and conducted several learning walks around the school.

We also looked at pupils' books across a range of ages and abilities as well as information from the school's assessment system. I scrutinised a range of documentary evidence, which included the school's self-evaluation, current progress information and details of pupils' attendance. I evaluated safeguarding referrals and child protection records, including the single central record.

I also looked at the school's website. In addition, I took account of 13 responses to Parent View, Ofsted's online survey, and 11 free-text comments from parents. I also analysed nine responses from the staff questionnaire.