Kiwi Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Kiwi Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 26 March 2019, 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 June 2015. This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection.

You, together with your leadership team and governors, have a clear vision for Kiwi Primary School that everyone should 'Try your best to be your best.' The high mobility of children from military families often means pupils do not spend long at y...our school. Even so, you have high expectations of their achievement, never losing sight of developing important life skills such as independence and resilience.

You have a clear view of the school's performance. Several of the areas I identified as needing further development already form part of your plans for school improvement. You have acted on recommendations from the previous inspection by ensuring that teachers insist on high standards of presentation in pupils' workbooks.

This is also reflected in the good-quality writing on display in classrooms which helps to raise pupils' aspirations. Pupils respond positively to teachers' guidance and make good progress. Consequently, attainment in writing last year was above that of other pupils nationally at the end of Year 6.

You identified that not enough middle-prior-attaining pupils achieved the expected standard in mathematics at the end of key stage 2 in 2018. In response, you introduced a new approach to better meet the requirements of the national curriculum. Due to improvements in teaching, a greater number of pupils are set to achieve the expected standard and beyond this year.

However, pupils still lack the regular opportunities to explain their thinking and methods that would deepen their mathematical understanding still further. You ensure that the curriculum continues to evolve to capture pupils' interests and promote high standards in reading. To increase pupils' progress, you have implemented a new way of teaching comprehension skills.

The impact is already evident as Year 6 pupils display good confidence in reading complex texts. Nevertheless, there is further work to be done to ensure that more pupils achieve the higher standard at the end of key stage 2. You quickly reversed the dip in achievement in phonics in key stage 1 in 2018.

As a result of changes to teaching, most pupils are set to reach the expected standard this year. Parents are positive about the school's work. They praise the approachability of staff and the rich and varied curriculum the school offers, especially the focus on outdoor learning.

They say their children thrive and 'blossom' because staff build their self-confidence through effective pastoral care. They feel that the school understands and caters for the needs of children from military families extremely well. Pupils say that lessons are 'fun' and set at just the 'right level of difficulty', which means they are eager to learn and behave well.

Safeguarding is effective. You and your governors make sure that safeguarding has a high priority. Leaders' regular checks on systems and practice promote a culture of vigilance in school.

Recruitment procedures for appointing staff follow the statutory guidance stringently. The single central record is maintained accurately. Staff receive the most up-to-date training in the latest requirements for keeping children safe.

The new system for reporting concerns about pupils ensures that staff are very clear about how to do this. It also ensures that leaders are alerted quickly to any issues and can make referrals to external agencies if necessary. You are tenacious in following up any referrals to make sure you receive a satisfactory response.

Pupils say they feel safe in school because they are well looked after and 'everyone is very friendly here'. They say bullying seldom happens and that staff sort out any problems or any fallings-out quickly and effectively. Events such as internet safety and water safety training ensure that pupils are well prepared to face risk in society.

Pupils' attendance is in line with national figures and punctuality is good because : pupils enjoy coming to school and are keen to attend. Staff work effectively with families to promote regular attendance and support parents with any problems in this respect. Parents recognise the lengths you go to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Inspection findings ? My first line of enquiry looked at improvements in mathematics teaching in key stage 2, especially to increase the achievement of middle-prior-attaining pupils. Staff receive training to develop their ability to plan suitably challenging tasks. Teachers ensure that pupils have time to learn and consolidate number skills before using their knowledge to reason and solve complex problems.

Pupils talk about their enjoyment of mathematics and how teaching is making them think harder. Work in pupils' books shows that most Year 6 pupils who have spent key stage 2 at this school are set to achieve at least the expected standard this year. However, pupils' ability to explain their reasoning and methods is not extensive enough to deepen their knowledge and understanding further.

• While the majority of pupils in key stage 2 achieved the expected standard for their age in reading in 2018, you were aware that progress could be stronger. You ensure that teachers plan work that develops pupils' comprehension skills thoroughly to promote understanding at a deeper level. During the inspection, we saw the good impact of this work in Year 6.

When discussing 'The Thirty-Nine Steps', pupils were able to identify precisely the way the author used language to build suspense. Increasingly, pupils read widely across different authors to experience challenging vocabulary that extends their knowledge well. As yet, this work is not fully embedded across classes to ensure that progress increases further.

• Leaders responded swiftly to the dip in the number of Year 1 pupils who reached the expected standard for their age in the phonics screening check in 2018. Teaching of letters and sounds is well organised to ensure that pupils develop effective early reading and writing skills. Work precisely matched to pupils' needs provides the appropriate support and challenge for all groups of pupils.

Pupils in Year 2 who did not reach the expected standard last year are already exceeding this and read with increasing accuracy and confidence. ? Finally, I looked at how well leaders use additional funding to support the needs of pupils from service families and promote good achievement. Effective transition arrangements ensure that new pupils settle to school and quickly resume their learning.

On-going support for pupils' emotional needs and self-esteem enables pupils to continue flourishing. However, plans do not show clearly enough how leaders will evaluate the impact of these strategies to ensure that pupils make the best possible progress. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? teachers continue to develop pupils' reasoning skills in mathematics by requiring them to explain their thinking more extensively ? teaching across key stage 2 continues to develop pupils' understanding of complex language to increase their comprehension in reading ? plans for the use of the service premium state precisely how leaders check whether actions are improving outcomes for pupils.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Wiltshire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Sandra Woodman Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During the inspection, I met with you and discussed the school's self-evaluation, information about pupils' progress and improvements since the previous inspection.

Together, we observed learning in classrooms and looked at a range of pupils' work in books. We talked to pupils about their work in lessons. I listened to several pupils read from Year 6 and Year 2 and talked to pupils about their experience of school life.

I visited the playground at breaktime and talked informally with staff and pupils. I held meetings with middle leaders and with three governors. In addition, I spoke to an external adviser who supports the school.

I looked at a range of written evidence, including documents relating to safeguarding and attendance information. I took account of the written comments of 57 parents who completed Ofsted's online questionnaire, Parent View, their written comments and the views of parents who spoke to me before the start of the school day. I also took account of the views of 23 members of staff and the 43 pupils who completed questionnaires.