Valley Invicta Primary School At Kings Hill

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The new leadership and teaching teams have established themselves well with pupils and parents. The recently appointed headteacher has quickly established a positive, upbeat and open culture in the school.

Parents express strong confidence in the new leadership and teaching team. The headteacher and her new senior leadership team have a clear view of the school's performance. They have identified appropriate priorities for improvements in the school.

Leaders, governors and trustees have ensured that the curriculum provides a secure framework for teaching during a period of change. The special educational needs team provides exceptional le...adership and oversight for those pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities. Assessments completed early in the school year have provided teachers with reliable information about pupils' previous learning and individual needs.

Pupils are keen to do their best and behave well. They feel valued and safe in school. The trust took robust and effective action last year to steady the school during an unsettled period in its history.

As a result, most pupils continued to learn well, despite many changes in teaching staff. Children in early years make good progress. Strong relationships and clear routines help children to settle quickly during the first few weeks of their school career.

Teaching builds pupils' knowledge and skills securely and effectively. As a result, most pupils make strong progress over time. However, teaching does not extend learning for the most able pupils consistently enough.

The local governing board members' roles in holding the school to account, and in contributing school improvement, are at an early stage of development.

Information about this school

The school opened as a sponsor-led academy in September 2015. It is a member of the Valley Invicta Academies Trust.

The trust and the local governing body work together closely to oversee the management of the school. There have been numerous staff changes during the past year, including at senior leadership level. The headteacher, and seven out of eight teachers, are new to post in September 2018.

The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school. The proportion of pupils supported by the pupil premium is lower than that found in most primary schools. The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above the national average.

The proportion of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is below the national average. Most pupils are White British. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is below the national average.

The school has a specially resourced provision for pupils who have autism spectrum disorder. Eight pupils, from Reception to Year 6, currently attend the provision. All pupils who attend the specialist resource centre have an education, health care plan.

Pupils spend some of their time in the specially resourced provision and some of their time in the mainstream classrooms. Children in the Reception class attend full time. The school has a privately run breakfast club and after-school club, both of which are inspected separately.

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