Kelvin Grove Community Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Kelvin Grove Community Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at school. They talked about how staff help them aim for academic excellence and encourage diversity and tolerance. Above all, pupils said that school is a kind place, and they are right.

Pupils use the 'Let's Talk' boxes to arrange to have a chat with a member of the pastoral team about any worries that they have. Break- and lunchtimes are happy and sociable. A member of the 'Kindness Crew' is on hand for anyone feeling lonely or left out.

Pupils know how to keep themselves safe. They can explain how to stay safe online. Pupils said that bullying ha...s 'died out' in the school.

They know to be respectful and tolerant, and that homophobia and racism are wrong. Pupils celebrate the different cultures and languages in school. They respond well to teachers' high expectations, and work hard in lessons.

From the mud kitchen in Nursery to complex pie charts in Year 6, teachers design activities to help make learning fun.

Parents are very supportive of the school. Achievements are celebrated and pupils learn how to persevere.

Parents, as well as pupils, staff and governors, are 'proud to be part of the Kelvin Grove Community'.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have worked hard to address deficiencies in the wider curriculum. The school now has a curriculum that is carefully planned and sequenced in each subject.

The history curriculum is especially strong. Key ideas are threaded through the study of each historical era. Pupils can make sense of new learning by comparing and connecting it to what they already know.

For example, pupils study the concept of 'empire' in ancient Greece in Year 4. They then use this knowledge to compare it to the Roman Empire in Year 5. Other foundation subjects use the same approach, where key ideas are threaded through the intended learning.

Teachers have just started to use new curriculum plans. Pupils have not yet been exposed to a full cycle of curriculum planning. Some of the plans do not show a clear link between what is taught in the early years and Year 1.

Planning needs to become embedded so that pupils can expand their knowledge base. This will help them connect new learning to what they already know. Current assessment systems do not identify what pupils have remembered in some subjects in the long term because the curriculum plans are new.

Leaders are continuing to make significant improvements in the teaching of early reading. A systematic approach to teaching phonics starts in the Reception class. Children learn how to read new words and blend sounds together.

Nearly all pupils gain confidence and belief in themselves as readers because they are given books that they can read independently. Pupils in key stage 1 are becoming skilled readers. Teachers have thought carefully about the books and stories that they read to pupils.

Pupils enjoy listening to these at the end of each day because teachers read them with enthusiasm and expression. This happens right through school. In the early years, a book read in Nursery inspired children to dress up as knights in the role-play castle and investigate dragons' eggs.

Leaders have embedded a culture of trust and care in the school. This enables staff to ask for extra time and support for tasks when they need it. Leaders manage the staff's workload sensitively.

Staff enjoy being at school. This is typified by them meeting together in the 'Wednesday tea club'. Relationships across school are strong.

Similarly, pupils appreciate their teachers. They described their teachers as 'welcoming and kind'. This helps pupils to work hard in lessons and behave well.

They strive for their own success rather than seek a reward. Pupils know that academic and non-academic success are both important. They like the 'vision and values in action' display, and the assemblies that celebrate this.

Despite COVID-19, leaders have made sure that pupils are offered many opportunities for their wider personal development. These include after-school clubs, local visits, assemblies, theme weeks, visitors to school and pupil leadership groups. Leaders and teachers cultivate and build on the diverse range of cultural backgrounds of pupils in the school.

Staff celebrate difference and oppose prejudice. No pupil misses out on any aspect of school life. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Sensible and helpful adaptations are made to teaching for pupils with SEND. This enhances their experiences at school, supports their academic progress and secures their all-round well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Pupils' well-being and safety are a top priority for leaders. Leaders and governors are vigilant. They are always on the lookout for the smallest sign that something could be amiss.

Central to this is the role of the pastoral team and its weekly welfare meetings. Incidents and concerns are meticulously recorded. Leaders deliver training for staff that enables them to spot any pupil at risk.

Leaders seek appropriate help from safeguarding partners. Annual audits of safeguarding practice highlight any gaps in school systems. Pupils know how to stay safe, including online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Not all foundation subject curriculum plans are used successfully by teachers, because they are so new. Plans are not yet embedded and have had insufficient time to enhance the quality of pupils' learning across the curriculum. Assessment systems introduced by leaders are at the early stages of implementation, and are not fully understood by teachers in some subjects.

Pupils are unable to draw on prior learning because they have not been taught some of the intended content. Leaders must ensure that current curriculum plans become part of daily teaching and classroom practice.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2011.