Kenilworth Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this caring school. They value the warm and friendly ethos.

Pupils are polite, kind and respectful to one another and to adults. Pupils feel listened to. They know that staff care about their learning and their well-being.

Pupils feel safe. They say that adults are always there to help them and keep them safe. The school's vision statement, 'high aspirations today, inspiring the leaders of tomorrow', permeates school life.

Pupils appreciate their teachers, and they enjoy learning. Pupils experience a broad and rich curriculum which prepares them well for the next stage of their education

Pupils conduct themselves well around scho...ol. Pupils play happily together during their breaktimes.

Pupils say that they can talk to adults if they need help, and that bullying is dealt with swiftly if it occurs.

Parents and pupils enjoy looking after animals and growing vegetables. A good range of clubs is on offer, including art, typing and climbing, which broaden pupils' interests.

Pupils make a positive contribution to school life through leadership roles that develop their interests. These include organising playground games, serving as eco-councillors and house captains and helping to collect eggs from the chickens.

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

Leaders and governors want pupils to achieve their best.

Staff share this view. The curriculum that leaders provide supports pupils' academic and personal development well. Pupils build their knowledge and skills effectively across all curriculum subjects.

As a result, pupils achieve well. Teachers make lessons engaging and interesting, which inspires pupils to learn. Pupils are well prepared for the next steps of their education.

This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Teaching assistants are well trained and support pupils' learning effectively.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge.

Assessment is used well in English and mathematics to plan lessons that build on what pupils know and to address misconceptions. In some other subjects, such as geography and science, teachers are not using the school's new assessment systems as effectively to check how much pupils are understanding.

Reading is given a high priority.

Leaders ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge they need to teach early reading well. Pupils develop strong phonics knowledge. The books that children read are closely matched to the sounds that they are learning.

Pupils learn to read with fluency and confidence. Pupils thoroughly enjoy reading. Pupils talk about their favourite books with enthusiasm, and can describe characters, themes and story endings in an eloquent way.

Pupils who are less confident in their reading receive the additional support they need to become successful readers.

Children in the early years get off to a good start. Adults are well trained.

They ask children challenging questions that get them thinking. Adults help children to settle quickly into school routines. During the inspection, children in the Reception class were busy making houses for their ducks to live in.

They used a good range of words such as 'shelter' and 'habitat' to describe where the animals live.

Pupils develop positive attitudes to learning. They are interested in the subjects they learn.

Pupils settle quickly to tasks set by their teachers. Teachers provide plenty of opportunities for pupils to work cooperatively. Pupils listen carefully to each other during class discussions.

However, the quality of written work that teachers expect from pupils is not consistently high across subjects.

Leaders ensure there is a strong focus on pupils' personal development. Pupils learn to appreciate different faiths and cultures.

Pupils learn to be caring, active and responsible citizens through the broad range of opportunities available to them, for example trips, sporting clubs and financial planning lessons. Pupils learn about the democratic process through electing class representatives to the eco council and as house captains.

Staff are proud to work at Kenilworth Primary School.

Leaders ensure that staff receive effective professional development. This supports their teaching of the curriculum. Leaders are considerate of their staff, who appreciate the support they receive, particularly for their well-being.

Governors hold leaders to account for the school's work and check that statutory requirements are met. Governors challenge school leaders and hold them to account for the quality of education in the school. Governors gain a good awareness of what it is like to be a pupil at the school through their own monitoring visits to the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders and staff are vigilant. They know how to identify when pupils are at risk from harm.

Staff know what to do should they have a concern. Appropriate referrals are made to outside agencies to secure the help for pupils and families. Any necessary actions are followed up without delay.

The curriculum and other events, such as assemblies, offer opportunities for pupils to learn to be safe. This includes learning about online safety and healthy relationships.

Governors check that the systems in place to keep pupils safe work effectively.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have recently changed the school's approach to assessment in the foundation subjects. In some subjects, teachers are not as adept at using different assessment strategies to gauge what pupils know and can do. Leaders should train staff so that they use assessment effectively and are better able to check on how pupils are faring in those subjects.

• In English, mathematics and science, pupils produce work that they are proud of and that demonstrates a good level of knowledge and understanding. In other subjects, pupils' written work is not well presented, and the content does not reflect the depth of knowledge and understanding pupils have been taught. Leaders should ensure that teachers' expectations of pupils' written work are consistently high across all subjects.

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