Kennall Vale School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Key findings

This is a good school where the strong sense of community helps pupils thrive.

The achievement of pupils is good because they make good progress, especially in the Early Years Foundation Stage and through Key Stage 2 so that their attainment is above average by the time they leave. The quality of teaching is good because expectations in the classrooms are high. The pace of learning is typically quick and pupils work diligently, receiving advice from adults about how best to complete the tasks they have been set.

Pupils are not always aware of what they are expected to be learning, which limits the time for them to develop their understanding and assess their progress. Teachers use pupils' resp...onses to gauge progress but they do not always adapt activities quickly enough when pupils find work difficult or too easy. Marking is consistent and steps for improvement are highlighted in pupils' books, but teachers' questions in class can be too brief to encourage pupils to explain what they have understood about how to improve.

The behaviour and safety of pupils is outstanding. Pupils are as courteous as they are enthusiastic and demonstrate exceptional attitudes to taking responsibility within the community. Leadership and management are good.

Self-evaluation procedures are accurate and leaders have correctly identified where improvements are necessary. They have made important changes to the provision at Key Stage 1 so that the progress of these pupils is improving steadily. A full consultation about the new curriculum has meant its introduction has been a success and it is reinforcing improvements in writing.

Although improvement plans identify important priorities, leaders acknowledge the need to develop systems for analysing data more thoroughly. There is also scope for monitoring processes to be enhanced through the use of more objective criteria.

Information about the school

Kennall Vale School is a smaller than average-sized primary school.

A very high proportion of pupils are of White British heritage and the proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is low. Currently there are no pupils with disabilities but there is an average proportion of pupils with special educational needs supported at school action level, and a relatively higher proportion with a statement of special educational needs or supported at school action plus level. The needs of these pupils relate to speech, language and communication, behaviour, emotional and social difficulties and those associated with autistic spectrum disorder.

The school has a number of awards, the most recent being Healthy Schools Plus and Eco School Silver. There have been changes to the leadership since the last inspection. A new headteacher has been appointed and more recently, the Chair of the Governing Body.

The number of pupils has increased and a fourth class has been added to accommodate these pupils. This has resulted in the Reception-aged children currently being taught as a single year group but this is not the usual organisational structure of the school. The school meets the government's floor standard.