Kennington Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school are happy.

They flourish under the calm and reassuring guidance of staff, who care for them exceptionally well. Children in the early years make a remarkably strong start to their education. They develop warm and trusting relationships with staff.

At this early stage, children learn to manage their emotions and to consider the feelings of others with care.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), thrive. They rise to the high expectations that staff have for them.

Pupils achieve well and their behaviour is exceptional. They are well prepared for each stage of their education.

Th...e school provides pupils with many opportunities to develop their talents and interests.

This includes a variety of clubs and sporting activities. A range of trips and visits help pupils to understand the subjects that they study and the history of their community. These experiences also help to build pupils' resilience and to widen their horizons.

Pupils are proud to take part in the many opportunities that they have to contribute to the life of the school. For example, they relish representing the school in sporting competitions. Pupils also enjoy taking part in fundraising activities for a variety of local and national charities.

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

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum. It has thought carefully about the information that pupils should learn and when they should learn it. This includes children in the early years.

Pupils' knowledge builds securely over time and across a broad range of subjects. In the early years, children are exceptionally well prepared for the demands of key stage 1.

Staff value the time and the training that they are given to carry out their roles with expertise.

Typically, staff use their subject knowledge to design activities that help pupils to learn the curriculum successfully. However, on occasion, staff do not match learning activities accurately to the knowledge that the school has identified for pupils to learn. When this is the case, some pupils do not learn some key curriculum content as well as they could.

Staff regularly check on what pupils know and remember. They address any gaps and misconceptions before pupils move on to new learning.

The school is ambitious for every pupil to develop a love of reading.

Children begin to learn to read from the start of the Reception Year through daily phonics sessions. Staff deliver these sessions with a high level of expertise. They quickly identify pupils who struggle with the pace of the phonics programme.

These pupils then get extra support. Most pupils gain the knowledge and skills that they need to read well. This helps pupils to read with expression and fluency.

The school ensures that pupils read a wide range of books from different genres. Books are carefully chosen to reflect the school's diverse community and the wider world. Pupils enjoy reading.

They spoke confidently about the books that they have read. Pupils also enjoy the opportunity to 'win' a book as a reward for their hard work and positive behaviour.

The school accurately identifies the additional needs of pupils with SEND.

It ensures that staff receive clear information about pupils' needs. Staff use this information to support pupils with SEND effectively. Typically, pupils with SEND access the curriculum alongside their peers, and they achieve well.

Children in the early years benefit from an exceptionally well-designed and expertly delivered curriculum. Staff care deeply about the children's welfare. Children understand and follow the clear routines that the school has in place.

They play cooperatively together and are very well prepared for learning in key stage 1.

Pupils show high levels of engagement in their learning, including in the early years. They are exceptionally polite and respectful to adults and to each other.

Most pupils attend school regularly. The school provides highly effective support for the small number of pupils who need to improve their attendance.

Pupils benefit from an extensive range of opportunities that support their wider development.

They learn about healthy relationships and how to care for their physical and mental health. Pupils develop secure knowledge of how to keep themselves safe online. They display an unwavering and clear understanding of fundamental British values, including how these values weave through the life of the school.

Pupils learn to celebrate difference and to treat everyone with respect. This prepares them well for life in a diverse world.

Governors receive detailed information about the school.

This helps them to carry out their duties effectively. Governors provide appropriate support and challenge to leaders at all levels.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• On occasion, teachers do not match learning activities sufficiently well to the knowledge that the school has identified for pupils to learn. This means that at times, some pupils do not learn key curriculum content as well as they could. The school should ensure that teachers receive the training that they need to design learning activities that help pupils learn the curriculum in sufficient depth.

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