Kensington Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Kensington Primary describe their school as a happy place to be. They are proud of their diverse community where everyone is accepted and valued for who they are.

Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), appreciate the strong relationships that they have with staff.

The school consistently sets high expectations for pupils' achievement. In the main, pupils, including many who are disadvantaged, achieve well.

Pupils, including those with SEND, are attentive in lessons. This is reflected in the high-quality work that they produce and how enthused they are to talk about what they have learned. Pupils are well p...repared for the next stages of their education.

Pupils are friendly and polite. They respect each other. When misbehaviour or incidents of bullying occur, staff deal with them quickly and effectively.

The school has implemented successful systems to improve pupils' rates of attendance. Pupils typically attend well as a result.

The school provides well-thought-out opportunities to enhance pupils' learning of the curriculum.

For example, pupils talked excitedly about their trips to the local university, museum, zoo and football clubs. These experiences add considerable value to pupils' learning and widen their aspirations.

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

From the early years to Year 6, the school has designed a well-ordered curriculum, rooted in what it wants pupils to know and remember.

This helps pupils to develop a secure body of subject knowledge across a broad range of subjects.

The school's published data for 2023 shows that the proportion of pupils who met the expected standards in reading and mathematics at the end of Year 2 and Year 6 was below the national average. A high proportion of pupils in these year groups joined the school at various stages throughout key stages 1 and 2.

As a result, they were unable to benefit fully from the school's well-designed curriculum. Currently, most pupils achieve well across a range of subjects.

The school ensures that staff receive high-quality training to enhance their delivery of the curriculum.

In the main, this equips staff to design learning that builds on what pupils know already. However, on occasion, some staff do not select activities that support pupils to learn the knowledge in the curriculum as deeply as they should.

Staff are adept at identifying pupils' misconceptions swiftly.

Staff use well-established approaches to assessment to check that pupils have understood earlier concepts before introducing new ideas. When staff identify gaps in pupils' knowledge, they use this information quickly and appropriately to shape future learning.

Staff in the early years use every opportunity to develop children's communication and language skills by carefully modelling the vocabulary that they want children to know.

This prepares children well for the demands of key stage 1.

The school has prioritised the teaching of early reading and ensured that staff are well trained to deliver the phonics programme effectively. Pupils practise reading with books that are well matched to the sounds that they have learned.

The school ensures that any pupils who find reading difficult receive the extra support that they need to catch up quickly. As a result, most pupils become confident, fluent readers.

The school successfully promotes reading for enjoyment.

Children in the early years establish their interest for reading through listening to stories regularly, and sharing books with each other. Older pupils spoke excitedly about their favourite characters and authors.

The school has effective systems in place to identify the additional needs of pupils with SEND.

Staff work closely with parents, carers and external agencies to secure appropriate support for pupils. Staff are skilled at making necessary adaptations to their delivery of the curriculum. This enables pupils with SEND to learn successfully.

Pupils, including children in the early years, typically behave well. However, from time to time, a few pupils do not behave in such a positive manner. This sometimes interrupts other pupils' learning.

The school offers an array of experiences to support pupils' personal development. For example, pupils are keen to attend the many extra-curricular activities on offer to them, such as film, cookery and football clubs. Pupils learn to celebrate the differences between people.

They said that everyone is welcome in their school and have elected buddies to help look after new pupils. The school prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain. Pupils know how to keep themselves mentally healthy and how to stay safe online.

They carry out leadership roles, such as acting as reading ambassadors and pupil panellists, diligently.Governors are fully committed to supporting the continued improvement of the school. They carry out their statutory duties effectively and hold the school to account for the quality of education that pupils receive.

Staff are positive about the consideration that leaders give to their workload and well-being. For example, changes made to the way that staff provide feedback to pupils has had a positive impact on their workload.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• From time to time, the activities and pedagogical approaches chosen by staff do not support pupils to learn the knowledge in the curriculum. This hinders some pupils from learning as deeply as they should. The school should ensure that staff are suitably equipped to deliver the curriculum consistently well.

• The school has not ensured that the behaviour policy is implemented consistently well. As a result, a small number of pupils do not behave as well as the school expects. The school should strengthen the design and delivery of the behaviour policy so that it supports pupils' behaviour to improve over time.