Kilham Church of England Voluntary Controlled School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Kilham Church of England Voluntary Controlled School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school motto, learning, caring and friendship, is reflected all around this welcoming school. Pupils enjoy their time here as well as the opportunities that the school provides.

Adults care for them and want them to do well.

The school's curriculum and wider personal development programme ensures that pupils are well prepared for the transition to secondary school. Many pupils achieve well academically.

Leaders ensure pupils become mature, responsible citizens by providing a varied set of experiences for all pupils. For example, pupils, in...cluding those in the school's gardening club, planted flowers and trees when learning about sustainability during the school's Earth Day activities.

The school has high expectations for pupils' behaviour.

The vast majority of pupils meet these expectations consistently well. Pupils across the age range of the school play well together. They are considerate of one another.

When needed, staff provide support to pupils to ensure they meet the school's behavioural expectations.

Most parents and carers are positive about the work that the school does to support their children. Families and the school work in partnership.

This includes working together effectively to secure pupils' regular attendance.

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

Staff who work at the school are committed to providing pupils with a high-quality education. Although the school faces some challenges linked to its size, staff refuse to allow these to be a barrier.

This is reflected in the school maintaining a diverse range of enrichment opportunities for pupils. These include residential visits in older year groups and enrichments linked to engineering that enhance what pupils learn in design and technology lessons.The school uses a number of commercial schemes, such as those for teaching mathematics and phonics.

These support the school to have a suitably broad and ambitious curriculum. They provide clarity about the most important knowledge that pupils need to know and remember. Teachers present this information clearly.

They check on what pupils are able to do and make suitable adaptations to lessons based on what these checks tell them. Pupils have regular opportunities to revisit and consolidate important learning. This helps pupils to remember and apply important knowledge.

Leaders use available data to check how well pupils are learning the curriculum. This supports the school to know what is working well and what requires further strengthening. However, the school's checks do not consistently identify why some pupils have not learned the school's intended curriculum.

Consequently, some actions to make improvements are not as precisely targeted or as timely as they could be.

Children in the early years make a positive start to their time in school. They develop good habits and routines that prepare them well for key stage 1.

Adults model sounds and vocabulary clearly. They ask questions to develop children's responses, such as when children are role-playing in the home corner. Children develop secure knowledge of mathematics appropriate to their age.

Stories and rhymes are integral to the early years curriculum. Children participate in these enthusiastically.

The school has trained staff in how to teach its phonics scheme.

Staff use this training to teach the curriculum in a consistent way. Pupils benefit from this effective provision. The majority of pupils read confidently and at an age-appropriate level.

Pupils who need additional help are well supported to catch up. Older pupils talk confidently about the books that they have read and their favourite authors.

The school has clear oversight of the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

These pupils study the same ambitious curriculum as their peers. Staff use the information provided by the school to support these pupils to access their learning effectively.

Pupils learn important knowledge, such as about healthy relationships, in the school's personal, social and health education lessons.

This helps pupils learn how to keep safe and healthy. Leaders create opportunities for pupils to learn about other cultures and people who hold different beliefs. Pupils learn about these through carefully chosen texts that explore diversity or first hand when visiting places of worship.

Those with responsibility for governance have an accurate view of the school's strengths and areas that require further development. They provide effective support and challenge to school leaders. Staff who work at the school are well supported.

They reflect that the school is well led and that leaders are considerate of their workload when making decisions.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The checks that the school makes on how effectively pupils learn the curriculum do not consistently identify why gaps occur.

Some actions to address weaknesses are not precisely targeted to bring about the improvements that the school intends. The school should ensure that its actions are matched to and address why gaps have occurred.

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

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

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2015.