Kings Worthy Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Kings Worthy Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this welcoming village school.

Leaders keep the school motto, 'being the best that we can be', at the forefront of their work. Leaders know pupils and their families well. Parents value the nurturing, caring environment.

As one parent stated: 'I love how caring the teachers are across the school and I feel they have my children's best interests at heart.'

Leaders have high aspirations for all pupils. They recognise the importance of providing a broad range of experiences for all pupils.

Leaders are rightly proud of their work to promote p...upils' positive mental health. Pupils benefit from regular sessions to develop their emotional well-being and there is additional, targeted support for those pupils who need it.

Pupils behave well around the school.

They are calm, focused and engaged in lessons. When talking to adults, pupils are polite and confident. Pupils treat each other with respect, listening and responding well to each other in conversations.

On the very rare occasions that bullying happens, adults deal with it promptly.

Pupils enjoy opportunities to participate in local arts events. They are particularly excited about creating designs for the 'Hampshire Hares' project and costumes for this year's Winchester Hat Fair parade.

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

Leaders have designed a broad curriculum. They aspire for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to achieve well. More experienced subject leaders have made sure that knowledge is taught in a clear sequence over time, for example in mathematics and art and design.

This means pupils can make connections between topics to help them remember their learning. Pupils achieve well in these subjects. In some other subjects, for example in religious education (RE), subject leadership is at an early stage of development.

In subjects where this is the case, the curriculum sequence does not always enable pupils to achieve as well as they could.

Teachers' subject knowledge is not consistently strong across the whole curriculum. Where subject knowledge is strong, teachers set tasks that help all pupils to achieve well.

In art and design, for example, teachers routinely check pupils' understanding. They adapt activities to ensure that all pupils, including those with SEND, achieve as well as they should. In Reception, effective teaching of early mathematics ensures that children develop confidence in using and understanding numbers.

However, this is not the case in all subjects. Leaders have rightly implemented a training programme to improve teachers' subject knowledge, to iron out the inconsistencies.

Leaders prioritise reading.

Teachers read to pupils daily. Pupils enjoy these regular story times. Children learn phonics from the start of Reception.

Teachers use well-established routines which support children's learning. There are some slight inconsistencies in phonics teaching, but overall pupils are taught to read well. Effective support for those pupils at risk of falling behind ensures they are supported well to catch up quickly.

Pupils read books that are matched to the phonic sounds that they know. This means they develop into confident and fluent readers who enjoy reading.

The school's provision for pupils' wider development is a strength.

Leaders are ambitious for all pupils to discover their talents and excel. Pupils enjoy a broad range of extra-curricular activities, including cooking, gardening, yoga and several competitive sporting opportunities. Trips to museums and local cities, and residential visits, enhance the curriculum.

All pupils are given the chance to showcase their talents through performing plays and concerts, both in a local theatre and in the school grounds. Pupils are given opportunities to take on additional responsibilities. For example, Year 6 pupils enjoy being buddies to children in Reception and pupil librarians encourage their peers to read a wide variety of books.

Leaders and governors have rightly made staff's well-being a high priority. Governors check that staff's workload is manageable and appropriate. There is a caring and collaborative culture at the school and morale is high.

Parents are positive about the school. They have praised leaders' response to the challenge of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents feel that their children have been supported well during this time to continue with their education.

As one parent said: 'The support given by the school through COVID-19 is absolutely phenomenal - both in respect to teaching and mental health support. The teaching and leadership teams deserve the highest possible praise.'

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have established a strong culture of vigilance. They ensure that all staff are trained to recognise when pupils may be at risk of harm. Leaders have clear and comprehensive systems to record safeguarding concerns.

They work closely with external agencies to ensure that pupils and their families get the help they need promptly.

Pupils have a clear, age-appropriate understanding of how to keep themselves safe online. Leaders use the expertise of organisations such as the police and the NSPCC to teach pupils about staying safe.

Pupils say that they feel safe in school. They are confident that there are trusted adults who will help them if they have a worry or a concern.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Subject leadership in some foundation subjects is at an early stage of development.

Some subject leaders need to deepen their subject knowledge so that they can support staff to implement the curriculum more effectively. Leaders and governors should ensure that subject leadership across the whole curriculum improves. ? Teachers' subject knowledge is stronger in some subjects than it is in others.

They do not always make the most effective pedagogical choices to allow pupils to achieve as well as they could in all subjects. Leaders need to strengthen teachers' subject knowledge in all subjects so that all pupils know and remember even more across the whole curriculum.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 a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in March 2012.

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