Little Kingshill Combined School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

This is a highly inclusive school where all pupils benefit from an excellent quality of education. The school has very high expectations of its pupils, who strive to meet them.

Across the school, pupils achieve very well. Warm and respectful relationships between staff and pupils are at the heart of the school.

Pupils' behaviour is exemplary.

Pupils are consistently thoughtful, kind and considerate towards their peers and adults. From the time they start in Reception, children are taught the importance of learning behaviours. They learn to be resilient and curious.

They are confident to ask for help if they have any worries. Pupils are safe and very ...happy.

Pupils embrace roles of responsibility and make meaningful contributions to the school community.

For example, 'agents for change' promote anti-bullying, members of the eco-team pick litter and care for the school environment, and 'maths ambassadors' feed back to teachers about pupils' experiences of mathematics lessons. Pupils are proud of their roles because they understand the value of helping others. Pupils know that their views contribute to making their school a better place.

They share their views and opinions with staff to bring about change, such as making the school more sustainable.

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

The school has created a curriculum that is of very high quality. It carefully maps out what pupils will learn and do, so that they build deep knowledge over time.

From the early years, children learn key skills quickly and effectively. This coherent curriculum is supporting teachers to know exactly what to teach and when. This enables them to focus their time on teaching subjects really well.

Pupils' additional special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified swiftly. Staff collaborate carefully with outside professionals and with parents to build the right educational support for pupils. This work begins successfully in the early years.

This support is highly effective in helping pupils to overcome barriers to learning. As a result, all pupils achieve well across the curriculum.

Teacher's subject expertise is very well developed and pupils excel because of high-quality teaching.

Resources and activities are chosen deliberately to ensure that pupils understand new learning. Staff check pupils' understanding carefully and use this information to ensure that learning follows on precisely from what was learned before. Regular recapping helps pupils to remember recent and prior learning.

As a result, pupils can recall, in detail, what they have been taught.

The school has made reading an absolute priority. The phonics programme is set out and sequenced in a logical way that builds knowledge gradually and securely.

Reading books are matched precisely to the new sounds that pupils need to practise, with their progress monitored carefully. As a result, pupils gain fluency quickly. A love of stories is introduced in the early years, while older pupils read a diverse and ambitious selection of novels to enable thoughtful discussion.

The detailed programme for personal development permeates other areas of the curriculum. This enables pupils to connect their learning through deliberately planned experiences. For example, pupils learn about the Stone Age through a visit to the Chiltern open air museum, and they learn about sustainability by visiting a local waste-energy plant.

There is an impressive range of carefully planned school clubs, attended by all groups of pupils, which broaden their talents and interests. The school's programme of personal, social, health and economic education is broad, engaging and promotes curiosity. Pupils have an exceptional knowledge and understanding of the important issues that affect them.

These include how to stay safe, healthy relationships and democracy. More widely, the school has an embedded culture of generosity and respect, exemplified by the links made with a local care home and engagement with older members of the local community.

Behaviour is excellent and pupils' attitudes to learning are impressive.

All pupils know and live up to the school's high expectations. In Nursery and Reception classes, children learn and play cooperatively. They move from one activity to the other seamlessly and develop strong social and emotional skills.

Older pupils demonstrate kindness and respect. They are highly motivated to learn in class. The school works positively with families to ensure high attendance.

As a result, disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND, have particularly high attendance.

Governors, leaders and staff share an ambitious vision for the school. The governing body uses its extensive expertise to challenge and support the school successfully.

Governors keep a close eye on some key aspects of the running of this school, such as SEND, safeguarding, finance and the curriculum. This level of rigour supports the consistently high standards in the school. The school has ensured that staff get high-quality training that enables them to teach the curriculum exceptionally well.

Staff appreciate how their workload and well-being are a priority. As a result, staff at the school feel extremely well supported.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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