Kensington Primary School

Overview

Pupils describe Kensington Primary as a “happy place to be” within a “diverse community where everyone is accepted and valued.” The school maintains “high expectations for pupils’ achievement,” with most pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, achieving well and producing “high-quality work.” Leaders have designed a “well-ordered curriculum” that helps pupils develop a “secure body of subject knowledge” across a broad range of subjects.

Strengths

• Staff are “adept at identifying pupils’ misconceptions swiftly” and use assessment data to shape future learning effectively.
• The school has “prioritised the teaching of early reading,” ensuring most pupils become “confident, fluent readers” through well-matched books and targeted support.
• Pupils benefit from “well-thought-out opportunities” such as trips to museums and universities, which “widen their aspirations.”
• Effective systems identify the needs of pupils with SEND, enabling them to “learn successfully” through skilled staff adaptations.
• Governors are “fully committed to supporting the continued improvement of the school” and hold leaders to account effectively.

Areas to improve

• Some staff do not select activities that support pupils to learn curriculum knowledge “as deeply as they should,” hindering deep learning for some.
• The behaviour policy is not implemented “consistently well,” resulting in a small number of pupils whose behaviour “interrupts other pupils’ learning.”

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”