Kents Hill Park all-through school

Overview

Kents Hill Park all-through school is rated ‘Good’ across all inspection categories. Pupils are described as proud of their school, embracing the motto ‘Work hard, be kind’ and demonstrating strong behaviour and attitudes in lessons. The report highlights a ‘broad and rich curriculum’ that builds effectively from early years, supported by staff with ‘strong subject knowledge’.

Strengths

• The curriculum is ‘well-sequenced’, enabling pupils to recall prior learning and build new knowledge effectively.
• Reading is a high priority, with ‘well-trained staff’ teaching phonics and providing targeted support for those finding it challenging.
• Mathematics teaching is ‘systematic and strong’, fostering confidence in early years and complex reasoning in secondary phases.
• Staff successfully help pupils understand behavioural expectations, resulting in pupils who are ‘respectful and polite’.
• Leaders provide ‘effective support and challenge’, ensuring governors understand their statutory duties and staff workload is considered.

Areas to improve

• Some staff do not make detailed checks to ensure pupils fully understand key content, leading to occasional gaps in learning.
• Conduct outside lessons, particularly in the secondary phase, is not as strong as in class, with some pupils being noisy in corridors.
• Leaders should strengthen communication with parents and pupils regarding bullying strategies to address concerns that action is not effective.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are ‘effective’, with leaders being ‘meticulous’ in protecting children and staff receiving timely training to respond to concerns.