Kilby St Mary's Church of England Primary School

Overview

The inspection found that Kilby St Mary’s Church of England Primary School meets the ‘expected standard’ in most areas, including attendance, behaviour, early years, inclusion, leadership, and personal development. However, the report identifies that ‘achievement’ and ‘curriculum and teaching’ require attention, particularly regarding the quality of pupils’ written work and consistency in teaching.

Strengths

• Pupils attend regularly and benefit from a ‘calm, orderly and respectful environment’ where bullying is rare.
• Early years provision is ‘high quality’, with children achieving well and being ‘ready for their next steps’.
• Leaders and governors ‘know the school well’ and have established effective systems for supporting pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
• The personal development programme is ‘well sequenced’, helping pupils understand diversity, British values, and how to keep themselves safe.
• Staff build ‘warm and positive relationships’ with pupils, creating a nurturing atmosphere where children feel proud and happy.

Areas to improve

• Teachers must raise expectations for the quality of pupils’ work, specifically addressing gaps in ‘letter formation, sentence structure’ and handwriting.
• Leaders should ensure teachers consistently use assessment information to check what pupils know, particularly when adapting learning for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities.
• Leaders need to ensure all staff engage in ‘high-quality interactions’ with children in the early years, as this is currently inconsistent.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with leaders establishing an ‘open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility’ and concerns being actively identified and managed.