King Edward VII School

Overview

Leaders have taken robust action to address significant safeguarding weaknesses from the previous inspection, resulting in effective systems to keep pupils safe. The school now provides a challenging curriculum with high expectations for behaviour, leading to good progress and personal development for most pupils.

Strengths

• Leaders have developed an ambitious curriculum, organising topics logically so pupils can “build securely on what they already know.”
• Staff have “high expectations of pupils’ behaviour,” with most pupils behaving very well and bullying being rare.
• Teachers possess “strong subject knowledge” and present new ideas with clarity, supporting pupils to learn the intended curriculum.
• Pupils’ personal development is prioritised, with leaders encouraging independence and resilience through activities like the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
• Leaders have introduced new assessment systems to identify and address gaps in pupils’ knowledge, helping staff adapt the curriculum.

Areas to improve

• Leaders should ensure staff receive clear information on how to support pupils with SEND and check that this is implemented consistently, as current strategies are not precise enough.
• Leaders need to ensure pupils at the early stages of reading receive the support required to develop their phonics knowledge, as some are not becoming confident readers.
• Leaders should analyse participation data in detail to identify potential barriers to extra-curricular activities for some pupils.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with leaders having worked closely with the local authority to address previous weaknesses and ensure staff are trained to keep pupils safe.