Kiwi Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 15 October 2024

The school's bespoke pastoral care for pupils is a strength. As an example, the many pupils in military families are well supported to develop a strong sense of belonging. The school is ambitious for pupils to 'SOAR': to 'strive for success, own actions, be ambitious, respectful, resilient and reflective'. The personalised support helps pupils feel comfortable to share any worries and be resilient through times of change. Pupils struggle to remember their learning because the previous curriculum has not helped them to learn well in some subjects. Teaching does not support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) as fully as it should. Therefore, these pupils do not learn the curriculum well enough. The school has identified the aspects of its work that need to improve. It has begun to make these improvements. Most pupils behave well. In some areas of the school, pupils follow routines well. But this is not the case in all areas. A minority of pupils do not follow the school rules and disrupt learning for others. To develop pupils' talents and interests, the school plans an array of clubs. These include textiles, choir and Christmas club. Pupils take great pride in leadership responsibilities. For example, school councillors decided on the class names, including 'Morepork owls'.

What the school should improve

• Teaching is not well adapted for some pupils with SEND. This means these pupils do not learn well enough. The school should ensure that staff have the right knowledge and expertise to support all pupils to learn the curriculum successfully.
• Staff do not apply the behaviour policy consistently. This results in some low-level disruption that is not challenged or addressed. Poor behaviour has a negative impact on the learning of others. The school must ensure that staff have the right training and support to manage behaviour so that pupils can concentrate on their learning.
• Pupils struggle to remember their prior learning. This is because work to close gaps in learning from the previous curriculum is still underway. The school should ensure that pupils recap prior learning to help them build their knowledge based on what they know and remember.
• The school's systems for checking how well the curriculum is being taught, including in early reading, are in the early stages of implementation. This prevents it from having a detailed understanding of how well pupils are learning the intended curriculum. The school should check how well pupils are learning and make adjustments to the curriculum where are they are needed.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)