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King Richard III Infant and Nursery School
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Ofsted and Performance Data
KRIII 2024 Ofsted report (and please see the full text below, which you can translate with the button in the top right hand corner of the page)
The school's letter for parents about the Ofsted inspection (and please see the full text below, which you can translate with the button in the top right hand corner of the page)
Please use the translate button on this page, if you will find it helpful to access our most recent report.
Inspection of King Richard III Infant and Nursery School
Inspection dates: 23 and 24 April 2024
| Overall effectiveness | Requires improvement |
| The quality of education | Requires improvement |
| Behaviour and attitudes | Good |
| Personal development | Good |
| Leadership and management | Requires improvement |
| Early years provision | Requires improvement |
| Previous inspection grade | Good |
What is it like to attend this school?
The school serves a diverse community where all backgrounds and cultures are celebrated. Staff, pupils and families are proud of this school. Everyone is welcome. Pupils use language such as ‘inclusiveness’ and appreciate the many friends that they can make. They eagerly await their turn to take home the class ‘culture bag’. They fill it with items that are unique to them and their identity in readiness to share with their friends at school.
Many pupils join the school part way through their schooling. Some stay at the school for only a short period of time. A significant number of these pupils are new to the country and speak English as an additional language. Staff spend time getting to know the pupils and their families. This enables pupils to quickly settle into school life.
Pupils know that the school rules help to keep them safe. They recognise that they also allow them to learn and flourish in a calm environment. Pupils know that their achievements will be recognised in assemblies where they can ‘shine like a star’.
The school wants every child to have the best start to their early education. However, its actions are not yet having a sustained impact across the whole curriculum.
What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?
The school has reconsidered its curriculum since the last inspection. In reading, this is beginning to impact positively on the progress pupils make. Children in the early years learn to hear sounds in words. Pupils in Year 1 recognise how two letters can be put together to make one sound. The school ensures that pupils are given opportunities to read a wide range of literature. However, this progress is not consistent across all subject areas, or across the different phases in school.
In a few subjects, the key knowledge that the school intends all pupils to know and remember has not yet been clearly sequenced. Checks on how well the curriculum is implemented have not been made in a systematic and informed way. This does not enable leaders to adapt and make necessary changes to the school’s curriculum in a timely and coordinated manner.
Pupils in the school’s ‘blossom’ class are provided with a bespoke curriculum to meet their needs. They understand that they need to complete tasks in a specific order and show pride in their accomplishments. However, other pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not get the right support to know and recall more with increasing fluency and independence. Occasionally, some adults do not break down the learning into smaller, manageable chunks.
All staff work together to support parents and carers to understand the importance of their children coming to school every day. Pupils’ attendance is improving. The school continues to work alongside some families to help them to realise the importance of coming to school punctually every day.
Some staff are at the school for a short period of time. Most are proud to work at this school. They appreciate the expertise they have benefited from to enable them to teach the school’s early reading programme, particularly for pupils who need extra help to catch up. However, in other curriculum areas and across the different phases of the school, staff’s development has been limited or has had little impact.
Children in the early years settle quickly into school life. They enjoy painting, designing and building. During adult-focused activities, children learn to understand simple mathematical concepts, such as heavy and light. Occasionally, adults teach children misconceptions. The early years learning environment, including the outdoor provision, does not help to develop children’s early communication and language as well as it could. This is particularly evident when children learn independently. This does not help to prepare these children well for Year 1.
Pupils understand and appreciate the values that underpin our society. They recognise that everyone has a right to express themselves, to be safe and to be happy. They also understand how to stay physically and mentally healthy.
Governors pride themselves on how well the school adapts to meet the needs of the community. They have ensured that the communication the school shares is accessible to all families.
Safeguarding
The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
What does the school need to do to improve?
(Information for the school and appropriate authority)
◼ In some subjects, the curriculum is not fully sequenced. Checks on the intent and implementation of the curriculum have not been made in a systematic and informed way. Pupils do not learn as well as they could across the different phases. The school must ensure that the whole curriculum is well sequenced and make the necessary checks to ensure it is implemented as intended.
◼ Not all pupils with SEND get the right support to help them to know the school’s curriculum with increasing fluency and independence. This slows down their learning and does not prepare them well for their next stage. The school must ensure that all staff understand how to make adaptations to the school’s curriculum so that pupils with SEND can recall more over time.
◼ The learning environment in the early years does not promote children’s early communication and language as well as it could. During independent learning, children’s development is not always well supported. This does not help children to have a secure, well-rounded understanding of the early years curriculum. The school must ensure that all staff deliver all aspects of the early years curriculum and promote communication and language in meaningful ways.
◼ Although there has been some support to develop adults’ expertise in delivering the school’s curriculum, this has had limited impact. As a result, adults are not always able to meet the needs of all pupils as well as they could. Sometimes, pupils are taught misconceptions. The school must ensure that all staff have a secure knowledge of the school’s curriculum so that they are able to teach it effectively.
The school's letter to parents about the April 2024 Ofsted report:
5th June 2024
Dear Parents, Carers, Families and Friends,
Firstly, I hope you are well and that you really enjoyed your May half-term break. It’s great to see everyone back as the last half term of the school year begins.
As you know, we were inspected by Ofsted last month and I am writing now to share the outcome of the inspection with you.
I am very pleased to say that we received ‘Good’ in two important areas – ‘Behaviour and Attitudes’ and ‘Personal Development’. The inspectors commented that “staff, pupils and their families are proud of this school”, that “everyone is welcome”, “staff spend time getting to know pupils and their families” and that “pupils know that their achievements will be recognised in assemblies where they can ‘shine like a star.’” However, at the end of the inspection, the school received an overall rating of ‘Requires Improvement’. The inspectors recognised that “the school wants every child to have the best start to their early education”, but they felt that they couldn’t see an impact from this across the whole curriculum yet.
Throughout the report, Ofsted praised many of the school’s strengths, including:
• The school has worked on its curriculum since the last inspection
• This is having a positive impact on the progress children make in reading and the school ensures that pupils are given opportunities to read a wide range of literature.
• Pupils in the school’s ‘Blossom’ class are provided with a bespoke curriculum to meet their needs. They understand how they need to complete tasks in a specific order and show pride in their accomplishments.
• Pupils know that the school rules help to keep them safe. They recognise that these also allow them to learn and flourish in a calm environment.
• Pupils use language such as ‘inclusiveness’ and appreciate the many friends that they can make.
• All staff work together to support parents and carers to understand the importance of their children coming to school every day. Pupils’ attendance is improving.
• Children in the early years settle quickly into school life. They enjoy painting, designing and building. During adult-focused activities, children learn to understand simple mathematical concepts such as heavy and light.
• Pupils understand and appreciate the values that underpin our society. They recognise that everyone has a right to express themselves, be safe and to be happy.
• Governors pride themselves on how well the school adapts to meet the needs of the community.
At the same time, the report outlined areas for improvement in school. The inspectors talked about the quality of education, including the need for more consistency across the curriculum and across the different age groups. The inspectors wanted us to give support to children with SEND (additional needs) in a way that encouraged them to be more independent, to support our Early Years children’s learning more effectively and to ensure that adults’ growing expertise has more impact in the classroom.
Please be assured that we were already working on these areas for improvement – as the Ofsted team said during their visit, leaders in the school have a ‘clear and ambitious vision’ and the seeds have been planted!
I want to assure you that, as a team, we are all determined to act on the recommendations from the Ofsted report to make the improvements they suggest, quickly and effectively. The KRIII staff team remains totally committed to working with all of our children and our whole school community in a way that gives our children the very best education we can.
The inspectors asked us to pass on their thanks to our parents for engaging with them so positively – and we were all very grateful for the wholeheartedly positive messages you shared with them. Thank you.
If you would like more information, the Ofsted report can be found on the school’s website: https://www.kingrichards.leicester.sch.uk/ofsted-and-performance-data/
If you have any questions, please do talk to me - at the school gates or by appointment - or to Mrs Stevens or Mrs Lord from the Senior Leadership Team.
As always, I’d like to thank you for your continued support for the school and for the whole school team.
Yours faithfully,
Ms Lou Harrison
Headteacher of King Richard III Infant and Nursery School