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IQM Report Summary November 2023

Inclusive School Award

Welcome from the Head We are delighted that King’s House School has been awarded the Inclusive School Award after being assessed by the Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM). The award is a nationally recognised framework that recognises a school’s efforts to be inclusive, and their ongoing commitment to provide the very best education for all children. An inclusive school gives all pupils equal opportunities to succeed, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, achievements or background. The IQM Award provides a validation of current practice and a detailed report summarising the findings. Over a two-day visit the assessor met with pupils, parents, Governors, teaching and non-teaching staff, as well as observing clubs and lessons. They evaluated King’s House over different categories, including: • • • • • • • •

The schools’ inclusion values Leadership, management and accountability Curriculum - structure, pupil engagement and adaptation Teaching and learning - learning environment, planning resources, and pedagogy Assessment Behaviour, attitudes to learning and personal development Parents, carers and guardians Links with the local, wider and global community

We look forward to continually progressing the school’s work to become more inclusive, particularly as we look ahead to the first cohort of girls joining the Junior Department in September 2024. I hope you will enjoy reading this summary of the IQM’s report, which highlights many of the examples of inclusivity that take place within King’s House every day. It was wonderful to read how highly pupils and parents think of our teachers, who work so hard to deliver engaging lessons and act as role models for our young people. Yours sincerely,

Mark Turner Head

IQM REPORT SUMMARY | KHS

EVALUATION SUMMARY • Pupils and parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Parents mentioned that communication between the school and home is outstanding, with constant open dialogue. All members of staff work tirelessly on behalf of the pupils. One parent said that the Headteacher fights for every child. • Pupils all love school, with one parent telling me that her son punched the air when he heard that half term was over because he missed his Maths lessons. • Pupils were engaged and focused in all lessons. • The school is keen to refine their offer when required, making them very responsive to need. • Three Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) have been appointed which has added more capacity to the school’s response for pupils who need some additional support in this area. They complement the work of the school counsellor who supports the pupils and staff at the school one day a week. • Pupils spoke to me about the increasing levels of responsibility they are given as they move up the school. All the Year 8 boys have a specific role such as Head Boy, Sports Captain, Charity Monitor, or Young Enterprise leader, to name but a few. • The school has a school council as well as a food council who focus on improving school lunches. • Examples of a strong pupil voice are ubiquitous throughout the school. • Supported by the adult charity coordinator, they invite charity reps into the school to speak to everyone and then they vote on which charities to support. In addition, they voted on a name change for the Houses’ system which needed updating, even in nursery there was a vote on which book they wanted their teacher to read to them next!

IQM REPORT SUMMARY | KHS

THE SCHOOL’S INCLUSION VALUES Pupils’ Needs The school meets the needs of all the pupils at the school, whatever their need or barrier to learning may be. The school is highly inclusive to the boys who attend the main school as well as the boys and girls in the co-ed Nursery. The school stress that they are a mixed-ability school, there are no entrance exams to enrol in the Nursery and Reception. The school plan to become a co-ed school from September 2024.

Access Several children are in receipt of an Education, Health, Care plan (EHCP) or are receiving SEN support: all are having their needs met successfully. The school has been able to employ the appropriate staff needed and be flexible in meeting needs. All pupils have equal access to all that the school offers such as the curriculum, school visits, music lessons and sporting events. All pupils have a turn to represent the school in sporting fixtures.

Staff Teachers say the SENCO is very proactive, she makes sure that all staff are fully prepared in September with detailed information about children’s needs and the support that has been put in place. New members of staff are made to feel welcome when they join the school. There is a family feel to the staff group. All staff have access to coaching sessions as well as equal access to further qualifications or external training sessions.

“Pupils thrive at the school due to the individualised and differentiated support that they are given. They are encouraged to develop their strengths and talents as much as possible. There is so much on offer that all pupils flourish.”

IQM REPORT SUMMARY | KHS

“Inclusion is seen as everyone’s responsibility not just the Learning Development team.”

LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND ACCOUNTABILITY Senior Leadership The Senior Leadership Team ensure that the inclusion agenda features in all their decisions and forward planning. The Head of Learning Development (SENCO) has been at the school for three years and is a highly valued member of staff, supported wholeheartedly in her work by the Headteacher and the Senior Leadership Team. Staff value the opportunities to further develop their careers. Peer assessments help them to share good practice throughout the school and conversations about learning are encouraged by the Leadership and Management Teams. Staff feel that the leadership team are supportive. . Communication is good between the Senior Leadership Team and other members of staff. Weekly briefings ensure that everyone is kept informed of developments and having the meetings online has meant that the meetings are more accessible.

Pupil Leadership Pupils are encouraged to become leaders and given responsibility roles that grow as they move up the school. Transition in and out of the school is a strength that was mentioned by all of the parents who feel very supported, especially when thinking of which school to enrol their child into for Year 9 onwards.

Governors The school has a strong Governing Body. They benefit from presentations from teachers on particular curriculum areas, and sub-committees give the Governors a good understanding of the school. Governors are visible in the school; a staff engagement session where Governors and teachers met for an hour to discuss successes and challenges ahead was very much appreciated by teaching staff. The school have formed a staff equality, diversity and inclusion group who meet twice a year and feed back to other committees.

IQM REPORT SUMMARY | KHS

CURRICULUM Curriculum Structure The school have provided all pupils with a curriculum that is relevant to their personal needs. As the children get older, there is a strong emphasis on preparing them for the next stage of their education, by giving them the skills to do well in the 11+ and/or entrance exams for their chosen pathway. The curriculum is very broad and balanced in each of the three settings. The Nursery follows the EYFS curriculum which is enhanced using specialist teachers for PE, Music, and Drama. The pupils’ interests and needs are seen as the starting point for this personalised curriculum which means that pupil engagement is high. The Junior Department follows an enhanced National Curriculum which is complemented by specialist teachers in French, Spanish and Italian, Sport, Music and Computing. The Senior Department offers 15 subjects, and as well as the National Curriculum the school follows the Common Entrance syllabus from Years 6 to Year 8. From Year 5 the pupils have specialist teachers for all subjects.

Curriculum Adaptation The curriculum includes specialist input from NHS and private specialists such as speech and language, and occupational therapists. The pupils are fortunate in having access to a wide range of local, national and international curriculum trips.

“The curriculum is responsive to particular needs and is adapted appropriately.”

IQM REPORT SUMMARY | KHS

TEACHING AND LEARNING Planning, Resources and Pedagogy Teaching and learning observations have shown that most lessons are good or better. The school has skilled teachers, with all teachers being good role models to the pupils. Pupils have excellent relationships with their teachers with many of them mentioning how supportive and helpful the teachers are to them. Senior boys are able to access optional before school clinics for English, Maths and Non-Verbal Reasoning in preparation for the 11+ and other entrance exams. A child who is new to English was having a 1:1 session with an experienced HLTA: she was modelling, then scaffolding for the child as he was gaining confidence in using connectives.

Learning Environment The school is situated over three sites with all classrooms being light and airy. The Nursery in particular is very spacious with additional break-out rooms. The three sites all have their own play areas on-site. The school is very well-resourced, with all children having access to a wide range of purpose-built resources such as the 35-acre sports grounds that have Astro-turf pitches and tennis courts. The Friends of King’s House organise fundraising events to ensure that the pupils have the most up to date resources possible. The library is a popular place for the boys to meet and read at lunchtime. It is a calm and purposeful environment where timetabled lessons take place. The librarian works hard to instil a love of reading in all the children. The “All about Me” folders in a Reception class have sections on likes and dislikes, what good at, languages spoken and family celebrations. This is a useful guide for staff when they are planning sessions.

“Pupils benefit from small numbers in their classes and an enhanced adult/pupil ratio which means that the teachers and support staff can pitch their teaching at exactly the right level for each pupil.”

IQM REPORT SUMMARY | KHS

ASSESSMENT Early Years The school has a clear and accurate understanding of the starting point for all the pupils. Informal assessments take place before a child starts at King’s House, by Nursery staff visiting feeder nurseries as well as seeing the children who attend the Ducklings group for pupils who are 18 months to two and a half years old. Two-year-olds have their progress checks six weeks after starting at the school, which means that the highly skilled staff in the Nursery have had the opportunity to do many informal observations to help them build up a picture of everyone’s learning journey so far. Interventions or additional support are put in place at this point if needed.

Tracking and Assessment The school uses various standardised tracking tools and these show that the average performance is above the national average, and that this increases as they go through the school. Pupils are familiar with peer assessment and analysing each other’s work to help support each other to improve. Assessment data is tracked for all pupils. The Learning Development Department looks at the assessment data of pupils with EHCP plans or SEN support to make sure that the additional support is having an impact. There are evaluations in the Senior Department after each set of exams, which highlight individual pupil needs and areas of the curriculum that might need revisiting.

“Pupils are taught the skills of selfassessment at a young age, so they become confident in being able to measure their own progress and know what the next steps are for them to improve.”

IQM REPORT SUMMARY | KHS

“Excellent behaviour and good attitudes to learning were evident throughout the school on the days of the visit. Pupils are articulate and very welcoming to visitors.”

BEHAVIOUR AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT Behaviour and Attitudes to Learning Although the Senior building has many stairs and narrow corridors, the pupils are considerate of each other as they move from classroom to classroom and behaviour around the school is exemplary. There was a purposeful atmosphere in all the classrooms that I visited with many pupils in the Senior Department saying what they like best about the school is their teachers. Boys said that the school feels very safe. They know who to talk to if they have any worries.

Personal Development Personal development and pastoral care are a high priority for the school. Staff want to know how the pupils are feeling and they have differentiated, age- relevant resources to find out. In the Nursery, the staff use feeling jars and mood bears which are a nice, visual way for pupils to start to learn about and identify their emotions. All senior pupils are in receipt of a wellbeing plan, listing achievements both in and outside of school, any concerns the child may have as well as a target section. The Nursery and Reception classes come together for Wellbeing Wednesdays to discuss topics linked to mental health. The school have appointed a school counsellor who has sessions available for pupils. She offers 1:1 sessions, drop-in sessions and occasionally leads assemblies to talk about mental health. The pastoral system includes four houses: Sycamore, Fir, Oak, and Willow. Weekly assemblies link to specific topics from the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion calendar. Pupils are encouraged to lead assemblies, some pupils who celebrate Eid recently lead an Eid assembly. Other children have used the platform to promote one of their favourite charities. Pupils enjoy their achievement assemblies, and they respond well to House points and pastoral tokens.

IQM REPORT SUMMARY | KHS

PARENTS, CARERS AND GUARDIANS

“There is a thriving Friends of King’s House association which helps bring parents together through fundraising and social events.”

Community The school is viewed very highly by parents. They gave many examples to illustrate the inclusivity of the school. Parents and additional family members are invited to all productions and shows. There are Zoom links for people who are unable to attend music assemblies. Photos around the school include all of the children. Parents from the school spoke about how much they value the induction both in to and out of the school. A child who has English as his third language has settled in well, with his father very pleased with the induction process. Parents have access to induction talks and visits to the school. Preparation for the child’s next setting post Year 8 is very thorough. The school organise open evenings where Registrars from other schools come to talk about their provision. The Headteacher has a deep understanding of how to support parents to match the boys to schools. King’s House school is a Tooled-Up school which is a website accessible to parents and staff. It is a research based online resource which is updated regularly. It contains podcasts for parents as well as articles on topics such as how to talk about race, social media issues and keeping oneself safe. The school share their curriculum and all policies with parents through their comprehensive website. A parent with a child at the Nursery spoke about the social event for parents which is held on an evening in a relaxed setting where the staff and parents are able to share information.

IQM REPORT SUMMARY | KHS

“The school works hard to instil in pupils that they are fortunate to have the resources that they enjoy, and they endeavour to give back to the local, wider and global community.”

LOCAL, WIDER AND GLOBAL COMMUNITY Local Community Links The school holds Christmas and summer fairs that are open to local neighbours as well as pupils, friends, and families. The school has strong links with local churches. Services attended by the children are held there termly. The recent Harvest Festival was very well supported with food donations. Members of the clergy support with the RS curriculum. The Nursery offers a free session one afternoon a week for children from the local community who are 18 months to 3 years old, called Ducklings. The Nursery also planted up flower beds for residents who live next to the Nursery. The school has a public benefit and outreach programme which covers a wide range of initiatives. The extensive sports facilities are open to the wider community from the Borough of Hounslow. This is either at a reduced cost or free. They host a wide range of events for local state primary schools who may not have access to their own sporting facilities. They host Maths masterclasses for local state primary sessions, and these take place 5 times a year. They also link with the neighbouring girls’ school to run joint sessions. A recent event was a joint internet safety training session held at the school. The school appoints two charity monitors, one each from the Junior and Senior Departments on an annual basis. They lead presentations in assemblies about their favourite charity and explain why they are raising funds for it. The school sponsor a guide dog. The school fund an apprentice sport assistant and a counsellor in a state primary school in Feltham. This is part of the Harlequins apprenticeship programme.

Global Community Links The school previously helped build a school in Rwanda. Many teachers from the school have worked there during the summer holidays to share their good practice.

020 8940 1878

info@kingshouseschool.org

King’s House School, 68 King’s Road, Richmond TW10 6ES