Quality of Education
Rationale
The Quality of Education agenda at King James’s School was established in 2021 to mirror the areas of focus for the new Ofsted Common Inspection Framework (CIF). The judgement for the Quality of Education is arguably the most important, as it dictates the overall judgement of the school.
In our last inspection in November 2019, under the new rigorous framework, we were judged to be ‘Good’ in all areas, but we have nonetheless maintained our relentless focus to secure continual improvements to ensure that what we deliver in the classroom on a daily basis, is of the highest quality.
We call this our commitment to Quality First Teaching (QFT).
The 5 Is
There are five key areas which constitute the Quality of Education agenda at King James's School. They are as follows:
Intent
This is basically what is delivered to your children. It’s our broad and balanced curriculum offer which ensures that your child accesses a full range of subjects and courses (both traditional and vocational) which meet their needs and aspirations. It is more than just a syllabus but moreover carefully constructed and regularly reviewed Schemes of Learning, which sequence topic content and integrate regular opportunities for assessment to check that students understand and remember what they have learned to enable them to make progress in their learning
Implementation
This is effectively quality first teaching and learning to ensure that the topics delivered in each subject are done so in a way which makes learning enjoyable, engaging and memorable. We support our teaching staff to embrace the very latest pedagogy to develop as practitioners and bring learning to life. We want all students to be enthused and captivated by what happens in the classroom (or out on the sports filed or in the workshop!)
Impact
This is the end product of the above two concepts in terms of tangible outcomes by way of assessment. This could be a termly assessment, a vocational course with regular assessment or a terminal GCSE exam. In a nutshell it encapsulates the results your children take away when they begin the next chapter of their learning journey.
Inclusion
Every student in our school community is an individual and we continually seek to ensure that we have identified and addressed their individual needs to ensure they are fulfilled and successful at school. We have a wonderful team of practitioners who support our students. From the pastoral teams who look after your child’s welfare to the bespoke support provided in the Student Support Centre and by our Thrive Practitioners.
INSET
We ensure that all our staff are well supported to deliver their personal best every day and that our teaching staff are encouraged and offered opportunities to develop as subject specialists. Our In-service training (INSET) is a hybrid model of sharing effective practice within and across teams within school, drawing upon our own expertise and seeking opportunities for external organisations to deliver specialist training on such topics as safeguarding, behaviour management and delivering e-learning. Staff are encouraged to take charge of their own professional development through participation in online courses through the National College in addition to studying for National Professional Qualifications (NPQs).
