Carnforth Christ Church, Church of England, Voluntary Aided Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Carnforth Christ Church, Church of England, Voluntary Aided Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils arrive at school each day happy and eager to learn. Parents and carers speak very highly of the school.

Leaders are ambitious for pupils to succeed both academically and socially. Pupils try hard to live up to these high expectations. Pupils achieve well in the calm environment that leaders have created.

Pupils told inspectors that behaviour is good and bullying is rare. Pupils feel safe in school. They are confident that, should bullying occur, it would be sorted out quickly by staff.

Pupils understand the importa...nce of treating everyone with kindness, understanding and respect.

Pupils feel valued and listened to. As members of committees, pupils play an important role in the life of the school.

For example, they have helped to design the recent improvements to the school grounds. Older pupils take their responsibilities as reading buddies for younger pupils seriously. Pupils also play an active part in the local community by organising fundraising events in support of different charities.

Pupils enjoy the wide range of clubs that they can join such as gardening, science and sports clubs. The curriculum is enhanced further through fieldwork in the local area and visits to historical places of interest. Pupils particularly enjoy learning outdoors and during their residential trips.

This helps to develop their perseverance and resilience when they are faced with new challenges.

What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have identified the key knowledge and vocabulary that they want pupils to learn. They have carefully considered the order that this knowledge is taught from the early years to Year 6.

This ensures that the curriculum works well for those pupils who are taught in mixed-aged classes. Leaders have made sure that the curriculum helps pupils to make links across different subjects. This helps pupils to apply what they know when learning something new and pupils achieve well in most subjects.

Leaders are adept in identifying pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These pupils are supported well by skilled staff. Pupils with SEND learn alongside their friends and access all that school life has to offer.

Leaders have ensured that staff have the knowledge that they need to deliver the curriculum effectively. Teachers use assessment information well to identify what pupils know and what they need to learn next. In most subjects, leaders collect a range of appropriate information to find out how well pupils are learning.

In these subjects, leaders have a clear understanding about how well the intended curriculum is helping pupils to know more and remember more over time. However, in a few other subjects, leaders had to pause their checks on pupils' learning due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, leaders do not have a clear view of how well the curriculum supports pupils' learning in these subject areas.

From the early years, reading is given a high priority. A love of reading is fostered throughout the school. Children in the Reception class quickly gain a love of familiar stories and rhymes.

Pupils become avid readers and enjoy listening to the exciting stories that staff read to them. Older pupils eagerly select books by their favourite authors from the high-quality texts that staff recommend. Visits to the local library broaden pupils' experiences of literature.

Pupils read widely and often across a range of subjects. As a result, they become accurate, fluent readers.

Pupils quickly learn the sounds that letters represent.

The books that pupils read match the sounds that they are learning. This helps most pupils to become confident readers by the end of key stage 1. Some pupils find it difficult to use their phonics knowledge to decode unfamiliar words.

These pupils benefit from the extra help that they receive from skilled staff.

Children in the early years learn quickly how to concentrate and listen attentively. Older pupils build effectively on these skills.

Pupils are polite and well mannered when talking to adults and to each other. Pupils' positive behaviour helps them to learn, free from disruption.

Pupils' personal development is promoted well.

They enjoy trips to the theatre and taking part in the local music festival. They proudly represent their school in sporting events. Through carefully planned activities, older pupils have the opportunity to discuss and debate current issues in the news.

Pupils celebrate the similarities and differences of the various cultures, faiths and beliefs found in modern Britain. They demonstrate respect, tolerance and understanding for these differences.

Governors use their considerable knowledge of the school effectively to hold leaders to account.

They understand the challenges of working in a small school and they are mindful of staff's workload. Staff are proud to work at this school. They feel well supported by leaders.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff keep a close eye on pupils. They quickly pick up on any signs when pupils may be upset or worried.

Staff understand the well-established procedures to follow should they have any concerns about pupils' welfare. Leaders make sure that vulnerable pupils and their families receive the help that they need either from staff in school or from other agencies.

Leaders have ensured that pupils are taught how to use the internet safely and how to behave appropriately when using social media.

Pupils know what to do, and who to talk with, if they feel worried or concerned. Guidance for parents, including workshops, helps them to understand how important it is to keep their children safe when they are online.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a few subjects, leaders have not checked that the curriculum is being delivered as intended.

Leaders do not know how well pupils learn in these subjects. Leaders need to routinely check how well the delivery of the curriculum is enabling all pupils to learn the important knowledge that they need to achieve as well.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in June 2013.