Christ Church Church of England Controlled Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Christ Church Church of England Controlled Primary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at Christ Church C of E Primary are happy and proud of their school. They understand how the school's values help them to become respectful and caring members of their school community.

Pupils say there is someone and something for everyone.

Pupils know how the school rules help them to feel safe. They move around the school sensibly and demonstrate good manners.

This starts in the early years where children listen carefully and share their ideas enthusiastically. Despite this, some parents raise concerns about the behaviour of a s...mall number of pupils. The inspector saw pupils behaving well during this inspection.

Appropriate support is in place for pupils who struggle to manage their emotions.

Pupils say that staff encourage them to do their best. They trust adults to listen and help them.

Pupils talk confidently about the way they use the 'post boxes' when they need to share their worries or concerns.

Pupils enjoy the many extra-curricular opportunities on offer to them such as pottery, crochet and football. Pupils are eager to take on responsibilities by becoming members of the eco and school improvement councils.

They understand how these roles enable them to improve their school.

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

After a period of turbulence which saw several changes in senior leadership, the new headteacher has bought stability to the school. A clear vision is in place for what all pupils can achieve.

An ambitious curriculum has been designed that considers what pupils need to know and when they need to know it.

The school places high importance on reading. Pupils develop a love of reading by meeting visiting authors or attending the book club.

They say that this helps them to broaden their understanding of different stories and texts.

Children learn to read as soon as they start school. They learn and remember new sounds well.

Staff quickly spot any pupils who start to fall behind. These pupils receive the support they need to help them to catch up quickly. As pupils move through the school, they read with increasing fluency, accuracy and expression.

Teachers use the knowledge of the subjects they teach well. In music for example, teachers model musical pieces and vocabulary effectively. They provide pupils with the support they need to develop their musical understanding.

As a result, pupils confidently use words like ostinato when describing their compositions on the glockenspiel.

In most subjects, teachers routinely recap and review pupils' knowledge. In mathematics for example, teachers use 'flashbacks' to find out what pupils know.

They use this information well to address misconceptions and to help pupils to build their understanding over time. Pupils benefit from this. Children in the Reception Year talk confidently about doubling numbers.

Older pupils use their knowledge of division when solving more complex problems involving percentages. However, in some areas of the curriculum, this is not the case. Some pupils struggle to remember what they have learned before.

This is because checks are not effective in identifying what pupils know before moving on to new learning. This makes it difficult for pupils to build their knowledge.

Most pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum as their peers.

While staff understand the needs of an increasing number of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well, some learning is not adapted well enough to support pupils. This means that some pupils with SEND do not learn as well as they should.

Pupils work well together.

This starts in the early years where children take turns and follow the routines that are in place. Play leaders set a positive example to others during social times. This helps pupils enjoy the wide range of creative activities on offer to them.

The school monitors attendance closely. It works well with families to promote pupils' attendance. As a result, most pupils attend school regularly.

The school supports pupils' personal development well. Pupils know why it is important to treat everyone equally. They develop their character by supporting a local hospice.

Pupils enjoy taking part in the 'come dine with me' programme. This helps them to learn about budgets and to understand the importance of healthy eating.

Governors have a detailed understanding of what the school does well and where it needs to improve.

They use their knowledge to hold the school to account for its actions. Staff value the professional development they receive which helps them teach the curriculum effectively.

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, teachers do not check well enough what pupils know and remember. Subsequent learning does not take into account pupils' prior knowledge. As a result, some pupils do not build their knowledge well over time.

This slows their progress across the curriculum. The school needs to ensure that teachers check what pupils know and remember across all subjects and use this to inform future learning.

• In some subjects, learning is not adapted well enough to meet pupils' needs.

Where this is the case, pupils, including those with SEND, do not develop their knowledge well enough across the curriculum. The school needs to ensure that learning is suitably adapted so that all groups of pupils progress through the curriculum 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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

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

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2018.

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