Christ The King Catholic Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Short inspection of Christ The King RC Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 13 February 2019, I write on behalf of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in December 2014. This school continues to be good.

Pupils have positive attitudes in their learning. They are conscientious and work well both independently and with their peers. They are courteous and clearly proud of their school.

The school rules are to be ready, have respect and keep safe. These are understood and followed by pupils across the school. You have worked closely w...ith senior leaders, the partner school, the local authority and governors to make sure that a good standard of education has been maintained.

Leaders evaluate the school's work accurately and identify the main areas for development. The training programme for leaders has helped them to support and challenge teachers with more confidence. School leaders provide governors with detailed information about the impact of initiatives on developing teaching and raising standards.

Governors' visits to school are well focused on key school improvement priorities. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school. Staff have developed a strong partnership with families that supports their engagement in school life.

This includes workshops for parents such as the Chinese New Year event that took place during the inspection. There are a range of training opportunities in place to develop the knowledge and skills of teachers at different stages of their career. Teachers value this professional guidance to improve their own teaching and outcomes for pupils.

Safeguarding is effective. Leaders have ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and the records are detailed. Leaders understand the need to keep all pupils safe, and make sure that pupils and staff receive regular guidance and advice.

Staff demonstrate a secure understanding of safeguarding issues and procedures. Pupils report that they feel safe in school, are supervised well and know who to go to if they have a problem. Leaders consider local issues when giving guidance to the staff and pupils.

Leaders ensure that staff and pupils are always well focused on safeguarding topics through a weekly theme. Policies and procedures are followed. Risk assessments are carried out so that pupils' safety is effectively managed.

Leaders have implemented a culture of safeguarding that protects all members of the school community. Inspection findings ? We agreed at the start of the inspection that the first key line of enquiry should relate to pupils' attendance because last year the overall attendance of pupils at your school was below the national average. In addition, the number of pupils with persistent absence was higher than the national average.

• The systems for monitoring persistent absence are robust and families are targeted for support when a child is at risk for persistent absence. There is a marked reduction in the number of persistent absentees compared to the same time period last academic year. ? Leaders, including governors, are rightly focused on the issue of attendance and review the impact of their work regularly.

Governors report that they are frequently provided with key data around attendance. Leaders have introduced a range of initiatives to promote good attendance such as vouchers for the class with the highest attendance each week and certificates. Leaders keep parents informed of attendance rates and the rewards given through the newsletters and encourage a collective responsibility for good attendance.

• You have introduced a new monitoring system to track attendance. Leaders are working collaboratively with the local authority officers to tackle attendance issues. However, the initiatives, while well considered, have not yet had a significant enough impact on the overall attendance.

You recognise that pupils taking term-time holidays is one of the key issues that impacts on attendance figures. ? I investigated how well leaders are working together to ensure that boys do well in reading and writing. The pupils are given clear purposes for their writing through meaningful links across subjects.

For example, Year 6 pupils wrote a dialogue between Greek gods, considering historical detail linked to the Ancient Greeks and key writing techniques including careful word choices. ? Pupils have clear guidance for their writing and understand what they are expected to include. They are encouraged to review their own work both individually and with a partner.

The strong focus on spelling, grammar and punctuation supports pupils when they check and improve their writing. ? Leaders strive to provide a curriculum that is rich in opportunities to engage pupils in learning. Staff take into account the interests of pupils when selecting texts and planning lessons.

Opportunities to develop language are incorporated into the curriculum, starting in the early years. The phonics teaching results in positive outcomes and provides a firm basis for learning to read. ? Leaders have introduced a range of competitions, challenges and rewards that encourage children to read widely and often.

Pupils aspire to read the recommended books and are keen to add their contribution to the collective challenge of reading more books than in the previous year. Reading for pleasure is promoted through inviting book corners that contain a good selection of reading material. Pupils in key stage 2 told me they select their own reading books but teachers provide recommendations to guide their choices.

• Training for staff has provided opportunities to share ideas to improve reading and writing across the school. Teachers recognise the need to 'hook' children into learning. This is achieved through the use of challenging and engaging texts such as the story of Shakespeare's 'The tempest' in Year 4.

• Finally, I considered the actions leaders are taking to ensure that teachers provide activities that help to challenge the most able pupils, including the disadvantaged. The teachers use questions well to challenge pupils. Pupils are encouraged to explain their thinking to their peers.

• As a result of well-selected training for staff, teachers set pupils demanding tasks and provide appropriate resources. The pupils are clear about what the teachers expect of them and have guidance about how to challenge themselves in their learning. They are encouraged to reflect on and improve their work independently and develop resilience.

This offers both support and challenge to pupils, including the disadvantaged. ? Leaders have introduced assessment systems that provide accurate information about each pupil. Leaders check pupils' progress regularly.

Leaders use this effectively to guide planning for lessons, allocate additional support and to ensure that all pupils have work set at the correct level. However, leaders need to ensure that teachers in the year groups where statutory assessment does not take place are fully accountable for their part in raising standards at the end of key stage 2. Next steps for the school Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that: ? further steps are taken to reduce the levels of absence ? leaders consistently hold all teachers to account for outcomes in statutory assessments.

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Westminster, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children's services for Islington. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website. Yours sincerely Helen Rai Ofsted Inspector Information about the inspection During this inspection, I held meetings with you and other members of the senior leadership team.

I met with governors and a representative from the local authority. I had informal conversations with some parents when they were dropping their children at school at the start of the day. I also reviewed feedback on Parent View.

I appraised the safeguarding procedures with the designated safeguarding lead and the administrator who deals with recruitment processes. I met with middle leaders and reviewed pupils' work. Senior leaders accompanied me on visits to classrooms.

I talked to pupils about their learning. I met with staff who are new to the teaching profession and reviewed feedback from the staff survey. I also evaluated school documents such as the school improvement plan, monitoring arrangements and assessment information.