Christ’s Church of England Comprehensive Secondary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Christ's Church of England Comprehensive Secondary School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils say being at Christ's School is like belonging to a large family. Staff place high priority on providing individual care and support to each pupil, and they seek to do the very best for each of them. Pupils are proud to be members of this school.

They meet the high expectations that staff have of them. They want to achieve their best. Pupils are happy and feel very safe here.

The school welcomes and values all pupils. Pupils behave well. They respect each other and show kindness and consideration to all.

Bullying is not accepted an...d if it does happen the staff take effective action.

Pupils enjoy lessons. They are keen to learn and improve their work.

The school provides a broad education, including an extensive range of academic and other opportunities. Pupils gain new experiences and develop their talents and interests. For example, Year 9 pupils have recently been to the musical Wicked.

Pupils take part in the extensive range of clubs, including comedy, debating and sports.

Leaders give pupils' mental and physical health high priority. Pupils learn about the world in which they live.

The school prepares them well for the next stages of their lives.

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

Leaders have planned a curriculum that is well-sequenced and ambitious for all pupils. They have designed the curriculum to develop pupils' knowledge, understanding and skills.

Pupils learn and remember more as they move through each key stage. The school covers the national curriculum and there is a wide choice of subjects at key stages 4 and 5. All pupils study GCSE religious education.

The percentage of pupils taking the English Baccalaureate qualification is lower than the 2022 national target. Leaders have implemented plans to address this. These include increasing the number of pupils studying GCSE modern foreign languages.

Leaders ensure pupils make GCSE subject choices that are in their best interests. Teachers prioritise reading and are successful in ensuring that pupils develop their reading and comprehension skills.

Teachers use their subject expertise to develop sixth-form students' knowledge and understanding.

They select teaching strategies which secure and deepen students' learning. For example, teachers use discussion and debate in history and English. They challenge their thinking and students develop their interpretations of events and texts through such strategies.

At all key stages, teachers use questioning and quick quizzes. These help pupils to recall prior learning. Teachers provide feedback through assessment that helps pupils understand how to improve their work.

However, teachers, particularly in key stage 3, do not always check that pupils understand what is being learned. This sometimes means that a small minority of pupils have not secured their learning.

Learning support assistants help pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in lessons.

They understand these pupils' needs and tailor their support effectively. A minority of parents, however, do not believe that their child's special educational needs are being met as well as they should. Leaders recognise the importance of developing support for pupils with SEND, and it is a key element of their improvement plan.

Low-level disruption is very rare. Teachers address it when it occurs, informed by the school's behaviour policy. They hold restorative conversations with pupils following such behaviour.

Pupils respond well to this strategy, and it minimises a repeat of the same behaviour.

The school provides an extensive programme of personal development. Pupils learn through assemblies, tutor time and sessions led by specialist external providers.

This programme is a real strength of the school. Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online, and about healthy relationships. They also learn about discrimination and harassment of all kinds.

Staff teach pupils not to accept such behaviours. Leaders have developed a well-informed careers information, education and guidance programme. Pupils have a wealth of careers-related opportunities and experiences.

These support pupils in making informed choices about their future. The school supports pupils in talking about their social and emotional needs. The school meets those needs through a range of strategies.

These include pastoral support workers, the school chaplain and school counsellor.

The headteacher provides strong, purposeful leadership founded on Christian values, and she is well supported by her staff. These values permeate every aspect of school life.

Senior leaders support her desire to provide the best possible education for pupils. Governors provide well-informed, strategic leadership and hold school leaders to account effectively. Staff at the school praise the school's leadership.

They are proud to work at the school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have established a strong culture of safeguarding across the school community.

They give safeguarding the highest priority. Staff are alert to signs of abuse and potential risk in pupils. They report concerns swiftly to the school's safeguarding team.

The school works in partnership with the local authority and external agencies to secure the help pupils need. Leaders manage safe recruitment practices and any allegations about staff appropriately. Pupils are aware of safeguarding risks to themselves.

The school provides pupils with the information they need to keep themselves safe. Pupils know who to go to if they have any concerns.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teachers do not systematically check for pupils' understanding, particularly at key stage 3.

This results in a small minority of pupils either not consolidating prior learning or not being able to secure new learning quickly. Teachers should check for all pupils' understanding before moving on in the planned sequence of learning and adapt their teaching accordingly.

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 first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good in November 2016.

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