Christ Church & Saint Peter's Cofe Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Ensure that leaders more rigorously analyse the impact of the pupil premium funding to improve the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils.
• Ensure that teachers give pupils appropriately challenging work right from the start of their lessons so that it stretches their learning, to further accelerate their progress in all subjects.
• Improve the quality of outdoor provision for children in the early years so that it matches the high-quality education occurring in the classroom.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• Leaders have an accurate understanding of the school’s performance. They know their community well and are ambitious for all pupils. Their shared drive, vision and determination have been key to the improvements made.
• Plans to improve the school are precise. They correctly identify the priorities and actions needed to achieve success. Senior leaders and members of the local governing body are driving improvements forwards and ensuring good practice.
• Leaders and staff have created a school culture that is caring and ambitious for pupils and staff. Staff work well together. They say they respect the headteacher and feel valued and well supported by her. As a result, the school is improving well.
• Regular checks on the quality of teaching and learning have enabled leaders to quickly identify weaker performance. Information shared with inspectors showed compelling evidence of how senior leaders’ good-quality coaching and other support have improved the practice of members of staff. In addition, senior leaders’ rigorous performance management of staff is effective in securing improvements.
• The roles of the English and mathematics leaders are well developed and effective. The work of leaders positively impacts on the progress pupils make in these subjects. Leaders regularly check the quality of teaching, learning and assessments in their subjects to ensure that they are accurate. They discuss pupils’ work with teachers and deliver effective training to improve standards.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced and pupils value the range of extra-curricular activities and opportunities that support their progress. The school’s curriculum effectively promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. This contributes to pupils’ good understanding of tolerance and respect and prepares them well for life in modern Britain.
• Leaders use funding to support pupils effectively who have SEN and/or disabilities. The leader for inclusion is strong and has developed an effective inclusion team to ensure that pupils’ needs are met well. The impact of interventions and support is reviewed regularly to ensure that they are having a positive impact on pupils’ learning. As a result, the majority of pupils make good progress. Concerns raised by a minority of parents about the leadership and management of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities were considered as part of the inspection process. However, inspectors found that policies and procedures are followed and recorded appropriately.
• Leaders use the additional funding from the physical education and sport premium to good effect. Leaders have focused on improving teaching and coaching skills, offering a wider range of extra-curricular sporting activities and improving the quality of lunch and playtime activities for pupils. As a result, the quality of sport planning and teaching has improved and more pupils have opportunities to take part in sporting clubs and competitions.
• Subject leaders in subjects other than English and mathematics are developing their leadership skills well. School leaders accurately identified that this is an area for development in order to ensure that the workload of senior leaders is balanced and that roles and responsibilities are effectively shared.
• School leaders use the pupil premium funding effectively to ensure that disadvantaged pupils make good progress. Nevertheless, leaders do not sharply analyse the effectiveness of their actions to ensure that the attainment of disadvantaged pupils improves more rapidly towards the standards attained by non-disadvantaged pupils.

Governance of the school

• Members of the local governing body understand their roles and responsibilities and are committed to driving continuing improvements. They use the information about the school’s performance well to provide effective support and challenge to school leaders and to hold them to account.
• The local governing body is ambitious for the school. Its members visit school regularly to meet with leaders to discuss the provision for pupils and make checks on the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.
• The local governing body monitors the use of additional funds, such as the pupil premium. It understands that it needs to check provision for these pupils carefully. However, members of the local governing body do not rigorously analyse the impact of the pupil premium funding as sharply as they should in order to more effectively hold school leaders to account for the attainment and progress of disadvantaged pupils.
• The trust has provided effective support through a school improvement adviser to improve the quality of governance and senior leadership. Although the trust regularly reviews the performance of the school, its subsequent actions have not always been effective or timely in supporting leaders to move the school forward.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The school’s ethos of ‘caring for everyone’ is evident in the way pupils treat each other and the relationships of mutual respect between pupils and adults.
• Regular training ensures that all staff understand their role in keeping children safe. The school maintains careful records of any concerns staff have about pupils’ well-being. These records show how the inclusion team acts rigorously to ensure the safety of pupils. Its members keep staff informed of any emerging risks to pupils’ welfare.
• The culture of safeguarding within the school is evident in the way pupils feel safe. Pupils trust adults in the school and say they know who to talk to if they are worried. The vast majority of parents who responded to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, agree that their children are safe in school.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• Teaching is rapidly improving as a result of effective training and support. Observations of learning, scrutiny of pupils’ books and the school’s assessment information show that teaching is typically good. Where teaching is less strong, senior leaders provide effective guidance and skilled support.
• Teachers’ understanding of the subjects they teach is secure. They plan lessons that interest pupils and motivate them to learn. For example, pupils in Year 1 enjoyed writing stories using ‘text maps’, which effectively represented their ideas in picture form. Pupils edited, redrafted and enthusiastically retold their stories to inspectors, using the pictures as prompts.
• Teachers and teaching assistants use questions well to reinforce learning and clarify misconceptions. The most effective questioning seen extended and deepened pupils’ knowledge and understanding by encouraging pupils to think and explain what they were learning. As a result, pupils make good gains in their learning.
• Teachers and teaching assistants work well together to promote good learning and behaviour. Teaching assistants provide timely intervention that gives pupils helpful support and guidance. Pupils move on well in their learning when teaching assistants encourage pupils to think for themselves and work on their own.
• In writing, teachers use effective strategies to help pupils understand and develop good-quality writing skills. Pupils are given extensive opportunities to write for a range of purposes and at length. This enables them to deepen their understanding and practise their skills. As a result, the quality and maturity of writing improves rapidly as pupils progress through the school. For example, inspectors observed pupils in Year 5 practising and developing their grammatical skills. Pupils created wonderfully descriptive sentences. For example, one pupil wrote, ‘The moon was as soft as flour, the oxygen swirling beautifully in his helmet and his body cold, despite his uniform.’
• Teachers plan mathematics lessons that are well structured and build on pupils’ prior learning. Pupils have regular opportunities to apply their knowledge to solve problems. They have frequent opportunities to use reasoning and explain what they have done and why.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities receive well-coordinated and effective support. Teachers work closely with the inclusion team to plan targeted interventions and appropriate support. As a result, these pupils make good progress in their learning.
• Pupils receive good-quality phonics teaching and this provides them with a secure base on which to build their wider reading skills. Pupils who read to inspectors were able to use their phonics knowledge to read unfamiliar words. In addition, inspectors saw pupils using their phonics knowledge well to support their spelling in their writing.
• Teachers promote an enthusiasm for reading. They ensure that pupils read regularly to improve their skills. In addition, teachers use high-quality texts to motivate pupils to read and inspire their imaginations. As a result, pupils understand why reading is important, ‘I can use the language I read to help me improve my writing.’
• The majority of teachers use assessment information they have about pupils’ knowledge and understanding well to set work that meets their learning needs. Consequently, the majority of pupils do well. However, sometimes the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged, are not moved on quickly enough in their lessons. As a result, they do not make as much progress as they could.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils are polite and well mannered. The school has a warm, nurturing and friendly atmosphere where pupils enjoy learning.
• Pupils recognise that they are well cared for. They are taught how to stay safe and feel safe in school. They learn about risks such as using social media and dangers from fire. They say unkindness and bullying are rare. Pupils know about the different types of unkind behaviour and are confident that adults deal with any poor behaviour quickly. They say staff are ‘supportive and fair’.
• The majority of parents value what they describe as the ‘professionalism and compassion’ of school staff. Parents praise the school for providing, as one parent explained, ‘The perfect balance between caring for individuals and ensuring that they make the best possible progress in all subjects.’ They consider the school provides their children with a good all-round education. As another parent put it, ‘The ethos of the school is simultaneously positive, friendly and calm, while also being exciting and motivating.’
• Pupils hold positions of responsibility in school. Elections for these positions have helped pupils to understand fundamental British values such as democracy and the importance of law. One Year 6 pupil explained to me, ‘Democracy is about fairness. It’s not just about you but everyone else too.’
• There is a strong ethos of friendship and tolerance. Pupils are able to demonstrate their ability to empathise with others from different backgrounds or lifestyles. As one pupil explained to me, ‘We don’t treat someone differently just because they look different.’
• Pupils are confident and self-assured. They are aware of how to be a successful learner. Pupils who inspectors spoke with said they like learning through exciting topics like ‘Harry Potter’ and enjoy challenges because ‘they make us think more and then we learn more’.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are polite and their conduct is consistently good at most times of the school day. The large majority of pupils respond swiftly and appropriately to instructions from adults.
• Pupils are proud of their school. They behave well in lessons. Staff model well high expectations of behaviour. As a result, pupils are courteous to their peers and to adults. They cooperate well to work together effectively.
• Leaders manage effectively the behaviour of pupils with challenging conduct. They keep detailed records of any incidents of poor behaviour. These explain the actions taken to help pupils manage their feelings and in a small minority of cases, to keep them safe.
• Leaders have taken effective steps to increase attendance, which was below average in 2016. Leaders carefully monitor the attendance of individual pupils and take appropriate action. The inclusion team works well with vulnerable families to encourage regular attendance, with some success. Overall levels of attendance and persistent absence are now broadly in line with the national averages for primary schools.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Over time, the majority of pupils make progress that is at least good. They develop secure knowledge, understanding and skills. As a result, most attain well, and are well equipped for their next stage of education.
• From starting points often below those expected for their age, most children make good progress and achieve well in the early years. The proportion of children who reach a good level of development is close to the national average.
• Leaders have rigorously monitored the quality of teaching and learning to ensure improving outcomes for pupils in key stage 2. As a result, in 2017, attainment for pupils leaving Year 6 improved from the previous year. The proportion of children achieving the expected standard in reading and mathematics is now broadly in line with national average expectations. Attainment in writing is above national average expectations.
• Pupils in key stage 1 make good progress. Pupils’ attainment at the end of Year 2 in 2017 was broadly in line with national figures in mathematics and writing and slightly below in reading. The proportion of pupils who passed the Year 1 phonics screening check has been improving and is in line with the national average. Consequently, pupils use and apply their phonics skills and understanding increasingly well in their reading and writing.
• Teachers’ higher expectations in writing have enabled the most able pupils to make better progress. By the end of Year 2 and Year 6, greater proportions of pupils are reaching standards above those expected for their ages. Nevertheless, the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, could be more effectively challenged in their lessons to ensure that even more pupils reach the higher standards.
• The majority of pupils who have SEN receive good-quality support and make good progress as a result.
• Pupils make good progress in subjects other than English and mathematics. Information shown to inspectors by leaders indicates that current pupils across the school are making good progress in a variety of subjects.
• Disadvantaged pupils make good progress over time. Their progress is tracked carefully. Leaders ensure that funding is used appropriately to provide additional support. This is specifically tailored to meet each individuals’ academic, social and emotional needs. Nevertheless, leaders do not evaluate the attainment of disadvantaged pupils precisely enough to ensure that their attainment is consistently improving towards standards attained by non-disadvantaged pupils.

Early years provision Good

• Most children start the Reception Year with skills below those typical for children their age. They make good progress as a result of good teaching and learning. The proportion of children who achieve a good level of development is broadly in line with the national average.
• Leaders have an accurate view of the effectiveness of teaching and learning for Reception children. They successfully identify strengths and aspects that need to be improved. The early years leader has rightly identified adjustments to teaching and areas of learning to better meet the needs of the current cohort of children. This is enabling them to make better progress and settle well into school life.
• Relationships between adults and children are good. Children behave well and enjoy their learning. As a result, they work and play happily together. They are proud of their achievements and are confident to share them with others. Children are kept safe and are well cared for.
• The quality of teaching is good. The teachers and teaching assistants work well together to assess the quality of children’s learning and plan next steps. Parents feel well informed and involved in their children’s learning. Consequently, children make good progress.
• Teachers plan creative lessons that enthuse and motivate children. For example, during the inspection, the teacher used a story about a birthday party to inspire children’s learning through a variety of exciting and interesting activities. Children were observed using their artistic, reading, writing, mathematical and communication skills. For example, children excitedly showed me the party invitations they had written and used good descriptive language to describe to me the different presents they were creating and labelling, ‘My present is a fluffy, warm scarf with sparkly stars all over it. It will keep him nice and warm and cosy.’
• Adults support children effectively in their learning. Language is modelled well and adults use timely interventions and effective questioning to move children’s learning on. As a result, children make good gains in their learning.
• Leaders and teachers have not ensured that the quality of provision for children in the outside classrooms is as high quality as is provided in the inside classrooms. As a result, children’s outside learning opportunities are not as well developed.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 141222 Leicestershire 10035948 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Academy sponsor-led 5 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 411 Appropriate authority The Diocese of Leicester Academies Trust Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Stephen Cooper Clare Clay 0116 230 2800 www.mountsorrelschool.org.uk office@mountsorrel-cofe-pri.leics.sch.uk Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school complies with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish.
• This is the school’s first inspection since opening when it became part of the Diocese of Leicester Academies Trust in December 2014.
• The school is a larger than average-sized primary school.
• The majority of pupils are from White British backgrounds. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds or who speak English as an additional language is lower than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils eligible for the pupil premium is in line with the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above the national average.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching in all year groups. They observed the teaching of reading and listened to pupils reading. Inspectors talked to pupils about their school and looked at samples of their work.
• Inspectors held meetings with the headteacher, middle leaders and representatives of the local governing body. The lead inspector also met three representatives from the Diocese of Leicester Academies Trust, which included the chief executive officer, the school improvement partner and the senior officer for school effectiveness.
• Inspectors spoke to parents informally at the start of the school day. They took account of the 101 responses to the Ofsted online questionnaire (Parent View) and considered the responses made through the Ofsted free-text service.
• Inspectors considered the views of the 26 members of staff who shared their opinions about the school through their online survey. There were no responses to the pupil survey.
• Inspectors looked at a range of documents, including: the school’s self-evaluation of current performance and plans for improvement; reviews of the school’s performance by the Diocese of Leicester Academies Trust; the school’s most recent information on the achievement and progress of pupils; a summary of the school’s most recent survey of parents’ opinions about the school; information relating to the safeguarding of pupils; the school’s most recent information relating to the attendance of pupils; and minutes from a number of governing body meetings.

Inspection team

Stephanie Innes-Taylor, lead inspector Jennifer Digges Antony Witheyman Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector