Christ Church Primary SW9 Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the consistency of teaching and learning, by:
  • ensuring that teachers use assessment information accurately and frequently, to provide pupils with their next steps in learning
  • providing the most able and most able disadvantaged pupils with challenging work to increase their rates of progress and enable them to reach the higher levels of achievement for their age, especially in reading, writing and mathematics
  • improving teachers’ skills in dealing more effectively with low-level disruption without interrupting other pupils’ learning.
• Ensure that the progress pupils make in other subjects is monitored and analysed so that teachers can be held to account. This applies especially to the progress of the most able and the most able disadvantaged pupils.
• Ensure that the leadership and management of the early years clearly oversees the work of both Nursery and Reception classes to:
  • increase the speed that children learn so that a higher proportion of them will reach a good level of development before starting key stage 1. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Governors are not effective in holding senior leaders to account for the performance of the school. This lack of rigour has led to the school not addressing the areas for improvement from the previous inspection. Consequently, feedback to pupils and challenge for the most able are still areas of weakness.
• Governors have not probed the information about pupils’ progress with enough precision or rigour. Senior leaders have been taken at their word. The reasons why some groups of pupils do not make enough progress have not been looked into in enough depth; for example, the most able and most-able disadvantaged.
• Middle leaders are beginning to monitor the quality of teaching with more rigour, but it is too early to see much impact of their work. For example, checking how teachers provide pupils with appropriately challenging work to increase their progress has not been fully implemented.
• The high proportion of newly qualified teachers receive effective and well-structured support. In addition to senior staff in the school, colleagues from the partnership school provide additional expertise, guidance and advice. For example, experienced teachers teach alongside recently appointed staff, providing them with good role models.
• In the past, the use of pupil premium funding has not been targeted with enough precision. As a result, disadvantaged pupils have not made as much progress as they could have done. The executive headteacher has put in place a more robust and focused set of actions to ensure that pupils make up lost ground. Some improvements in pupils’ work can be seen, but it is too early to measure the full impact of the plan.
• Subjects other than English and mathematics are suitably covered, including Spanish. Art is taught by an artist in residence. Each year group has appropriate plans in place. However, leaders at all levels are not able to measure the rates of progress that pupils make in enough detail or ensure that the most able pupils are provided with sufficient challenge to reach the higher levels for their age.
• The curriculum is enhanced by a wide range of visits. The school has a well-developed outdoor curriculum including a forest school and roof-top garden. Pupils are stimulated and interested in these aspects of school life. Pupils told inspectors how much they enjoy their educational visits. During the inspection, Year 2 visited London Zoo and Year 4 visited the Science Museum.
• Additional sports funding is used to good effect in providing additional sports clubs, specialist coaching and better teaching during physical education lessons. The after-school activities are well attended and enjoyed.
• Pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain. The faith ethos of the school provides pupils with an understanding of how to get on with each other and work together collaboratively.
• The social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of pupils is a strength of the school. Pupils get on well together. In an assembly during the inspection, pupils listened carefully to each other. Prayers and reflection were taken seriously.
• The local authority has effectively supported the school since the previous headteacher left. It has brokered the development of the partnership between the two schools overseen by the executive headteacher.

Governance of the school

• Governors do not challenge senior leaders’ views and analyses of pupils’ assessment and test information with enough rigour. For example, pupils’ progress and attainment are rarely compared with the national picture.
• The governing body has an overgenerous view of how Nursery and Reception children’s achievement compares with that seen nationally. For example, the proportion of good levels of development at the end of the early years and the results of the Year 1 and 2 phonics checks have been below average for several years. The challenge and questioning into why there has not been more rapid improvement have been limited.
• The members of the governing body who met with the lead inspector demonstrated a passion and ambition for the school. However, this is not underpinned with enough understanding of how to hold leaders to account for the quality of teaching and the progress that different groups of pupils make.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• Staff are trained and up to date with the latest government requirements in statutory guidance. Staff who spoke to inspectors demonstrated an understanding of the issues surrounding female genital mutilation, child sexual exploitation and the expectations of schools from the government’s ‘Prevent’ duty regarding radicalisation and extremism.
• The chair of the governing body checks that the recruitment records are up to date and completed appropriately.
• The school works with parents, carers and external agencies to good effect regarding those children and pupils at risk and in need of support.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• The planning of work to meet the needs of different abilities of pupils is not a consistent feature across different year groups. As a result, pupils are not provided with clear steps to improve. This is especially the case for the most able pupils and the most able disadvantaged.
• Teachers’ expectations of what pupils are capable of are too low. Work seen in books is often pitched below pupils’ abilities and of a lower standard than expected nationally. Expectations of how pupils present their work are not challenged consistently.
• Teachers’ use of assessment is not accurate. Pupils are often provided with work which is either too easy or too hard. For example, the most able pupils’ writing is often restricted by worksheets which limit the amount and quality.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge is not always secure. In one class, the teacher used incorrect mathematical vocabulary which confused pupils’ understanding of how to subtract three-digit numbers.
• Pockets of good practice were seen in some classes. In Years 2, 4 and 6, pupils were challenged to write more. Teachers had higher expectations of the quality of work in pupils’ books.
• Teaching assistants are well trained and support pupils in lessons. Their work is particularly effective in supporting pupils who speak English as an additional language and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector has requested that inspectors report on the most able and least able readers on inspections. Those pupils heard reading by inspectors are benefiting from the school’s renewed focus on reading. Younger pupils were able to use their phonic skills accurately. Older pupils read with fluency and understanding. Pupils talked enthusiastically about the books they had read.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good. Pupils told inspectors that they felt safe in the school and enjoyed the warm and welcoming environment.
• The proportion of vulnerable pupils who have complex needs is higher than typically seen in most schools. These pupils and their families are looked after well and the school works closely with other agencies to ensure that appropriate support is provided.
• Pupils are knowledgeable about how to stay safe online. They also told inspectors that the small amount of bullying is usually dealt with effectively.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement.
• The school has a general air of calm, both inside and on the playground. However, not all staff deal with low-level disruption effectively. Teachers are not consistently applying the procedures in the school’s behaviour policy. Inspectors observed a small number of pupils who, on occasion, were talking while the teacher was. When these events occur, other pupils’ learning is interrupted. Pupils also mentioned this in their discussions with inspectors.
• There are a large number of recorded incidents of unacceptable behaviour for the size of the school and age of pupils. However, the numbers are decreasing and are lower than this time last year.
• Attendance is a success story for the school. The percentage of pupils attending has risen dramatically and is very close to the national average.
• The school has also tackled the high proportion of pupils who are persistently absent. The figures are reducing and the school is employing an effective range of strategies to work with those families who keep their children away from school on a regular basis.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• In recent years, the school has not enabled the most able pupils to reach the higher levels of attainment for their age. Consequently, the proportion of pupils achieving these levels in the tests and assessments for reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stages 1 and 2 is below average. This is because the rates of progress are slower than those seen nationally.
• Pupils’ achievement in the phonics skills checks is slowly improving but has been below the national average for three years.
• In the 2016 key stage 2 tests, pupils’ scores in reading, writing and mathematics were below the national average. Disadvantaged pupils and the most able made less progress than seen nationally, especially in reading.
• At the end of key stage 1, pupils’ attainment in reading and mathematics was in line with the national average. Writing was above, including that of disadvantaged pupils. However, disadvantaged pupils’ attainment in reading and mathematics was below average. There were hardly any pupils who reached the higher levels in reading and mathematics.
• Work seen in pupils’ books and during lessons was of poor quality, with limited progress since the start of term. In recent weeks, progress has begun to accelerate as the rapid action plan introduced by the executive headteacher takes effect. However, the most able pupils including those who are disadvantaged are not producing work in sufficient depth to match their capabilities.
• Pupils’ work in other subjects is patchy. There are some good examples of pupils’ work in science and subjects including history and geography are suitably covered. However, the most able are not provided with enough challenge to promote faster progress or deeper learning.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress throughout the school. They are well supported by other adults during lessons and in individual sessions outside of the classroom.
• Pupils who speak English as an additional language are equally well supported and make good progress. Those pupils who have recently arrived at the school settled down quickly into their new routines.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Not enough children make enough progress to enable them to reach the good levels of development seen nationally. As a result, they are not well prepared for key stage 1.
• Children’s progress is recorded appropriately in learning journals. However, the most able children are not provided with enough challenge to make faster progress.
• The structure and organisation of the leadership and management of the early years is not clear or cohesive. Several senior leaders are responsible for different aspects but do not pool their knowledge and information. This lack of clear accountability for children’s progress and for the quality of teaching hinders the improvement of the setting.
• There is a high proportion of children who require additional support for the development of their speech and language. However, the learning environment is underdeveloped in promoting opportunities for children to learn how to read, write and speak. Adults do not make the most of the conversations they have with children to accelerate their progress.
• Staff know the children well and have productive relationships with parents. There is a positive atmosphere at the start of the day when children share books with their parents and settle into their daily routines.
• Safeguarding is effective and the children play and learn in a safe environment.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 100610 Lambeth 10019269 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. The inspection was also deemed a section 5 inspection under the same Act. Type of school Primary School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Maintained 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 208 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Reverend Tim Jeffreys Jayne Mitchell 020 77351343 www.christchurchschool.cc jaynemitchell@christchurchschool.cc Date of previous inspection 1–2 February 2012

Information about this school

• Christ Church Primary SW9 is smaller than most primary schools.
• The school has recently formed a partnership with a local school. The executive headteacher is in charge of both schools. The schools have separate governing bodies.
• The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than that seen nationally.
• The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups is higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who are eligible for the pupil premium funding is much higher than the national average.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is higher that seen nationally.
• The school runs after-school and breakfast clubs which are managed by the governing body.
• The school meets the government’s floor standard (the minimum expected of pupil attainment and progress).
• The school meets statutory requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.

Information about this inspection

• The inspection was converted from a short inspection to a full section 5 inspection.
• Inspectors carried out a series of short, focused visits to classrooms and longer lesson observations in each year group. Many of these were with the senior leaders.
• Formal and informal discussions took place with senior leaders, including governors and subject leaders, parents and representatives from both the local authority and the diocese.
• Documentation relating to the school’s website and safeguarding, including the single central record, was scrutinised.
• The schools’ self-evaluation, plans for improvement and analysis of pupils’ attainment and progress were evaluated.
• Pupils’ work in different subjects was scrutinised alongside the senior leadership team and subject leaders.
• Pupils’ behaviour in lessons, as well as before school and during break and lunchtimes, was observed by inspectors.
• Inspectors listened to pupils read individually and during lessons.
• Inspectors took into account the 24 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and the five responses from staff.

Inspection team

John Seal, lead inspector Martina Martin Maureen Okoye

Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector