Christ Church CofE Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Embed the approach to teaching phonics to accelerate pupils’ progress and enable more to reach the required level in the Year 1 screening assessment.
• Sharpen the teaching of history and geography to ensure that outcomes in these subjects are as strong as they are in other subjects, such as English and mathematics.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

• The executive headteacher and head of school, together with other leaders, have been single-minded in their determination to improve the school since the previous inspection. Self-evaluation is accurate and thorough. Monitoring procedures are strong and the correct priorities have been identified and actions taken to bring about improvements to ensure that this is now a good school. The quality of teaching and pupils’ outcomes are now good.
• Effective monitoring of the quality of teaching identifies aspects that need improvement and staff benefit from a wide range of training opportunities provided by leaders, outside organisations and by local partner schools. This investment in the skills and knowledge of staff has enabled them to develop sharper approaches to teaching and learning to meet pupils’ needs well. For example, the teaching of mathematics has been improved via a collaborative project with other schools and mathematics experts which is focused on developing pupils’ reasoning skills. Newly qualified teachers are supported successfully by appropriate induction and training in a range of areas, including safeguarding.
• Leaders make effective use of pupils’ assessment information to further promote their good progress. Staff meet regularly to review how well pupils are doing and put in place well-targeted interventions to address any underachievement. As a result, current pupils are making strong progress.
• Middle leaders play a crucial role in improving the school. They make regular checks on pupils’ work and the progress they are making, which gives them a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development in their subjects. However, some issues accurately identified by leaders have not been effectively dealt with in relation to the development of skills in history and geography.
• Pupils informed inspectors that they love the curriculum. Memorable experiences are planned to begin each topic and displays and photographs demonstrate a broad range of first-hand experiences for pupils in a wide range of subjects.
• Fundamental British values are promoted well in the school. Visits from local police officers help pupils to understand our laws and their personal responsibilities as future citizens. British values are also reflected through displays, lesson content and projects which leaders undertake. For example, individual differences were explored through the work of William Shakespeare. Pupils enjoy the opportunities to take responsibility, including acting as school councillors, reading councillors and collective worship councillors.
• Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is actively developed. All aspects are carefully woven in to the school’s broader curriculum and leaders regularly audit provision to ensure that they are being taught to a good standard. Pupils have taken part in an Eid celebration party and a languages day. They also enjoy raising money for a wide range of charities.
• Local authority support has been effective and is improving the school. As a consequence, leaders now demonstrate good capacity to sustain improvement.
• Pupil premium funding is used effectively. The school carefully diagnoses the individual needs of disadvantaged pupils and provides a wide range of support for them so that they achieve well. For example, funding is used to support outdoor therapeutic interventions which have a marked effect on pupils’ well-being and levels of resilience. The impact of this funding is carefully evaluated by leaders and governors.
• The primary school sports funding is used effectively. Pupils are given opportunities to experience a range of sporting activities such as lacrosse. The school is justly proud of its silver sports kite mark.
• Leaders use funding for special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. The special educational needs coordinator together with her inclusion team organises support for pupils well and closely checks how effective it is. As a result, current pupils make good progress from their starting points.
• Leaders run a breakfast club which is well organised, calm and purposeful. Pupils say that they enjoy the experience and that it is a good start to their day.

Governance of the school

• Governors provide a strong degree of challenge and support and hold leaders to account effectively.
• They have a clear awareness of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement and ask searching questions about a range of issues, including attendance and pupils’ achievement.
• Governors ensure that the school’s pupil premium funding is used effectively to support disadvantaged pupils in reading, writing and mathematics. The governor responsible for pupil premium checks the quality of teaching and learning that these pupils receive.
• Governors have a secure understanding of how performance management is used and its links to teachers’ pay.
• The governors are a reflective, caring group who maintain a positive presence in school. They ensure that their statutory duties are met. The local vicar, who is also a governor at the school, leads assemblies and an after-school club for pupils. She notes that this allows her to have ‘a real feel of the values of school’.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• The single central record of checks on staff is compliant. Vetting checks carried out on new staff and volunteers are well organised and rigorous.
• Staff follow current policies and are vigilant at all times. As a consequence, pupils feel safe and well supervised.
• Staff receive regular training to ensure that their knowledge of safeguarding procedures is up to date.
• Parents are highly supportive and overwhelmingly positive about every aspect of the school. They feel that their children make good progress and that leaders deal with issues. Every parent who gave a view of the school reported that pupils were kept safe and were well looked after.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

• The quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved and is now good, and as a result pupils make strong progress. Focused questioning is a strength of the school. This is most evident in mathematics lessons, where reasoning skills are developed effectively. Teaching has greatly benefited from external support from local schools and the local authority, resulting in accelerated pupil progress.
• Teachers give clear direction to teaching assistants so that they support pupils’ learning effectively. They are deployed successfully to work with different pupils at appropriate times. Focused training has enabled teaching assistants to ask probing questions and support learning.
• Teachers use assessment information effectively to plan work which is well matched to pupils’ abilities. As a result, pupils of different abilities, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress because teachers set tasks which meet their needs. Specialist help is engaged, including an early intervention team and a speech and language therapist, to help individuals overcome specific barriers to their learning.
• Teaching of writing is effective. Teachers typically use high-quality literature to stimulate purposes and ideas for writing and high standards are maintained across a range of subjects.
• Through the provision of exciting learning experiences within and outside school, leaders and teachers have successfully developed a love of reading within their pupils. Teachers provide opportunities for pupils to read in all classes and good-quality books are on display. For example, in a Year 6 classroom a display on the Titanic was bright, engaging and informative. Leaders now need to further embed the approach to teaching phonics (letters and the sounds they make) to accelerate pupils’ progress and enable more to reach the required level in the Year 1 phonics screening assessment.
• The teaching of mathematics is particularly effective. Staff are skilled in the use of focused questioning as part of mathematics teaching, which enables pupils to make strong progress in reasoning and problem-solving.
• Pupils enjoy the way that teachers organise learning for different subjects into topics. Teachers plan visits and outdoor learning experiences that captures pupils’ imagination, providing purposeful learning experiences. Pupils say that they enjoy their lessons because teachers make learning fun. For example, Year 5 pupils took part in a Shakespeare project, which culminated in them performing ‘Twelfth Night’ at a local theatre. As a consequence, pupils undertook a linked writing lesson in school with great interest and enthusiasm.
• Homework is set regularly and provides opportunities to embed prior learning and reinforce reading/phonic skills. Parents are informed on a weekly basis about their role in supporting homework, opportunities for engaging with the class teacher and online opportunities.
• Pupils experience a broad and balanced curriculum and are able to discuss, in detail, many facts that they had learned in subjects such as art and RE. However, when questioned, pupils’ knowledge of history and geography is weaker. Work in pupils’ books shows that they do not develop skills in history and geography as well as they do in other subjects.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• Pupils are polite, engaged and confident speakers and are proud of their school and their work. They enjoy and take seriously the additional responsibilities that many have. Pupils vote for their peers to take up positions on the school council, reading council and collective worship council. They recognise the importance of voting because in this school it has been used to establish the school’s values, elect council representatives and choose a new school uniform.
• Pupils are taught how to keep themselves safe in school and beyond the school gates including how to stay safe when using the internet. The school has links with the local community police officers, who talk to pupils about the rule of law. Parents and pupils are clear that the school is a safe place. They say that bullying is extremely rare, but that when concerns arise, they are dealt with quickly.
• Pupils take pride in their work and books are well presented. The standard of handwriting is high throughout school. Pupils develop resilience because the tasks set for them are challenging, including for least-able pupils.
• The school places great emphasis on the welfare of pupils and pastoral and welfare systems are fine tuned to their needs. The school’s ‘Place2Be’ facility, which is an on-site therapeutic counselling service for pupils and parents, is highlighted by pupils as a way of solving problems.
• Care for those pupils who need additional support is thorough and well documented. Leaders have established purposeful relationships with a range of extended services, such as social care and the education welfare service, which help to ensure the safety and care of these pupils.
• Charitable giving is a strength of the school and reflects the caring nature of pupils. Leaders proudly show documents of a range of groups who have received support.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• High levels of self-discipline are evident in pupils’ conduct on the playground and around school.
• Relationships between staff and pupils are excellent. Pupils are courteous and polite to each other, other adults and visitors. This does not happen by chance. Leaders play their part, with high expectations and a common and consistent approach in relation to behaviour management.
• Pupils of different ages support each other extremely well. Behaviour in the playground is outstanding, with pupils playing well together. Older pupils, acting as prefects, support the behaviour of each class and the school’s trained peer mediators help to support pupils when there are problems, and pupils say ‘they give us advice’. Pupils also value the ‘place to talk’ facility that helps them to sort problems.
• The school keeps records of any incidents of poor behaviour, which are followed up by leaders. The school’s reward system of house points, which is displayed in every classroom, supports a culture of high expectations and challenges pupils to always make the right choices.
• Leaders have been uncompromising and successful in their drive to raise attendance, reduce persistent absence and exclusion rates. Due to close liaison with outside agencies and focused support, marked progress has been achieved for all groups, including pupils with special educational needs. Attendance for all groups is now in line with national standards.

Outcomes for pupils Good

• Pupils’ outcomes are now good. This is because leaders and teachers have been effective in improving pupils’ achievements in reading, writing and mathematics, as well as in most other subjects across the curriculum. Success is linked closely to much stronger teaching and, as a result, pupils’ outcomes have improved and progress from pupils’ individual starting points is good.
• Work in books and the school’s current performance information presented by leaders is demonstrating a very pleasing picture.
• Teachers provide many opportunities for pupils to apply their writing skills through well-matched activities across a range of subjects. Teachers use cultural visits and outdoor learning activities to encourage pupils to write clearly about what they have experienced.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make similar progress to all other pupils in school.
• Disadvantaged pupils are making progress that is at least in line with that of other pupils with the same starting points. This is due to leaders using pupil premium funding well to provide additional support in lessons.
• Pupils’ good achievement and very strong personal development ensure that they are well prepared for their next stage in education.
• Most able pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, make good progress across year groups. This is confirmed by the school’s assessment information, and the level of challenge observed both in lessons and in pupils’ books. Although the proportion of pupils who pass the Year 1 phonics screening check is in line with the national average, the number reaching this level has declined over recent years. Leaders and teachers should ensure that the teaching of phonics is fully embedded to ensure that pupils gain all the necessary skills.
• Pupils are making good progress in a range of other subjects. Displays and work in pupils’ books demonstrate high expectations of pupils in subjects such as art, music, RE and PE. However, in history and geography some pupils have gaps in their learning.

Early years provision Good

• The early years leader provides strong leadership and has a clear understanding of children’s achievement.
• Teaching in early years is good. This leads to children making good progress, including those who are disadvantaged. Additional adults working in the early years pose focused and challenging questions to deepen children’s learning.
• Many children start Nursery with skills that are lower than those expected for their age. From these starting points, school information and children’s work show that good progress is made. By the time they leave the Reception class, the proportion of children who achieve a good level of development is broadly in line with the national average. Children are ready to join Year 1 as confident learners.
• Leaders work effectively with parents. Parents use the school’s online system to see examples of their children’s work, their play experiences and also the progress they make. This system ensures close liaison with parents and they are close partners in learning. One parent noted that the staff in Nursery and Reception ‘are lovely and approachable. My children progressed so much in a small amount of time and are happy going to school.’
• Transition from Nursery to Reception is strong. All parents receive a home visit and ‘stay and play’ transition activities in school attract many parents.
• Leaders have ensured that all aspects of health and safety in the early years are compliant with requirements. This creates an environment in which children feel safe and secure.
• The needs of children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are met well. Pupil premium funding is deployed effectively, for example to provide regular specialist speech and language support for children with particular needs in this area of development. As a result, these children make the same good progress as their peers.
• The inspiring curriculum engages both boys and girls. A focused intervention project designed to support communication and literacy has increased boys’ attainment.
• Children behave extremely well in the early years. They fully engage in a variety of activities and are purposefully active in their learning. However, occasionally provision in Reception does not fully stretch or enhance pupils’ learning from Nursery expectations. Leaders are aware that few children in early years exceeded the expected standards. Measures have been put in place to address this and current performance information indicates a rise in pupils who are on track to exceed expected standards in reading and mathematics.

School details

Unique reference number 105935 Local authority Salford Inspection number 10032185 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 3 to 11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 219 Appropriate authority The governing body Acting Chair David Nightingale Executive Headteacher Wendy McCormack Head of School Joanne Parkinson Telephone number 0161 921 1955 Website www.christchurchceprimary.co.uk Email address christchurch.ceprimaryschool@salford.gov.uk Date of previous inspection 20–21 May 2015

Information about this school

• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The school is an average-sized primary school.
• Children from the early years upwards are taught in one class through to Year 6.
• Most pupils are from White British backgrounds.
• The school has a higher than average proportion of pupils who are disadvantaged.
• The school has a higher than average proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities in each year group.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.
• Nursery provision operates on the school site. The provision is managed by the governing body and was observed as part of this inspection.
• A breakfast club operates on the school site. This provision is managed by the governing body and was also observed as part of this inspection.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in 18 parts of lessons, four of which were short visits with the headteacher or members of her leadership team.
• Members of the inspection team met with pupils and heard a small number of pupils read. They looked at examples of pupils’ work in their books and spoke to some pupils informally.
• Inspectors held meetings with the executive headteacher, head of school, senior and middle leaders, special educational needs leader and the inclusion team.
• The lead inspector met with the acting chair and five other governors from the governing body and a representative of the local authority.
• The opinions of parents were considered through the 11 responses on Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, and conversations with parents during the inspection.
• Inspectors visited the breakfast club and Nursery.
• Various school documents were scrutinised, including the school’s self-evaluation, development plans, information about managing teachers’ performance and staff training records. Minutes of meetings of the governing body and information about behaviour, attendance and safeguarding were also analysed.
• The lead inspector carried out detailed scrutiny of current progress and attainment information for all groups of pupils in line with key lines of enquiry.

Inspection team

Gill Pritchard, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Elizabeth Clarke Ofsted Inspector