Christ The King Catholic Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve outcomes for pupils by ensuring that:
  • teachers match learning to meet individual pupils’ needs
  • the challenge for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is sufficiently focused to enable them to make rapid progress from their starting points
  • a high level of challenge is provided for the most able, especially in mathematics in key stage 1
  • teaching assistants are deployed effectively to support pupils’ learning effectively.
• Improve leadership and management by ensuring that:
  • governors and leaders at all levels have an accurate understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the school to enable them to quickly improve the quality of education for pupils
  • monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning results in improvements in pupils’ outcomes
  • senior leaders monitor and evaluate the progress and outcomes for different groups of pupils, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and the most able
  • middle leaders improve standards across a wide range of subjects, including science, history and geography
  • information on the school’s website is up to date and complies with current regulations.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Leaders, including governors, have an over-generous view of the school’s effectiveness, including outcomes for pupils. This has hindered the school’s ability to improve pupils’ achievement over time. Until recently, leaders have not had sufficient challenge and support from Plymouth CAST to bring about rapid improvements in pupils’ outcomes.
• Monitoring does not focus sufficiently on the impact of actions to raise achievement, especially for different groups of pupils. Leaders do not challenge teachers and middle leaders well enough to bring about the improvements required.
• While leaders regularly check the quality of teaching, they do not evaluate its impact accurately enough in terms of pupils’ achievement. Consequently, they do not identify what helps pupils to learn best or take actions to improve teaching swiftly enough. However, following recent support, more rigorous actions are now being taken to monitor and evaluate how well the school improves pupils’ achievement. It is too early to see the full impact of this support.
• Middle leaders have benefited from support and training to develop their leadership skills. However, not enough attention has been paid by middle leaders to the impact of teaching on pupils’ outcomes in their subject. As a result, standards in some subjects, such as science, history and geography, are too low and require rapid improvement.
• Leaders with oversight for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities have not been sufficiently focused in the past on monitoring how outcomes for these pupils are improving. However, new leadership of this aspect is using funding more effectively to secure improved provision so that the progress of this group of pupils is improving rapidly from their starting points.
• Procedures to check the performance of staff are focused on improving outcomes for pupils. However, leaders do not challenge teachers with sufficient rigour to improve teaching quickly enough.
• Additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is now beginning to have an impact on progress for these pupils across the school. Focused monitoring, alongside teachers being held to account for groups of learners, is leading to improved progress for the school’s most vulnerable pupils.
• Leaders make very effective use of the additional funding for physical education (PE) and sport. Many pupils attend a wide range of additional activities and take part in sport at lunchtime. This high-quality provision is in part due to the enthusiasm and excellent subject knowledge of the school’s PE teachers. Pupils enjoy the highly challenging and engaging lessons.
• Leaders have worked effectively to develop an exciting curriculum that stimulates pupils’ interests and excites them in their learning. Many examples on display around the school celebrate pupils’ work and they are rightly proud of it. The school undertakes many visits and invites visitors into school to enhance pupils’ learning further.
• The promotion of spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is strong, and pupils demonstrate a clear understanding of British values. The school is decorated with displays demonstrating its distinctive Catholic values, which underpin all aspects of its work. Other cultures, religions and faiths are explored throughout the year to support the pupils’ awareness of the diversity of modern Britain. Pupils understand democracy and are encouraged to discuss contemporary events and issues in their collective worship.
• Pupils understand about fairness and activities are planned in the curriculum to develop pupils’ knowledge. For example, during a Year 5 writing lesson, a film clip of Rosa Parks was used to good effect in helping pupils gain an understanding of discrimination.

Governance of the school

• Governors have not been sufficiently challenging to leaders over time to bring about the improvements that have been needed to raise pupils’ standards. Governors have an over-generous view of the school’s performance which has hindered the school’s journey to improve outcomes for pupils.
• Governors have recently been given additional support and are now more aware of the challenge expected from them. They describe themselves as ‘ready to get going’ and the recent additional support and training has enabled governors to better understand the progress pupils are making. In addition, better communication with leaders is providing them with a clearer understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. The governing body now regularly checks on the spending of additional funding, especially the pupil premium and sport funding, and has a much clearer understanding of the impact of spending decisions.
• Governors make sure that pupils are safe in school. They ensure that safeguarding and health and safety measures are reported and discussed regularly. They understand how the teachers’ performance is assessed and rewarded.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.
• All staff are well trained and vigilant in safeguarding pupils. Leaders ensure that staff are trained to a high standard and keep their knowledge up to date, including how to keep pupils safe from radicalisation and extremism. All staff are aware of how to keep pupils safe and what signs to look out for that might suggest a child is at risk of harm. Clear procedures ensure that all adults know who to report any concerns to.
• The school works well with parents and carers to create a strong culture of safeguarding. It has very clear and well-organised systems to monitor and support vulnerable pupils. From this, leaders are able to keep track of pupils and families who need additional help and to take timely and swift action when support may be required. As a result, vulnerable pupils’ needs are quickly identified and are well supported.
• Leaders, including governors, carry out checks on the school’s safeguarding records to ensure they meet government requirements for keeping children safe. Any issues are swiftly dealt with by the school.
• The school’s single central record is kept up to date and the safe recruitment of staff is effective. Applications are thoroughly checked and leaders make sure that all new staff are appropriately vetted.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Over time, teaching has not been good enough for pupils to make good progress. Progress in different year groups and in different subjects has been too variable. Teachers do not consistently provide learning which is matched to pupils’ needs and do not challenge or support groups of learners effectively enough.
• Expectations of what pupils can achieve in mathematics at key stage 1 are not high enough for the most able pupils and do not challenge them. Learning is not sufficiently demanding and does not make pupils think deeply about more complex mathematical ideas and concepts.
• In some subjects, particularly in science, history and geography, work seen in books across the school was of a low standard. This was not the case in Years 5 and 6, where standards were better.
• Pupils’ books show inconsistent progress over time, particularly for previously low-attaining pupils and pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Work in books for these pupils is generally not well matched to their needs. Progress is hampered by teaching assistants doing too much for the pupils or work that is too challenging.
• There are some examples of high-quality work and rapid progress. For example, in Year 6, teachers use assessment very effectively to plan learning at the right level that enables previously low-attaining pupils to catch up to their age-related expectations.
• Questioning is often used to good effect to stimulate discussion and probe pupils’ understanding. For example, in a Year 6 class, a teaching assistant used questions to challenge pupils to think deeply about characters in a reading lesson.
• Teachers generally follow the school’s marking policy. Teachers often check on pupils’ understanding for misconceptions. However, on occasion, teachers do not do this effectively enough and sometimes miss errors that the pupils have made.
• The teaching of phonics (letters and the sounds they represent) is now securing improved progress for pupils in their reading as they move through the school. However, there remains a legacy of weak phonic knowledge for older pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. This is now beginning to be addressed by leaders.
• Training for teachers and teaching assistants is having a positive impact on the overall quality of teaching. Examples of strong practice, particularly in Year 6 and in the early years, occur where teachers use what pupils already know to plan and teach challenging lessons. Where this is not so strong, for example in key stage 1, teachers do not use information about their pupils effectively enough to enable groups of pupils to make good progress.
• Physical education and music are taught extremely well in school. This is a result of the teachers’ infectious enthusiasm and strong subject knowledge. Pupils were fully engaged during lessons and produced work to a high standard.

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 proud of their school and the high-quality presentation of work in their books is testament to this.
• The school’s ‘7 Cs’ (caring, considerate, communicative, courteous, cooperative, conscientious and confident) are at the heart of the school’s work and are well known by the pupils and staff. Pupils spoke of how these help them behave and give them guidance. These values run through the whole school and thread through the pupils’ relationships with one another. Positive relationships between staff and pupils underpin the strong emphasis on developing pupils’ confidence and mutual respect for others.
• Pupils’ attendance has improved recently due to the school’s relentless approach to ensuring that every child attends school regularly. The school has effective procedures for monitoring absence on the first day, which have resulted in a reduction in pupils’ absence. Disadvantaged pupils have been particularly targeted for support, with a notable impact on improving attendance this year. The school works extremely well with outside agencies to help support families whose children have low attendance.
• The school educates pupils well about how to stay safe online. This includes visits from the police, who come in and explain to the pupils about internet safety. Pupils can talk about websites that are not safe for them and what to do if they feel unsafe while using the internet.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is good.
• Pupils have a good understanding of the school’s rules and what is unacceptable behaviour. They clearly know the difference between right and wrong. They are fully aware of the sanctions in place if they break the rules and commented on how this has helped improve behaviour in school.
• Pupils say bullying is rare and they know what to do if it does occur. They say that the school deals with bullying effectively and they can talk to any adult if it does happen. Parents who completed the online questionnaire Parent View agree that behaviour is generally good in school.
• Pupils behave well in and around school and additional activities at playtimes help them enjoy their time away from learning in class. School leaders have been very successful in improving behaviour since the last inspection. Pupils are polite, courteous and well mannered, often opening the doors for adults to walk through first without being asked.
• Pupils’ attitudes to learning are generally good. Occasionally a few pupils are inattentive in lessons when teaching is less effective, and this slows their progress.
• The behaviour of a small number of pupils was described as not good by staff and other pupils in school.

Outcomes for pupils

Requires improvement

• The progress of pupils currently in the school is inconsistent and not yet good across year groups and subjects. This is because the quality of teaching is not yet consistently effective enough for pupils to make typically good progress over time.
• Progress for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is not consistently good across the school. A significant number of these pupils are not making the progress they are capable of.
• Standards of work from a wide range of subjects, including science, history and geography, are not good enough across the school. Current workbooks show that too much work is of a low standard and there is little additional challenge for the most able pupils in these subjects. Leaders do not challenge teachers with sufficient rigour to bring about improvements.
• Pupils have not made consistent progress in mathematics across the school, although improvements were made during this academic year. Progress in mathematics for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is not good enough. They are not taught the basic skills well enough and tasks are often too easy when they are. In key stage 1, the most able pupils are not challenged sufficiently or given opportunities to apply their knowledge to more complex mathematical problems.
• The sharp drop in standards noted in the published information in 2016 appears to be improving due to the stronger progress of pupils in the current Year 6 classes, resulting from improved teaching.
• Pupils typically enjoy reading and the school encourages pupils to read as often as they can. Older pupils have favourite authors which they love to read. While phonic standards are improving over time, some older pupils with weaker phonic skills need additional support to ensure that they continue to acquire the essential skills they need to read well.
• Pupils who are supported by additional pupil premium funding are now making better progress. This is as a result of close monitoring by leaders and adapting support for them during the year to accelerate progress. This approach, alongside more focused teaching, is helping disadvantaged pupils catch up with their peers and make better progress.

Early years provision Good

• Children get off to a cracking start to their education in the early years. Standards have risen so that more children reach a good level of development year on year. The learning and progress that children make in the early years means that they are well prepared for Year 1. This is because of the strong leadership of the early years.
• Leaders know the strengths and weaknesses of the children well. As a result, assessment is accurate. Children enter pre-school with abilities and aptitudes that are broadly typical for their age and with a wide variety of abilities within that. Teachers in the early years use this accurate assessment to inform their planning. This ensures good provision across all areas of learning. The outside environment develops this further with a wide range of exciting activities that promote the children’s social and physical skills further. As a result, children are confident talking to adults and inquisitive to ask questions.
• Teaching in the early years is consistently good, leading to children making good progress from their starting points. Assessment is used well to ensure that learning matches the children’s needs. This enables teachers and teaching assistants to challenge children very effectively. For example, during an adult-led session, the teaching assistant skilfully challenged the most able mathematicians with some very tricky number work to take them as far as they could go in their understanding. This uncompromising attitude has led to children learning particularly well over time.
• Children make a smooth transition into school and parents appreciate the information on offer to support this process.
• The children’s reading is well structured and the indoor and outdoor learning environment is full of opportunities to develop their language skills. Teachers plan a wide range of learning opportunities to develop these further. For example, children were introduced to new vocabulary to develop their language of animals before a trip to a local farm.
• Relationships between adults and children are strong. This attitude rubs off on the children, who get on with each other extremely well. Children are polite and extremely confident. Children typically show good levels of resilience and stick at activities for a long period of time until they are satisfied with what they have done.
• Children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are now well supported to make good progress from their starting points.
• Children act safely and know how to keep themselves safe. Safeguarding is effective.
• Disadvantaged children are now doing better due to the focused use of assessment that enables teachers and teaching assistants to target learning closely and support these children to make good progress. Gaps between different groups of learners are starting to diminish, although improvements are relatively recent and have fluctuated over time.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 140705 Bournemouth 10024891 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 converter 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 341 Appropriate authority Academy trust Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Diaine Jee Clare Tickel 01202 574277 www.ctkcps.com gerry.durrant@ctkcps.com Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

Information about this school

• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about the school’s complaints procedure, the link to the Department for Education performance tables and that parents can request a free paper copy of the website details.
• The school does not comply with Department for Education guidance on what academies should publish about the school’s complaints procedure, the link to the Department for Education performance tables, the most recent annual audited accounts of the Plymouth CAST (the trust) and that parents can request a free paper copy of the website details.
• Christ the King is larger than the average primary school. It is a member of the Plymouth CAST multi-academy trust. Pupils are taught in single-aged classes.
• The majority of pupils are of White British backgrounds and some pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The number of pupils supported by the additional pupil premium funding is similar to the national average.
• The proportion of pupils receiving support for their special educational needs and/or disabilities is similar to the national average.

Information about this inspection

• Pupils’ learning was observed in lessons, including some observed jointly with the headteacher. The work of pupils in all classes was scrutinised with leaders. Many pupils talked to inspectors about their work during lessons and informally around school. The inspectors listened to pupils from different year groups read and gathered views about their experiences in school.
• Discussions were held with the headteacher, other leaders and middle leaders, governors, members of the school’s Enhanced Support Group, leaders from a school that has supported Christ the King, representatives from Plymouth CAST and members of the teaching and support staff.
• The inspector took into account 34 responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View and 18 responses from the staff questionnaire. Discussions were held with parents as they dropped off their children at school.
• A range of documentation was considered, including information on pupils’ attainment and progress, the school’s improvement planning, records of monitoring of teaching and learning and information on the management of teachers’ performance. Procedures for safeguarding pupils, including information relating to attendance, behaviour and referrals to social services, were examined.

Inspection team

Richard Lucas, lead inspector Claire Mirams Susan Horsnell Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector