Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve the impact of leadership and management by:
  • securing the proposed plans to strengthen leadership, including governance
  • implementing the current strategic plan swiftly so that teaching improves rapidly
  • managing staff performance so that improvements are sustainable
  • developing the role of middle leaders in improving the quality of teaching.
• Improve the effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessment by:
  • all teachers using assessment information effectively to set pupils tasks which are engaging, match pupils’ abilities and accelerate their progress
  • developing pupils’ phonics skills through a consistent approach to teaching and assessment
  • deepening pupils’ reasoning and problem-solving skills in mathematics
  • providing opportunities for teachers to observe and share the best practice
  • staff in the early years using assessment to make timely interventions and move children on quicker in their learning, particularly the most able children.
• Improve pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare by:
  • teachers sustaining the same high expectations of pupils’ achievement, presentation of work and behaviour in all lessons
  • ensuring that lunchtime is a positive experience for all pupils and incidents of unacceptable behaviour are eradicated.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Requires improvement

• Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School has faced several challenges in recent times. Year 6 results in 2017 national tests in reading and mathematics were annulled due to maladministration during statutory testing. This coincided with considerable turbulence in leadership. The current executive headteacher is providing much needed stability since taking on the role in March 2017.
• Staff members’ and parents’ experience of this period of uncertainty and change has been mixed. For some, there has been a lack of confidence in leadership overall and some uncertainty about the future for the school. Governors and the diocese have worked hard to secure the long-term future of the school through a model of full federation with a strong primary school. The federation is due to be fully established early in 2018, at which point the new governing body can decide on the future model of leadership for the school.
• Recent improvements in leadership have not yet had time to have a full impact on teaching and pupils’ progress. The executive headteacher has thoroughly reviewed the effectiveness of the school and governors now agree that teaching and the progress of pupils are not yet good. Her realistic evaluation has given rise to a school improvement plan which prioritises these aspects.
• Currently, the impact of the improvement plan can be seen in improvements to teachers’ planning and to the teaching of writing. Individual teachers are given clear guidance on how to improve their practice and the school’s records of monitoring show that improvements have been brought about quickly. Weak teaching has been challenged. However, overall, it is too soon for the plan to have had a full impact in securing consistency of good teaching and restoring pupils’ progress.
• Middle leaders are becoming increasingly confident in their role following recent training and development. However, they are not currently hastening improvements to teaching in all aspects of their subject responsibility. For example, the curriculum for reading is not fully embedded in key stage 2 and not all aspects of mathematics are taught sufficiently well.
• The school uses the additional funding well for pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. These pupils make good progress and leaders comprehensively guide staff and track pupils’ progress effectively. The school receives only a very small amount of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils, but it is used with careful forethought and successfully quickens their progress.
• Pupils have access to a broad curriculum and benefit from the wide range of enrichment activities which the school provides. During the inspection, pupils from Years 5 and 6 joined with pupils from another school to explore science through a ‘science fiction’ approach. The school’s Catholic foundation builds values which accord well with fundamental British values. Pupils’ spiritual, moral and social development is strong. Pupils value the cultural diversity in school and they learn much that supports their cultural development.
• Overall, parents recognise the positive impact the school has on their children’s development. They recognise that teachers know their children well and say that their children are happy to come to school.
• The school’s additional funding for physical education and sport is particularly well used and pupils and parents value the wide range of sports on offer. Pupils are particularly positive about opportunities to try curling and wheelchair basketball.
• The school’s commitment to equality of opportunity is evident through the good support for pupils who are disadvantaged and those who have SEN and/or disabilities. However, until all pupils are equally well taught, there is more to do to achieve the school’s aims.
• Support from the diocese and from the local authority has been well used to validate the executive headteacher’s accurate evaluation of the school’s effectiveness. The support is set to continue.

Governance of the school

• Current governors now have a much clearer picture of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. They are working with increasing effectiveness to support leaders in their drive for improvement and to secure the long-term future of the school.
• Over the period of turbulence in leadership, governors struggled to form an accurate picture of the school’s priorities because reports they received were not always in accord. This limited their strategic effectiveness. However, they are working closely with current leaders to hasten improvements before the move to federation.
• Governors keep themselves up to date by attending regular training, including in aspects of safeguarding. Governors visit the school regularly to monitor aspects of its work. The new school improvement plan links the governor visits more securely to the school’s priorities and targets.
• Governors have responded to the advice they have been given following the investigation into the maladministration of the 2017 key stage 2 statutory tests. They have ensured that the actions they were required to take have been fulfilled.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. All training is up to date and leaders have ensured that the policies and procedures to keep vulnerable pupils from harm are robust. Increasingly, the school is providing support for families who may be going through a time of crisis.
• Leaders ensure that accurate records are kept and have an oversight of vulnerable families, bringing together the views of a wide range of staff. Staff are highly vigilant for pupils’ safety and confident to refer any concerns promptly.
• Leaders and governors are rigorous when recruiting staff and full checks are made to ensure that volunteers are safe to work with pupils.
• Pupils feel safe in school and parents are confident in the school’s commitment to securing their children’s well-being. As one parent said, echoing the views of others, ‘The entire school feels like a family. Teachers are caring and the children flourish.’

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teaching requires improvement because, too often, teachers are not using the assessment information they hold to plan lessons which build on the skills and knowledge pupils already have. As a result, some teaching fails to engage pupils’ interest and limits their achievement.
• The teaching of phonics is not effective in all classes. Teachers do not plan a sequence of teaching to build pupils’ skills systematically and rapidly. This means that some pupils spend time learning sounds they already know and do not move on quickly enough. Also, teachers do not check pupils’ pronunciation of sounds sufficiently well and so pupils continue to say sounds inaccurately, and this limits their progress.
• Teachers in key stage 2 do not give pupils opportunities to read and respond to unfamiliar texts at a level appropriate for their year group. Pupils then do not gain the expected level of comprehension skills. Pupils have regular opportunities to read high-quality literature for themselves and discuss it with their teacher. However, in practice, not all pupils apply themselves to reading when they are not in the group that is directly taught, and so their time is not well used.
• In mathematics lessons, teachers provide pupils with ‘challenges’ that are about problem solving or mathematical reasoning. In some classes, pupils have a long wait for the teacher to give them permission to move on. In the time they are waiting, they have little to get on with and the pace of learning slows. Often, the most able pupils move on quicker, but the potential of middle-ability pupils to tackle more challenging work is not spotted quickly enough.
• Leaders have put in place a new scheme for mathematics, which now covers the full mathematics curriculum. As a result, teachers teach skills of calculation well and pupils are now regularly being given more opportunities to solve problems.
• Teachers plan lessons in writing which build pupils’ skills progressively, so that pupils are able to tackle different types of writing. This leads pupils to make good progress in writing and they can review and edit their finished pieces.
• Pupils develop their writing skills in lessons other than English and the best writing seen in pupils’ workbooks was that in their religious education books. This is because, in religious education lessons, pupils are stimulated by interesting topics and encouraged to write for different purposes. Their books show that they can write expressively and descriptively when the context for writing engages their interests.
• Pupils in Year 2 gain skills of reading comprehension rapidly. Teachers continue to build the fluency of pupils’ reading through direct teaching, but they also give pupils regular practise in tackling unknown texts. This helps pupils to retrieve information quickly and explain the main points of their reading.
• Teaching assistants give very good support to all pupils, but particularly to those who have SEN and/or disabilities. They adapt and explain work carefully so that pupils are given a challenge as well as good guidance.
• Pupils settle quickly in lessons when the teaching is well planned and interesting. They are able to review their learning and work with a partner to find and correct common errors.
• All teachers give pupils opportunities to explore science in ways which engage pupils’ interest and build their skills. For example, in Year 3, pupils built their own models of the skeleton, using ‘bones’ they had made themselves.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare requires improvement as not all teachers currently have high enough expectations of pupils’ presentation in their work. As a result, the quality of presentation varies significantly. Pupils show pride, for example, in their religious education books, but, at times, work in other subjects is not presented carefully enough. Importantly, lack of care in presentation is not always challenged by teachers. Pupils’ work is not always set out well in mathematics books, slowing pupils’ fluency in solving calculations.
• In classes where teaching is stronger, pupils can explain how they take responsibility for choosing challenges at the right level, neither too easy nor too difficult. They respond quickly to the guidance teachers give them and they correct their work.
• Pupils are proud of their school and Year 6 pupils are especially proud of their ‘golden ties’ which show that they are ready to take responsibility. They know they have to be leaders and good role models within the school. The school is a harmonious place with pupils from all cultures respecting and celebrating the diversity of the community.
• Pupils develop respect and empathy for others well, for instance through playing wheelchair basketball and sit-down volley ball. Pupils’ responses to ‘Remembrance’ on the ‘poppy board’ demonstrate their ability to reflect on the experiences of others.
• Pupils are taught well how to stay safe, for example online when using computers. Recently, they were taught about water safety by members of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and some older pupils are now working towards their ‘Rookie Lifeguard Award’.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement. The school’s records of lunchtime behaviour show that a small number of pupils show disrespect to lunchtime staff and cause problems for other children. Play can become boisterous and some pupils feel play is sometimes ‘too physical’. During the inspection, pupils played well together and most of those who spoke to inspectors said they feel safe on the playground and enjoy playtime.
• When teaching is less effective, a few pupils become distracted in lessons and either stop working or seek to distract others by their behaviour. Teachers are not always quick to spot these interruptions or to deal with them promptly.
• The school is orderly and pupils move around calmly. Relationships with staff are good and pupils are polite and well-mannered. Most pupils listen very well to their teachers and work diligently.
• Pupils are knowledgeable about what constitutes bullying and say that it is rare and always dealt with promptly. They have confidence that their teachers and, indeed, lunchtime staff will support them if they have a problem. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities and who need extra help with their behaviour are well supported in the classroom. They also receive specialist pastoral support.
• The school’s work to tackle the persistent absence of pupils is effective and, in most cases, pupils now attend school regularly. Over last year, pupils’ attendance was still below national average, but this year, with the reductions in persistent absence, it is improving.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• Although pupils currently in school are making progress, they are not making the progress of which they are capable and have not made good progress over time. This can be seen from their workbooks and from the work tackled in lessons. It is particularly true for the pupils in the current Year 6, who are not yet sufficiently prepared for transfer to secondary school. Pupils in lower key stage 2 are also not making good progress in their skills, despite having previously reached good standards at the end of Year 2.
• The school’s assessment information indicates that a number of pupils were working at greater depth in mathematics at the end of last academic year. However, their current work does not show that this standard has been maintained. Pupils reveal an understanding of how to tackle mathematical problems. However, the level of challenge in lessons is not sufficiently rigorous for pupils to build on these good basic skills and demonstrate progress towards the higher standard.
• In reading lessons in key stage 2, pupils do not show that they are working at the expected level or greater depth in reading comprehension. Pupils are keen and fluent readers, who read frequently through ‘silent reading’ and enjoy their reading. Currently, however, they do not regularly tackle the level of work expected at key stage 2 in order to show a depth of understanding of what they have read.
• Last year, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected standard in the phonics check in Year 1 was well below national average. It was also well below the standard that pupils in the school usually achieve. In the current Year 1, pupils are not making fast enough progress in acquiring phonics skills.
• In the most recent information the school has from national tests, which is from 2016, pupils at the end of key stage 2 made good progress in reading and mathematics. Attainment was higher at the expected standard than the national level. In 2016 and 2017, although pupils made slower progress in writing, standards were still very close to national averages.
• Pupils have good spelling skills, sentence construction and punctuation. They write expressively and descriptively, when the work they are given inspires them. Most pupils, in their best work, have well-formed handwriting.
• At the end of key stage 1, the proportion of pupils who reached the expected and higher standard in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average. This represented good progress from their starting points at the end of the Reception Year. The standard of reading comprehension in the current Year 2 is good. Pupils who did not achieve well in the phonics check in Year 1 are catching up in reading.
• There are a very small number of disadvantaged pupils. These pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, are well supported and make good progress.
• Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities make good progress. With the good support they are given in lessons, and through special programmes, their progress is consistent and they develop secure skills.
• Pupils are developing good skills of scientific enquiry and can make observations and record them systematically in order to reach conclusions.

Early years provision Requires improvement

• Teaching in the early years requires improvement because it does not move the most able children on quickly enough in their learning. The majority of children start school with skills and knowledge a little below those usually found for their age. The proportion who met the standard of a good level of development in 2017 was above the national level. However, few children exceeded the expected standard even when their development was stronger when they joined the school.
• Currently, not all teaching challenges the most able children. Teachers identify that the most able children know a range of letter sounds and can form many letters accurately. However, observations in lessons and in pupils’ workbooks show that teachers do not plan tasks which move these children on quickly enough, for example in their writing.
• The teaching of phonics does not meet the needs of the most able children to move on to patterns for sounds, which would help them to begin writing independently. Teachers do not rigorously challenge children’s pronunciation of sounds and so children repeat errors, and this limits their ability to read simple words.
• Children behave well in the Reception class and, when teaching challenges them, they enjoy their learning. For instance, under the guidance of a teacher, the children were able to choose number cards to show an understanding of numbers beyond ten. Children listen well to instructions and are confident to try new learning.
• Leaders and teachers have developed opportunities for children to learn in the outdoor area. As a result, children can apply their learning to their play. They move freely between indoors and out, following routines and keeping themselves safe. When they are engaged in purposeful play, for example in the class ‘doctor’s surgery’, they cooperate well. The welfare needs of the children in the Reception class are well met.
• Parents are given regular opportunities to find out about and support children’s learning. During the inspection, a high number of parents joined in a special event about writing and helped their children in the classroom. Parents are positive about the daily contact and feedback they have from staff.
• As most children move into Year 1 with the skills expected for their age, they are broadly well prepared for the next stage of their learning. However, their weaker phonics skills limit their development in reading and writing.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 109242 North Somerset 10036975 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 Voluntary aided 4 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 204 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Executive headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Julian Mobsby Helen Taylor 01934 621919 www.corpuschristiweston.co.uk corpuschristi.pri@n-somerset.gov.uk Date of previous inspection October 2012

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 and pupils join the school in the Reception class. The school is ethnically diverse and a higher than average number of pupils speak English as an additional language.
• The school has been led since March 2017 by an interim executive headteacher, the second person to hold the post within the last academic year. Plans have been agreed for the school to join in full federation with another Catholic primary school nearby, early in 2018.
• The proportion of pupils who receive the pupil premium is well below average.
• The proportion of pupils who receive support for SEN and/or disabilities is below average.
• The school met the government’s floor standards in 2016.
• The school provides a breakfast club.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors observed teaching and learning in all classes across the school. Several lessons were observed jointly with school leaders.
• Meetings were held with curriculum leaders, the diocesan director, and the school’s improvement adviser. Inspectors took account of external moderation of the school’s assessment processes and reports on external evaluation undertaken by the school’s advisers.
• Inspectors met with a group of governors and scrutinised minutes from governing body meetings.
• Inspectors reviewed a wide range of documentation provided by the school, including the school development plan, the school’s evaluation of its work, attendance information and safeguarding records.
• Inspectors heard pupils read and held a meeting with a group of pupils to gain their views of the school. Other pupils were spoken to in lessons and on the playground to gather their views about aspects of safety.
• Current and past pupils’ books, across a range of subjects and classes, were scrutinised.
• Inspectors took account of the 32 responses to the online survey, Parent View, and met with parents at the start of both days of the inspection. Inspectors reviewed the staff responses to the online questionnaire and met with staff who had not completed the questionnaire.

Inspection team

Wendy Marriott, lead inspector Geoff Mason Wendy Hanrahan Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector