Christ Church CofE Controlled Primary School and Nursery Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Further enhance the breadth of experience within the curriculum by including more opportunities to develop the skills associated with technical and artistic learning.
• Further develop the teaching of reading at greater depth so that the significant progress in reading is in line with mathematics and writing.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management Outstanding

• The exemplary leadership of the headteacher, ably supported by the deputy headteacher, has resulted in decisive action being taken to improve the school. Together they pursue excellence to ensure that all groups of pupils receive an outstanding education through excellent teaching. As a result of their actions, they have effectively addressed all the areas for improvement from the last inspection.
• Leaders ensure that all staff develop their professional skills for the benefit of the pupils. All staff support each other and truly work as a cohesive team. Training is collectively identified and well planned to address whole-school needs. For example, considerable time was set aside to develop the skills of support staff. They are seen as partners in the classroom and work effectively alongside teachers, supported by robust and effective training and performance management.
• All staff are unanimous in the view that the school is well led, that they are well supported and are held rigorously to account for their work. Subject leaders know the strengths and areas of development in their areas of responsibility. Through the school’s regular pupil strategy meetings, held with the senior team, actions are taken and funding is applied effectively. As a consequence, barriers to learning have been eliminated and pupils are making good or better progress.
• Staff know the precise needs of each pupil exceptionally well. They use additional funding for disadvantaged pupils very effectively. All staff in school take responsibility for providing ‘booster’ sessions to ensure that pupils catch up if they are falling behind. Activities involving partners in the Royal Ballet and Royal Shakespeare Company broaden the cultural awareness and aspirations of both pupils and parents.
• Pupils who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities make exceptional progress from their starting points. Additional funding is spent effectively on resources and is having a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes. The school has established robust relationships with external services and these too are having a beneficial effect on pupils’ development. Skilled, well-trained support staff lead on adapting the learning for pupils. As a result, the needs of these pupils are met successfully.
• The parental community holds the school in extremely high regard. They appreciate the strong leadership of the headteacher, who has created a school community where aspirations have been raised. Parents like the fact that senior leaders are available daily to speak to, and can see that these strong relationships have a positive effect on pupils’ learning. One commented, ‘The progress he has made at this school is absolutely amazing and I couldn’t be happier with teaching he has received. They have recognised his potential and they continue to push him to his best abilities.’
• The promotion of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education is outstanding. The school’s work with the community to increase awareness of issues outside the school, in modern Britain and in the world at large is exceptional. The school’s chosen approach to teaching has a strong emphasis on learning behaviours such as independence and resilience.
• The curriculum is generally well planned and resourced. Teachers plan exciting learning, which helps pupils to link subjects thematically. The resulting work can be seen in displays around the school. The school has rightly identified a focus to develop the curriculum further, by creating more opportunities to improve the skills and knowledge associated with art and design and technology.

Governance of the school

• The governing body has made a conscious effort to develop and change since the last inspection. It carried out a detailed review of governors’ skills and recruited governors from the local community and beyond. It focused on ensuring that there was a wide range of relevant skills and expertise on the governing body.
• Governors have a thorough understanding of the school’s performance. They are well informed by leaders. They make frequent visits to school and regularly check that school improvement actions are having a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes. As a result, governors are in a strong position to ask searching questions and challenge leaders. They fully support and challenge the school’s leadership.
• Governors monitor the spending of funding for disadvantaged pupils very closely. They seek assurance from leaders that pupil premium funding has a positive impact on improving the experiences for these pupils. They have a clear picture of the gains in pupils’ progress across the school.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are highly effective.
• Keeping pupils safe is embedded in the culture of the school. It has a high priority among staff, who see safeguarding as a top priority. Actions taken to address concerns are timely and well documented. The school proactively works with a range of other agencies, including social services and the police, and is effective at supporting the most vulnerable. Consequently, families trust the school and relationships are built up which safeguard children’s welfare.
• Staff have regular training and updates. As a result, staff know the signs of abuse and how to recognise the impact of issues such as female genital mutilation and radicalisation and extremism.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Outstanding

• Teaching across the school is highly effective. Teachers regularly utilise high-quality, probing questions that make pupils think more deeply. During lessons, teachers check pupils’ understanding and respond to their needs, providing additional support or challenge as required.
• All adults in school have high expectations of all pupils, including the most able, disadvantaged pupils and pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities. Leaders identify through school strategy meetings potential difficulties emerging, and teachers and skilled teaching assistants help to make a substantial contribution to securing pupils’ learning. Consequently, disadvantaged pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities make similarly strong progress to others in school.
• Teachers’ subject knowledge across the curriculum is exceptional. Teachers use technical vocabulary accurately and there are many examples of pupils using and applying this vocabulary within their work. Opportunities to apply reading, writing and mathematics skills across the curriculum are many and varied. However, reading is not always taught in the same depth as writing and mathematics.
• Teaching assistants make an exceptional contribution to pupils’ learning. Their professional skills have been developed extremely well and they support learning skilfully. Small-group work outside the classroom is targeted carefully and teaching assistants have a very good understanding of pupils’ needs. As a result, pupils make good or better progress in these groups.
• Teaching in phonics lessons is engaging, active and embedded in good practice. Teachers and teaching assistants model sounds accurately and address any misconceptions pupils may have quickly. Pupils are able to confidently apply their phonics knowledge in both their reading and writing.
• The school’s curriculum is used as a catalyst for a wide range of different reading and writing activities. Pupils show motivation and enjoyment in sharing texts and writing diaries, newspaper articles, postcards, stories and poems. Leaders agree that the curriculum would be further enhanced by developing the skills associated with technical and artistic learning.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Outstanding

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding.
• School leaders know pupils’ families exceptionally well. Parents speak very highly of the support they have received to help them cope with circumstances which make their children vulnerable. Consequently, relationships between the school and families are very strong.
• Parents were universally positive in their appreciation of the school’s attention to pupils’ development and welfare. They were keen to mention how the school supports home and learning. This helps pupils to feel safe and trust staff. Pupils are confident that any adult at the school will listen to them and help them if they are ever worried about anything. They say that instances of bullying are rare and staff act swiftly to resolve any issues.
• Pupils show a deep respect for one another’s views. They engage in debates in lessons and discuss different viewpoints in a considered way. A member of the school’s inter-faith team remarked, ‘Because we are a multi-faith school, no one feels discriminated against because of their faith.’
• Pupils are clear about how to keep themselves safe. Visitors, such as the local police, are used to help pupils learn about safety. E-safety lessons are held regularly and pupils know how to keep themselves safe online.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils is outstanding.
• Pupils have excellent attitudes to learning. They thrive on the diet of very challenging activities in science and mathematics, and opportunities to learn French and history. Pupils are particularly effective when working with each other in pairs or larger groups. As they get older, many show considerable capability to work independently without teacher direction.
• The behaviour around the school is exemplary. Incidents of poor behaviour are rare. Pupils move around the school quietly and sensibly. This includes at breaktimes, in the dining hall, as well as in lessons. All areas of school are calm and well-ordered and pupils need minimal supervision in terms of managing their behaviour.
• Attendance is consistently in line with the national average due, not least, to pupils’ enjoyment of school. The school has no pupils who are regularly absent from school.

Outcomes for pupils Outstanding

• Over the last two years, pupils have made significantly better progress than the national average in reading, writing and mathematics. The progress of pupils in 2017 in reading, writing and mathematics was in the top 5% of schools nationally. Despite the prior attainment of this group of pupils being below the national average, attainment in reading, writing and mathematics was above the national average.
• In 2017, from low starting points, most pupils in Year 2 reached the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics. This was higher than the national average.
• Evidence from the high-quality work in pupils’ books, matched by detailed information from the school’s current assessment system, shows that pupils currently in the school are making very strong progress in reading, writing and mathematics and a wide range of other subjects from their individual starting points.
• In 2016 and 2017, disadvantaged pupils made better progress when compared to other pupils nationally in reading, writing and mathematics at key stage 2. Highly effective tracking systems allow leaders and class teachers to track the progress of all pupils in detail. Consequently, extra help is provided quickly to enable pupils to catch up. As a result, in most year groups, disadvantaged pupils are making progress that is similarly strong as, and sometimes better than, that of their peers.
• The most able pupils are challenged to achieve the standards of which they are capable and to make sustained progress. This progress, including that of the most able disadvantaged pupils currently in the school, matches the progress of their classmates and is continuing to accelerate. The school supports the achievement of its most-able pupils very well.
• Pupils across the school who have SEN and/or disabilities make outstanding progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are on track to make similar progress this year in key stage 2. Across the school, pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities are supported very well and, as a result, make excellent progress.
• Pupils across the school enjoy reading. The pupils who read to the inspectors were exceptionally confident. They explained how wide reading helped with their writing, providing ideas to develop more adventurous vocabulary choices and write increasingly complex sentences. Leaders have identified the further development of reading through the refining of the approach to guided reading as the school’s next step in its relentless drive to improve outcomes for all pupils.

Early years provision Outstanding

• Leaders and staff have created an inspirational environment for children to learn in. Their approach to ensuring that no opportunities are missed has led to rapid progress in the Nursery and Reception. All adults are adept at talking with and questioning children, which develops children’s understanding and their confidence in speaking and listening. As a result of these high expectations and good awareness of the children’s needs in the setting, the outcomes at the end of the early years are consistently in line with the national average.
• Leaders in the early years have high expectations, which are reflected in the high quality of teaching, learning and assessments observed during the inspection. From very low starting points, children make excellent progress. Children enter the Nursery class with skills and abilities much lower than those generally typical for their age. By the end of Reception, the differences are diminished and most children attain the good level of development typical for children of that age.
• Children who are disadvantaged or have SEN and/or disabilities are supported extremely well. Staff know their needs, and learning activities are particularly well matched to their needs and help them to make good progress.
• In the Nursery and Reception, the atmosphere is calm and purposeful. There are rich opportunities for role play both inside and outside. There is a mixture of self-initiated activities and direct teaching. Staff provide excellent role models through use of language and questioning. As a result, children make strong progress.
• Staff receive regular training to improve their practice. A high priority is placed on professional development. Staff work with other settings to moderate work and share best practice. All staff are continually seeking ways to improve the early years provision.
• The learning environment is highly stimulating. Both indoors and outside, children benefit from a wide range of opportunities to develop in all areas. Teaching is highly effective. Adults promote children’s personal development and communication skills at every opportunity.
• Relationships with parents are very strong. Effective links between home and school enable parents to engage with their children’s learning. The school records parental contributions through the effective use of learning journals and this helps to inform the next steps in learning for individual children.
• Adults are highly vigilant and ensure that safeguarding procedures are followed rigorously. All adults are clear about safeguarding procedures. Risk assessments and training are in place. Children are taught how to keep themselves safe in the classroom and beyond.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 103397 Birmingham 10032729 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 controlled 3 to 11 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 228 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Reverend Richard Sudworth Debbie Westwood 0121 675 5121 www.christch.bham.sch.uk/ enquiry@christch.com Date of previous inspection January 2013

Information about this school

• This is an average-sized primary school.
• The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for the pupil premium is well above average.
• All pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds. The proportion who speak English as an additional language is well above average.
• The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.
• The proportion of pupils joining or leaving the school other than at normal times is above average.

• The proportion of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities is above average. The proportion with an education, health and care plan or statement of special educational needs is above average.
• The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ achievement and progress.

Information about this inspection

• Inspectors visited a number of part-lessons, some of which were visited jointly with school leaders. Inspectors also made shorter visits to lessons and attended an assembly. The inspection team looked at pupils’ work in their books.
• Meetings were held with the headteacher and other senior and middle leaders, and a group of staff. Discussions were also held with members of the governing body and the local diocese.
• Inspectors spoke formally to pupils in meetings and informally at break and lunchtime.
• The inspection team looked at documents provided by the school, including the school’s self-evaluation and its improvement plans, safeguarding documents and those relating to attendance. Inspectors scrutinised pupils’ progress data, records of performance management and minutes of the governing body.
• A number of parents were spoken to during the inspection. There were 28 responses to the staff questionnaire which were taken into account.

Inspection team

Max Vlahakis, lead inspector Janet Satchwell Rachel Davis

Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector Ofsted Inspector