Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Ellenborough Park South, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1XW.

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2

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This is a good school because:

 Most pupils make good progress.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs are helped to progress well.  Teaching is good.  Pupils feel safe, behave well and enjoy being in school. Attendance rates have improved since the last inspection and are above average.  The headteacher has provided the school with steadfast and decisive leadership. She has established high expectations and effective systems for monitoring and improving the school’s performance.  Staff performance is well managed and weaker teaching has been tackled robustly.  The governing body asks searching questions of the school about how well pupils are doing and how well they are taught.  The range of subjects, after-school activities and special events promote well pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers’ marking and the advice given to pupils on how to improve their work are not as good in mathematics as they are in English.  Teaching does not always challenge the most able pupils in mathematics.  The data on pupils’ progress are not used well enough to set targets for improving teaching.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors had meetings with staff, groups of pupils, the Chair of the Governing Body and a group of governor representatives.  The inspectors looked at a range of evidence including: the school’s data on pupils’ progress; the school’s improvement plan; monitoring reports; the work pupils were doing in their books; and the school’s documentation regarding safeguarding.  The inspectors observed teaching and learning in 22 lessons and listened to groups of pupils read.  The headteacher and deputy headteacher conducted three joint observations with the lead inspector. The inspectors also observed senior leaders reporting back to teachers on the quality of learning and pupils’ achievement in lessons.  The inspectors met and held discussions with parents and carers at the start of each day. They also took into account the 34 responses to the on-line questionnaire (Parent View) and the results of a survey of parent and carers conducted by the school in May 2012.

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Inspection team

David Townsend, Lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Richard Light Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Information about this school

 This is an average-sized primary school. An average proportion of pupils are eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in local authority care and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals.  The proportion of pupils who require extra help with their learning, or who have a statement of special educational needs, is below average. The needs of these pupils relate mainly to specific learning difficulties, speech, language and communication difficulties and behaviour, emotional and social difficulties.  The pupils come from diverse ethnic backgrounds, including White British, Indian, African, Mixed and Other White backgrounds. Around a third of pupils speaks English as an additional language, which is well above average.  The school meets the government’s current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for pupils’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve standards in mathematics by:  extending to mathematics the best practice in teachers’ marking and advice to pupils as evident in English  ensuring all lessons are challenging for all pupils, especially the more able.  Increase the effectiveness of the school’s leaders by:  sharing information on pupils’ attainment and progress more widely with staff and governors  using data on pupils’ progress to evaluate what teaching approaches are working best, to set targets for pupils and to evaluate the effectiveness of development plans.

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The achievement of pupils is good

 Since the last inspection, pupils’ attainment by the end of Years 2 and 6 has risen from low levels to at least the national average in English and mathematics.  Children join the Reception class with skills and abilities below those typically seen for their age. They make good progress and most reach the expected levels by the start of Year 1. Children at risk of falling behind are well supported. However, checks to compare how well all children progress in each area of their learning are not thorough enough.  Pupils make good progress in year groups. This is equally true for boys and girls, those who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs. This is because learning activities are well matched to pupils’ individual needs.  Pupils in the current Year 6 did not make good progress until this year due to weaker teaching in the past. Improved teaching and extra guidance in small groups for the less-confident pupils

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The achievement of pupils is good

mean that they are rapidly making up lost ground. Pupils in this year group are now on track for the levels of attainment in English and mathematics expected for their age.  Pupils supported by the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in the care of the local authority and for pupils known to be eligible for free school meals, make good progress in English and mathematics. The funds have been used to target a group of older pupils in Years 5 and 6 whose mathematics and writing skills are weaker and whose progress over time has been slower. One-to-one tuition and an after-school numeracy club, together with work on sentence writing in small groups, have helped speed up their progress.  Standards in reading are above average by the end of Years 2 and 6. When reading to an adult, younger pupils use their knowledge of letters and sounds well to identify unfamiliar words. All

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The achievement of pupils is good

pupils speak enthusiastically about reading; they have a good understanding of different types of books and read texts by a range of authors.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teachers make learning interesting and active for pupils. They are given regular opportunities to discuss ideas with partners and answer questions that require them to extend their own thinking. These approaches particularly help pupils who speak English as an additional language to achieve their potential.  Teachers have good subject expertise. They set challenging tasks but also carefully guide pupils through each step in their learning. In one mathematics lesson, older pupils were asked to estimate the height of the world’s tallest man when given only the dimensions of his hands and limbs. This intrigued the pupils and led to enthusiastic discussions about measuring length and body proportions.  Checks made on pupils’ progress are mostly used well to set work at the right level for all pupils. Teachers regularly use questions to check pupils’ understanding. The pupils themselves are regularly asked to assess how well they have demonstrated the features of good learning agreed

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The quality of teaching is good

at the start of lessons. Sometimes, however, teachers do not offer sufficient challenge in lessons for pupils of all abilities, especially the more-able mathematicians.  Teachers in Key Stage 1 and Reception get the best out of pupils. In a Year 2 reading lesson for more-able pupils, the teacher checked carefully that they could identify where the ‘er’ sound occurs in a range of words, such as ‘lantern’ and ‘allergic’, spell the words correctly and identify their meanings. In the Reception class, a teaching assistant guided the water play in the outdoor learning area, using questioning skilfully to help children explore how a small ball travelled through a set of tubes.  Pupils find the guidance given by teachers when marking their writing particularly helpful, particularly in English. They reflect carefully on how authors plan and write for effect. Key features that make a story work or a poem memorable are brought alive through shared

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The quality of teaching is good

discussion. Teachers refer to these closely and give excellent advice when marking pupils’ efforts. However, the marking of pupils’ numeracy work is not yet of the same quality.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Pupils believe that their behaviour is good and that they are well cared for and safe in school. Responses from the vast majority of parents and carers support the pupils’ view. During the inspection, pupils were polite, respectful and welcoming to visitors.  Pupils show very positive attitudes to learning. As one pupil put it, ‘Because behaviour is good, we learn a lot.’ This process begins as the children enter the Reception class, where an exciting classroom and enthusiastic teaching help foster children’s concentration and curiosity.  Older pupils find lessons stimulating and respond well to being given regular opportunities to plan and review their own learning. They also work effectively together, not least because teachers place an emphasis on helping them to adopt specific roles during group activities. They review their own and others’ contributions to the tasks set and this helps develop good social

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

skills and an awareness of others.  Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe and know about different forms of bullying, such as verbal and cyber bullying. The ‘buddy system’ works well; older pupils befriend younger ones and are on hand to help.  Pupils say that any reported instances of bullying are handled well by the school. While a significant minority of parents and carers who responded to Parent View were not convinced that bullying issues are sorted out effectively, other parents and carers, who talked to inspectors, and the responses to the school’s own survey, supported the pupils’ view. This is also confirmed by behaviour logs which show that effective strategies are used by the school to tackle any such incidents.  Attendance is above average and has improved significantly over time. The school has taken a more active approach and now works closely with parents, carers and attendance officers to

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

address any patterns of increased absence promptly.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher has shown a strong commitment to improving pupils’ attainment and has a clear understanding of how such improvement can be sustained. This commitment is shared by the staff and the governing body.  Leaders at all levels accurately evaluate the work of the school.  The headteacher has strengthened the way in which the work of teachers is evaluated. Targets are set which help teachers improve their practice and they are supported by carefully-planned training activities, including links with colleagues in the Weston Excellence Partnership of local schools.  The school has good systems for checking pupils’ progress and full records about pupils’ attainment. However, this information is not routinely used by teachers to set targets for pupils or to inform school development planning. This slows the pace of improvement.  The school promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well; pupils are

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The leadership and management are good

encouraged to reflect on their learning and consider the school’s Catholic values through the links made between subjects, and the many special events and after-school activities.  Arrangements for safeguarding meet requirements.  The local authority has provided the school with effective support; guidance for governors and senior leaders, training programmes for subject leaders and classroom advice for teachers have all helped speed up improvements.  The governance of the school:  The governing body knows the school well because members visit regularly to monitor the school’s work. This involvement, through the ‘governor of the month’ initiative, includes visits to view lessons alongside school leaders and look at pupils’ work. Since the last inspection, the rate of improvement has accelerated as governors have closely supported school leaders in making changes to staffing, the school environment and policies. Governors have set targets

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The leadership and management are good

which fully hold the headteacher to account for ensuring good-quality teaching and have supported her in tackling weaker practice. They have responded to messages in the May survey of parents and carers about governors’ communications with families by establishing a governors’ forum to involve families more directly in decisions about the school’s future.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 109242 Local authority North Somerset Inspection number 401038

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Primary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 4−11 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 202 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Julian Mobsby Headteacher Rachael Barrett Date of previous school inspection 6−7 July 2010 Telephone number 01934 621919 Fax number 01934 621590 Email address corpuschristi.pri@n-somerset.gov.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk, or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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