School of Christ the King RCVA Primary

School report School of Christ the King RCVA Primary Hartcliffe Road, Filwood Park, Bristol, BS4 1HD

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Inspection dates 30 September–1 October 2014

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Good 2 This inspection: Good 2 Leadership and management Good 2 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Quality of teaching Good 2 Achievement of pupils Good 2 Early years provision Good 2

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The achievement of pupils is good. Pupils make good progress from their individual starting points, which are often low. By the end of Year 6, pupils’ attainment is in line with national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.  The quality of provision in the Early Years is good.  Throughout the school, teaching is effective, and pupils achieve well as a result. This is evident, for example, in the Reception class, where nearly two thirds of children make a good level of development. They are well prepared to move on to Year 1.  Reading skills are taught well and pupils of all ages enjoy reading. They develop and apply their skills so, by the time they are in Year 6, they read with fluency and understanding.  The behaviour of the pupils is good. They enjoy lessons and are keen to learn. Pupils say they are well looked after in school and are safe. They say staff will always help them if they have a problem.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The headteacher is determined in her efforts to improve the quality of teaching and to continue to raise pupils’ achievement. The school’s work so far has shown improvements, for example in the teaching of the sounds letters make (phonics) in Key Stage 1.  The social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of pupils is very good, and pupils learn to get along and care about each other. Unkindness, intolerance and discrimination are not accepted in school.  The governing body now holds the school to greater account for the progress pupils make.

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It is not yet an outstanding school because

 Teachers do not mark pupils’ work regularly enough in all subjects. Pupils are not given sufficient guidance on what they need to do to improve their work. Pupils in turn do not always make the necessary corrections to their work to make it better.  Middle leaders do not check the progress pupils make closely enough, especially in Years 1 and 2. They are only beginning to review the quality of teaching to support the headteacher in her efforts to improve standards across the school.

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Information about this inspection

 The inspectors observed 12 lessons.  Meetings were held with groups of pupils and senior and middle leaders. The lead inspector also held a meeting with members of the governing body and met with a representative of the local authority.  The inspectors listened to pupils from Year 2 and Year 6 read and scrutinised samples of pupils’ workbooks.  A wide range of documents were examined, including the school’s information on pupils’ recent progress, planning and documentation about checks on teaching, and records relating to behaviour, attendance and safeguarding arrangements.  There were only six responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View). The inspection team did consider the 113 responses to a paper version of the questionnaire. It was sent out by the school on the day prior to the inspection, and included some comments about the school from parents. The views of staff were considered through the 21 staff questionnaires returned to the inspection team.

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Inspection team

David Hogg, Lead inspector Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The school is a smaller-than-average-sized primary school.  Most pupils are from a White British background. The proportion of pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds is a little below the national average. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is also below that seen nationally.  The proportion of disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is lower than the national average. The proportion of pupils who are supported through school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is similar to that found nationally.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is high compared with that found in most schools. This is funding provided to give extra support to those pupils known to be eligible for free school meals and to children who are looked after. Nearly 50% of pupils are in receipt of free school

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Information about this school

meals.  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 the quality of teaching by ensuring that:  teachers mark pupils’ work in all subjects regularly and provide pupils with clear guidance on how to improve their work  pupils are given opportunities to make amendments to their work promptly following the feedback they receive from their teachers.  Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that middle leaders are more rigorous in the checks they make on pupils’ progress and the quality of teaching in order to raise achievement.

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The leadership and management are good

 The headteacher provides a clear vision for the school. She is determined in her ambition that the school continues to improve and that pupils continue to be well prepared for the next stage in their education. The school can point to better achievement of children in the Reception class as evidence of increasingly effective teaching.  The middle leadership team support the work of the headteacher but their roles are not developed sufficiently. They now have a greater role in the monitoring of teaching across the school through lesson observations. Their work has yet to have an impact on improving the quality of teaching, for example teachers’ marking and feedback in pupils’ books.  The progress pupils make is checked very carefully and analysed by the headteacher. Discussions then follow with the class teachers. These identify if any pupils need additional support if their progress slows for whatever reason. However, subject leaders are not closely involved in this process. Consequently, they

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The leadership and management are good

do not check how well pupils are achieving in their subject areas across the school, and especially in Years 1 and 2.  The school has clear systems to review the effectiveness of teaching. This enables decisions to be made about any salary increases or promotion opportunities for teachers that are based on how well pupils achieve. This also identifies if staff have training needs which then can be addressed. Sharing expertise within the school, through for example coaching, has improved the quality of teaching of individual staff.  The subjects taught in the school are broad and balanced, and seek to provide pupils with life-memorable experiences. The school uses visits and excursions as learning opportunities to widen and enrich classroom-based activities. The pupils are able to practise their skills in different subject areas. For example, pupils in Year 4 applied their literacy skills when writing an extended report on killer whales in a

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The leadership and management are good

sequence of science lessons.  The school uses the primary sports funding well to encourage the pupils to develop more active lifestyles. Pupils compete in fixtures against other schools and both boys and girls enjoy professional coaching, for example in football from Bristol City FC. The school works with coaches from the nearby Park Sports Centre to deliver high-quality physical education lessons. Teachers work alongside the sports coaches in these sessions and develop their own skills which they can then in turn use back in school.  Pupils are encouraged to reflect on the world around them and consider important issues, for example in a recent lesson, pupils debated the situation in Syria. Pupils have a clear sense of what is right and wrong, and what is acceptable. They lead collective worship within their classrooms and share with others the things that are important to them. Pupils are tolerant and accepting of others, and mix well with others of

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The leadership and management are good

different cultures. The social, moral, spiritual and cultural development of pupils is excellent and pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain.  The school is monitored by the local authority. This has provided additional support and challenge which has been effective in developing the skills of staff in the classroom and helped senior leaders review the impact of the school’s development plans.  The school is at the heart of the local community and supports the families of the pupils when it can. There is a tangible sense within the school of everyone wanting the best for all of the pupils. Parents are very supportive of the school. They are kept informed of events taking place and the learning activities the pupils are working on through the school website and newsletters. Parents say that the school is very supportive, and that staff are approachable and look after the pupils very well.

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The leadership and management are good

 Safeguarding and child protection arrangements meet statutory requirements and keep pupils safe when they are in school.  The governance of the school:  The governing body is very supportive of the school. It uses the information the school provides well to consider the impact and ensure the effectiveness of the school’s work and the progress made by different groups of pupils. This includes those with special educational needs and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. The governors now hold the senior leaders to account much better than they did in the past. They are aware of the strengths of the school and the areas the school is working to improve. The quality of teaching is checked carefully with visits to the classes considered against reports from the School Improvement Partner. There is a clear understanding of the link between the quality of teaching and the outcomes for pupils with the opportunities for salary advancement and

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The leadership and management are good

promotion for staff. The financial position of the school is scrutinised carefully to ensure resources, for example the primary sport funding, are used to best effect. Safeguarding procedures and policies are audited to make sure they provide a framework that keeps pupils safe when they are in school.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good. This makes a good contribution to their learning as they are able to focus on the tasks they are working on. The school has clear systems in place that provide pupils with the boundaries they may not have outside school and they respond well to this structure. Pupils are able to share ideas in class and demonstrate they can work well together and with the adults in the class with them. That said, when teaching is not as effective, some pupils can drift and become less involved in their own learning.  Around school, pupils behave well. They move sensibly around the building. At breaks, they play well together. They are active playing football and with the adult supervisors who act as play leaders. The pupils enjoy the new climbing equipment and the other changes to the playground that have made it a ‘more fun’ place than before.  The pupils have a good understanding of what bullying is and the harm it can do. They say that although

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Behaviour

some people may squabble and fall out, incidents of bullying are very rare. If problems do occur, then adults around school, especially the learning mentor, will help them to sort things out.

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Safety

 The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is good. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. Younger pupils can explain what information they should not share when using social media websites or playing games online.  Pupils are keen to be involved in school life. They represent the school in sports and willingly help out if opportunities to do so arise. The school does not as of yet have many roles for pupils to take on within school but training is due to begin to replace the Year 6 play leaders who left last year.  Pupils get on well with each other. Pupils from different ethnic groups work and play well together. There are few racist incidents and those that have happened in the past have often stemmed from unacceptable attitudes brought into school from the outside community. The school challenges these views immediately. The ethos of the school is clear, but running alongside it are the opportunities for pupils to learn about the

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Safety

other faiths and cultures of people in their local community and across the UK, and their traditions and beliefs.  Attendance is broadly average and improving. The school has worked hard to reduce and discourage absenteeism. This has even involved staff collecting pupils from home when it has been difficult for them to get to school.

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The quality of teaching is good

 Teaching is good overall and develops the pupils’ skills and understanding in reading, writing and mathematics. As a result, the progress pupils make overall, from their individual starting points when they join the school to when they leave in Year 6, is good. However, they do not develop skills rapidly enough in Key Stage 1.  Teacher’s marking and feedback to pupils is inconsistent in how often it is provided and in how helpful the comments are in letting pupils know how they can correct and improve their work. Teachers do not check that pupils have made the necessary corrections to their work and mistakes can be left unrectified. This is most apparent in topic books where middle and senior leaders have not picked it up. Pupils’ skills and understanding of pupils do not develop fast enough in some areas.  Teachers plan activities that will interest and engage pupils. They pay particular attention to ensuring

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The quality of teaching is good

writing tasks motivate boys. In a Year 6 English lesson, the teacher used a clip from a radio news bulletin and photographic images. This helped to develop pupils’ interest in covering a UFO sighting in the local area for a newspaper. It was further developed when some pupils collected ‘space debris’ from the school grounds, prompting one pupil to ask ‘Is this real?’ The teacher continued to suggest that the visitors to the school actually were ‘Official Forensic Scientific Trans-galactic Extra-terrestrial Detectives’. This then provoked some very odd looks aimed towards the visiting inspector. The pupils were totally rapt and went on to produce some very interesting newspaper front pages as a result.  Activities that teachers plan are pitched so they are not too hard for lower-ability pupils or too easy for those more able. As a result, pupils can achieve at different levels with more-able pupils being extended

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The quality of teaching is good

further while lower-ability pupils can consolidate their understanding.  The school uses teaching assistants to good effect to support pupils with special educational needs. Through good questioning, pupils can develop their ideas or check their understanding of an aspect of their work. This enables lower-ability pupils to make progress in lessons.

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is good

 In 2014, the unvalidated information of pupils’ achievement at the end of Year 6 shows that pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics improved from 2013. This is once again in line with national expectations. The proportions of pupils making expected progress were above those seen nationally.  Pupil’s attainment at the end of Year 2 is below national averages. Although pupils generally make expected progress from their staring points, they do not develop their skills rapidly enough.  Inspection evidence from scrutinising the work in pupils’ books supports the school’s own information indicating that most groups of pupils are making good progress.  Pupils learn the sounds letters make (phonics) quickly and can use this knowledge to blend the sounds together when faced with an unfamiliar or tricky word. Four fifths of Year 1 pupils achieved the expected standard in the national phonics screening check in 2014. This is nearly double the proportion that was

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is good

assessed in 2012. Older pupils read with confidence and fluency.  Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs generally make similar progress to other children. This is due to the close attention that the school places on ensuring all pupils have an equal opportunity to succeed. In class work and small-group work, they receive effective support and develop their skills. The adults working with them check their progress very carefully to ensure the chosen level of support is effective.  The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is high and makes up nearly half the number of pupils in school. The school has used its additional resources effectively and the gaps in the skills and understanding between supported pupils and other children within the school are closing at the end of Year 2 and at the end of Year 6. Last year, the gap at the end of Year 6 in reading was about two terms, in writing a little

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is good

over a term and a half, and in mathematics, less than half a term. No comparative national data are available at present so a comparison cannot be made with other schools.  The achievement of more-able pupils is good. Classroom activities challenge them and accelerate the progress they make.  Pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds or those who speak English as an additional language make good progress and achieve well. The school explains this is due to the positive attitudes towards learning that they show and the additional help they receive at home.

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is good

 Most children join the school with skills that are lower than typically seen, especially in literacy and social interactions. They quickly settle in to the routines of the classroom and make good progress. By the end of their Reception Year, nearly two thirds of them achieve a good level of development and are well prepared to move onto Year 1.  The Reception class is well lead by a skilled teacher who is supported very effectively by the teaching assistants in the setting. The progress children make is checked very carefully to check if any of them need additional support and to build on the learning from earlier lessons. In one session linked to mathematics, activities that the children could choose themselves supported purposeful adult-led activities well.  More-able children make good progress, especially in writing. Work seen in learning journals from 2013/2014 showed children moving from making marks on the pages, forming recognisable letters, and

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is good

writing simple sentences to finally writing a short story. The spelling of the words in these stories featured a mixture of simple words correctly spelt and harder words spelt as they sounded.  The behaviour of the children is good. They follow instructions well and listen to others. They are very motivated by the activities available to them but still, as yet, tend to play alongside other children rather than with them. At times, their interest in the adult-led tasks fades and this limits learning.  The Reception team build good relationships with parents to make sure the children have a good start to school. Information about how well the children are doing is regularly shared with parents through the learning journals, parents’ meetings and informal discussions throughout the year.  The children are well cared for and looked after. Some safeguarding policies are currently being reviewed, for example the procedures if a parent is late to collect their child.

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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 failing

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Grade Judgement Description

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 019243 Local authority City of Bristol Inspection number 444115

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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 205 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Stephen Jeffery Headteacher Anne Peachey Date of previous school inspection 18–19 November 2009 Telephone number 01179 664 844 Fax number 01179 631 949 Email address christ.the.king.p@bristol-schools.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 and 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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