Setting

Mr Andrew Webber Acting Headteacher Christ Church Church of England Primary School Old Neighbourhood Chalford Stroud Gloucestershire GL6 8PP

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 28 January 2016, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in May 2011.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the previous inspection.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

 Staff, pupils and parents are full of praise for how you are leading the school. You show a determination that pupils should receive the very best education.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

 You and your team work effectively together. You continue to build on the strengths of the school. Together, you have successfully tackled those areas identified at the previous inspection as needing improvement.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

 Your evaluation of the school’s own performance is accurate. It correctly identifies the areas the school needs to improve. In particular, you and your staff recognise that progress in mathematics needs to be stronger, especially for the most-able pupils. You are taking effective action to bring about these improvements swiftly.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

 Your teaching team is strong. They are ably supported by the teaching assistants who work alongside them. Together, they are committed and endeavour to ensure that all pupils do as well as they can. Ofsted

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk  Pupils describe how teachers provide them with effective guidance. They have a clear understanding of what they can do and what they need to do in order to improve their work. Pupils respond to the guidance offered and this ensures they make better progress.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

 You have developed a curriculum that is exciting for pupils. Pupils describe how they enjoy their learning because the work is interesting and fun. As a result, they achieve well across a broad range of subjects.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

 Pupils feel safe and secure. They talk positively about how you and your staff know them as individuals and the high-quality care they receive. Consequently, they enjoy their time in school.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

 Parents are effusive in their praise of the wonderful learning experiences their children receive at the school. Parents have rightly noted that the school prepares pupils well for the next stage of their education, providing them with the necessary skills and confidence.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

You, your staff and governors share a commitment to keeping pupils safe. The arrangements for safeguarding are meticulous and highly effective. You work successfully with other agencies to minimise the possibility of harm to any pupil. Staff receive regular and high-quality safeguarding training to keep them well informed on all types of risk to pupils. You carefully evaluate the risks involved with an activity, such as when pupils are travelling to their weekly swimming lesson. You are assiduous in staff recruitment and safeguarding.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

Pupils are extremely confident that they can share any worries they may have with an adult. They describe how their school is a very happy and safe place where they are extremely well cared for.

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Short inspection of Christ Church Church of England Primary School

Leaders and governors ensure that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose and records are detailed and of good quality.

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Inspection findings

 Staff, pupils, parents and governors are full of praise for your leadership since starting in post as acting headteacher in September 2015. You are highly ambitious for the school and have an unwavering determination that every pupil should receive the very best education.

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Inspection findings

 Self-evaluation is accurate. You link the school development plan strongly to this evaluation. However, development plans are not sufficiently focused on how actions are going to improve pupils’ achievements.  In this small school, all teachers take on leadership responsibilities. They work effectively together to ensure that all pupils receive a good education. Teachers accurately identify areas of weakness and agree actions to bring about rapid improvement. For example, they have improved pupils’ calculation skills in mathematics. Teachers ensure that effectively planned activities meet pupils’ needs and have increased their expectations of what pupils can achieve. Nevertheless, you are fully aware that while pupils make good progress, not all of them make the very best progress of which they are capable, especially in mathematics. Consequently, this remains a priority for the school.

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Inspection findings

 Children in the early years do well. The proportion of children achieving a good level of development continues to rise and remains above the national average. This was especially so in 2015 where all children achieved a good level of development. This is as a result of consistently good-quality teaching which ensures that children are well prepared as they start in Year 1.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils are making good progress in their learning. This was particularly evident in the wide range of books viewed during the inspection. The quality of pupils’ work was good. Teachers have high expectations of all pupils. Pupils particularly appreciate the ‘Wow’ and ‘Now’ feedback they receive. They describe how this good guidance is helping them to make better progress. You have improved learning in mathematics, which is motivating pupils. For example, in a lower Key Stage 2 lesson, pupils’ determination to succeed in establishing how many times the earth spins on its axis over a period of time was unwavering. This activity was one example of how you are making stronger links in English and mathematics with other subjects.

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Inspection findings

 The proportion of pupils meeting the nationally expected level in the phonics check has increased over the last three years, albeit with small numbers of pupils in each year. In 2015, all pupils met the expected level.

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Inspection findings

 Disadvantaged pupils and those pupils who have special educational needs or disability make good progress in reading, writing and mathematics. Activities are planned accurately to meet pupils’ needs and they receive effective support to ensure that this good progress does not stall.

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Inspection findings

 Pupils are extremely happy at the school. They form strong relationships with each other. For example, older pupils who are play leaders ensure that playtimes and lunchtimes are happy experiences for all pupils. They organise a range of games which pupils of all ages can take part in. Consequently, incidents of poor behaviour or bullying are extremely rare.

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Inspection findings

 You work well to develop pupils’ understanding of what it means to live in Britain today. British values are taught effectively. Pupils talk knowledgeably about respect, democracy, and equality. For example, they understand that although everyone is different, all should be treated equally. The ‘mock court trial’ that Year 6 pupils experience reinforces extremely well democracy and the rule of law.

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Inspection findings

 Since starting in post, you quickly identified that attendance for some pupils was not regular. You have rapidly tackled this through working closely with parents and motivating pupils to attend regularly and on time. As a result, attendance is much improved and is now above the national average.

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Inspection findings

 Governance is effective. Governors ensure that the interim leadership of the school is of the highest quality. They know the school well and routinely challenge you. However, this challenge is not yet recorded sufficiently well enough.

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Inspection findings

 Governors are working closely with the local authority and diocese to secure the future permanent leadership of the school.

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Inspection findings

 You are aware of the frequent mobility of pupils in the school due to families relocating in and out of the area. Nevertheless, pupils and parents describe with delight the strong ‘family feel’ of the school. Parents who have recently moved to the area comment on the inclusive nature of the school and how you warmly welcome their children. Consequently, pupils settle quickly and, as one parent described, the progress their children are making has ‘sky rocketed’.

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Inspection findings

 Parents are delighted with the education their children receive. They describe the change in leadership as ‘seamless’. They describe how under your leadership the education of their children is in ‘good hands’.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and governors should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 teachers improve pupils’ progress further by making sure that work is adapted during individual lessons to maximise the progress pupils make, especially in mathematics for the most-able

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Next steps for the school

 development plans focus more precisely on pupils’ progress with clear indication of who will monitor the actions to check that they are having the right impact. I am copying this letter to the Chair of the Governing Body, the Director of Education for the Diocese of Gloucester, the Regional Schools Commissioner and the Director of Children’s Services for Gloucestershire County Council. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I met with you, your subject leader for mathematics, your governors and an officer from the local authority to discuss pupils’ progress and the improvements the school has made since the previous inspection. Together, we visited lessons to observe teaching and to look at pupils’ work. I spoke with parents at the start of the day. There were too few responses to the online survey, Parent View, for those to be published. However, I considered the responses of parents who completed your own school survey. I also spoke to pupils to listen to their views. I evaluated the accuracy of your self-evaluation along with other documentation. I checked the effectiveness of your safeguarding arrangements and your work to ensure the regular attendance of your pupils.

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