St Nicholas Church of England Primary

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mr John Paddington Headteacher Chislehurst Church of England Primary School Road The Common Chislehurst Kent BR7 5PQ

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Short inspection of Chislehurst Church of England Primary

Following my visit to the school on 19 September 2017, 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 your predecessor school was judged to be good in February 2014.

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Short inspection of Chislehurst Church of England Primary

The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You and your deputy have provided stable leadership while embracing change and striving to improve further. You are ambitious for the school and regularly and accurately evaluate its strengths and areas for development. Recently you reshaped your leadership team. You took on a full-time leader with expertise in special educational needs and disability and created posts that enabled a number of your teachers to develop subject expertise and leadership skills. As a result, you improved outcomes at the end of key stage 2 in 2017, particularly in writing.

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Short inspection of Chislehurst Church of England Primary

During the inspection, pupils were friendly and courteous to each other and to the adults at school. Playtimes were characterised by a ‘family feel’ where older pupils looked after younger pupils. Pupil play leaders organised games for everyone to enjoy. I observed a high degree of engagement in many lessons and a thirst for knowledge. In the Year 6 class, pupils confidently gave explanations of complex grammatical structures and literary devices, such as personification. Pupils take part in a wide range of after-school clubs and represent their school in local events with pride. They are encouraged by staff to take on additional responsibility through the Junior Leader programme.

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Short inspection of Chislehurst Church of England Primary

Parents and carers spoke highly of the school and in particular its Christian values and strong sense of community. A parent said, ‘I cannot speak highly enough of the quality of teaching and care which has been shown to my children.’ The families I met in the playground told me that their children are happy to come to school and that they would recommend the school to other families.

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Short inspection of Chislehurst Church of England Primary

Pupils told me that they feel safe at school and can talk to a number of different people if they are worried about something. They appreciate the ‘Worry Box’ where they can post their concerns so that a member of staff can help them. They also find it useful to be able to self-refer to the counsellor at school. Pupils feel that bullying is rare and is dealt with quickly by staff. The majority of parents who responded to Parent View also reported that bullying is dealt with effectively and that they believe that their children are safe at school.

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Short inspection of Chislehurst Church of England Primary

Pupils have learned how to keep themselves safe in a range of different contexts. They talked knowledgeably about e-safety, road safety and fire safety. They remembered numerous lessons, assemblies and special events where they learned how to stay safe.

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Short inspection of Chislehurst Church of England Primary

Safeguarding arrangements are well managed across the school. As designated safeguarding lead, you understand the risks to your pupils well and have put in place strategies to address these. You have made sure that training for staff is up to date and includes the most recent statutory guidance. As a result, your staff team understand clearly how to help keep pupils safe from harm and what to do if they have a concern. We looked at some case studies together, showing how you follow up disclosures rigorously. This includes engaging the support of specialists both from external agencies and from within your staff team.

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Inspection findings

 Attainment on entry to the school is high. By the end of Year 6, attainment in reading, writing, maths, and grammar, punctuation and spelling is high. Pupils are well prepared to start secondary school. Evidence in books indicates that progress over time is good.  For the past three years, outcomes at the end of the early years foundation stage have been broadly average, and boys have not attained as well as girls. This difference was greater in reading. You and your deputy have accurately identified this as a key area of development and have made improvements to provision in the Reception Year.  You have appointed an early years leader and have a clear plan of support and development for her in her first year. She has a focused plan to improve outcomes at the end of the early years foundation stage, but it is too early to assess its impact on pupils yet. She has set up a range of strategies to develop early reading.

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Inspection findings

In the classroom there is a well-stocked, attractive reading area and a range of reading games. Daily phonics and regular one-to-one reading are key elements of the children’s reading diet. The early years lead has involved parents in a range of strategies to support early reading by using home learning books for reading.  In 2016, attainment in writing was above the national average but progress across key stage 2 was significantly below the national average. In response to this, you changed your approach to the teaching of writing. In 2017, attainment was well above the national average and progress rose to above the national average.  Your English leader has sharply focused plans in place to improve progress in writing and evaluates the impact of her plans regularly. Her subject expertise is a strength. Last year she closely supported teachers’ planning for writing, and as a result pupils in all classes in key stage 2 made good progress. In books, I saw a

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Inspection findings

high standard of writing. There were different types of writing completed in a range of curriculum areas, including history, science, religious education and geography. Pupils are writing frequently and at length. The number of pupils who have special education needs and disabilities at the school is small. The English leader is planning next to focus on making sure that teachers are meeting the needs of these pupils so that they also make good progress.  You and your leaders have been developing the quality of teachers’ feedback so that it helps pupils to improve their learning. The impact of this focus is evident in books in all classes. It is particularly apparent in spelling and grammar.  The school receives a good balance of challenge and support from representatives of the trust. The chief executive officer has an accurate picture of the strengths and key areas to develop at the school. Your school improvement partner

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Inspection findings

rigorously monitors the progress you are making against objectives in your school development plan. She also plays an important moderation and quality assurance role. As part of the trust, you and your leaders are able to develop your leadership skills through opportunities to mentor and coach leaders in other schools.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they:

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Next steps for the school

 continue to develop the quality of teaching and learning in writing at key stage 2 so that all pupils make good or better progress  improve the quality of provision in reading in the Reception Year so that a greater proportion of children achieve a good level of development.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the executive board, the director of education for the Diocese of Rochester, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Bromley. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I carried out the following activities during the inspection:

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Information about the inspection

 I listened to parents’ feedback about the school and analysed the 73 responses to the online questionnaire for parents.  I met school staff and held discussions with you and senior and middle leaders.  I undertook joint visits to lessons in all year groups with leaders.  I reviewed work in pupils’ books, with a particular focus on progress on writing.  I met with your school improvement partner and representatives from the trust.  I met with a group of pupils and asked them for their views of the school.  I heard a group of pupils read and discussed reading with them.  I observed pupils playing outside at lunchtime.  I reviewed a range of documents, including those relating to safeguarding, your self-evaluation and the school development plan.

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