Christ Church Hanham CofE Primary School

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

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Mr Ian Hutton Headteacher Christ Church Hanham Church of England Primary School Memorial Road Hanham Bristol BS15 3LA

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School

Following my visit to the school on 10 May 2018, 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 June 2014.

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School

Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I have identified some priorities for improvement which I advise the school to address. In light of these priorities, the school’s next inspection will be a full section 5 inspection. There is

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Since the previous inspection, leaders have not taken action with sufficient speed and rigour to prevent a significant decline in pupils’ writing outcomes. This culminated in 2017 with pupils’ key stage 2 progress scores being significantly below the national average and in the lowest 10% nationally. Leaders have been slow to recognise the gravity of this situation, failing to respond sooner with the urgency required. You and other leaders acknowledge this, citing reasons, including turbulence in staffing, significant governance changes and building works, which have caused leaders to be distracted.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

However, current leaders, including both the new deputy head and the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo), together with the English subject leader, are now working effectively with you to start tackling identified issues. In addition, following a ‘wake-up call’ arising from a local authority review in November 2017, there have been changes and improvements to how governors are working to hold leaders to account. Governors are now providing a strong lever for change through visits and audits of their own. However, much of this is too recent for effects to be seen. Consequently, there are still inconsistencies in teaching, learning and assessment, particularly in writing, as well as some marked differences in the attainment of disadvantaged pupils, which remain critical areas to address before your next inspection.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

However, pupils consistently told me that they are happy and enjoy their learning. Teachers make lessons fun, including providing a range of activities through different subjects. Parents and carers mostly endorse this view. The overwhelming majority of parents (97%) would recommend the school to others. They say, ‘We feel our child is making great progress and always enjoys his learning’, and, ‘Excellent school. Couldn’t recommend enough!’ Pupils show good attitudes to learning in lessons. They are enthusiastic and make positive contributions through responding well to questions and working together to help each other. Staff build productive professional relationships with pupils to promote a positive climate for learning.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Staff are diligent and tenacious in safeguarding pupils. You ensure that they take robust action to intervene or escalate concerns in a timely way to keep pupils safe. Safeguarding arrangements are up to date and fit for purpose. This includes the recruitment, vetting, induction and training of staff. As a result, staff are knowledgeable, and use that knowledge to promote a strong culture for safeguarding pupils. For example, staff show a good understanding of whistleblowing procedures and have also used internal systems effectively for gathering important information about pupils to help keep them safe. You make pupils’ safety and their well-being a priority which is seen widely in the work of the school.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Pupils say that they feel safe. They have trust in the staff and in staff’s ability to deal swiftly with any rare incidents of anti-social behaviour or bullying. Pupils have full awareness of what bullying is, including cyber bullying. They acquire this through activities such as anti-bullying week. Pupils know how to stay safe in a variety of situations, for example when working or playing online, or in the event of a fire at school. Pupils and staff alike share an understanding that staying safe is everyone’s responsibility.

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Inspection findings

 Due to weaknesses in writing, seen in national data at the end of key stage 2, we agreed that writing would be the main focus of the inspection. Along with other leaders, you have identified and started to tackle key weaknesses in the teaching of writing. The English subject leader has strong subject knowledge and models effective practice in Year 6. Appropriately targeted training and professional development are supporting teachers to improve their practice. For example, teachers are using a particular sequence, including the use of a high-quality text, to teach and model writing for pupils. These strategies are starting to raise achievement and improve the quality of writing seen in pupils’ books.  However, the quality of teaching is too variable, particularly in securing high- quality writing in a range of subjects. Teachers do not have sufficiently high expectations of writing across the curriculum. As a result, writing outcomes are

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Inspection findings

inconsistent and pupils are still finding difficulties in transferring and using knowledge to maintain high standards in science, geography and history.  Prior low-attaining pupils and those who have special educational needs (SEN) and/or disabilities find it difficult to catch up or make strong progress in writing. This is often because teachers’ planned ‘next steps’ or success criteria are not refined or precise enough to meet the pupils’ needs. Success criteria are too generic and do not take account of the most important elements needed to help pupils overcome specific barriers in their writing.  Our analysis of pupils’ writing shows some weaknesses in pupils’ ability to compose, organise and structure their thoughts through extended pieces of writing. Consequently, they have difficulty in sustaining high-quality writing with sophisticated devices to reach the highest standards. However, there are

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Inspection findings

occasions when pupils write with empathy and meaning, for example in Year 6, when writing about Jesus’ thoughts and feelings. There are also, in some pupils’ writing, persisting issues with mastery of basic spelling, punctuation and grammar, which are not identified quickly enough by teachers.  SEN support plans also lack the detail needed to support pupils to achieve consistently well. The new SENCo and deputy are addressing this rigorously. The SENCo has also taken effective action to review the SEN register. This has seen the school’s SEN register increase from 3.5% to 12.4%. However, the previous under-recording of pupils who have SEN and/or disabilities has meant that, for too long, these pupils have not been receiving the teaching and provision to support them well enough.  Teaching in the Reception Year is effective in targeting children’s needs to do well. This includes supporting children to make good progress in writing. The

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Inspection findings

early years leader undertakes assessments and uses information well to plan appropriate next steps for the children. Staff have rightly identified that, for some children, limited motor skills and physical development are a barrier for some children to write well. This is being tackled through carefully designed teaching and support provision, especially for boys.  A further key line of enquiry evaluated the effectiveness of the pupil premium strategy. This is because published data and information show persistent weaknesses in pupils’ outcomes.  Targeted strategies to support disadvantaged pupils, including those who have SEN and/or disabilities, or who are prior lower attaining, have not been fit for purpose. These have taken too long to establish and implement. Consequently, pupils’ achievement has been hampered over time. The attainment of disadvantaged pupils remains stubbornly below that of others, including their

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Inspection findings

non-disadvantaged counterparts, in reading, writing and mathematics. In some cases, for example in writing, there are differences of around 30% within some year groups.  However, the deputy headteacher has taken on the responsibility of champion/leader for disadvantaged pupils. She is working well with the SENCo to overhaul systems and revise the strategy for disadvantaged pupils. A recent pupil premium review undertaken by the local authority and a subsequent audit in January 2018 have identified appropriate next steps and raised awareness in the school. You and your team have identified specific milestones through the school development plan (SDP) to raise achievement in writing.  Most recently, leaders are starting to target and support disadvantaged pupils appropriately. It is still too early though, to see sustained improvement in their academic outcomes. However, attendance of disadvantaged pupils is improving

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Inspection findings

well. In comparison with the same time last year, this has risen by 2.1% (to 93.4%) but still remains adrift of non-disadvantaged and all other pupils.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 they improve the quality of pupils’ writing, especially in key stage 2, by teaching pupils how to organise, structure and compose writing of the highest quality across the curriculum  teachers plan pupils’ next steps precisely to meet their needs, especially prior lower-attaining pupils and those who have SEN and/or disabilities  they raise achievement of disadvantaged pupils and diminish differences so that pupils are well prepared for the next stage in their learning.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the director of education for the Diocese of Bristol, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for South Gloucestershire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

I worked extensively with you and the deputy headteacher, including analysing a range of pupils’ written work in different subjects. I also talked with pupils during lessons and observed children writing in Years 3 and 6. I scrutinised safeguarding records and we discussed a wide range of related matters, including staff recruitment, training and vetting arrangements. I spoke with pupils, staff and parents about their views of safeguarding.

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Information about the inspection

Together, we visited a sample of classes in the school. I met with representatives of the governing body and reviewed school documents, including the school’s self- evaluation summary and records of governors’ visits. I spoke with the school’s improvement adviser, who has also been involved in providing support through the local authority’s commissioning framework. I took full account of the 107 responses to Parent View, as well as reviewing the free-texts received through the inspection. I also took into consideration additional views provided by parents in confidential letters and during discussions. I also considered the responses of staff and pupils through the online surveys. There was a total of 65 pupil responses and 28 staff responses.

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