Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

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

p.1

Mrs Wendy Walsh Headteacher Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Halton Moor Avenue Leeds West Yorkshire LS9 0HA

p.1

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Following my visit to the school on 5 December 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 September 2014.

p.1

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

This school continues to be good. The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school’s next inspection be a section 5 inspection.

p.1

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

You have created a school where pupils feel safe, happy and eager to learn. You aim to ensure that everyone in Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School is highly valued, keeping the school’s motto of ‘excellence and enjoyment with Christ at our centre’ at the heart of the work you do. Parents and carers, staff and governors are proud to belong to the school. This is testament to the very good relationships you have established. Pupils are proud of their school and genuinely enjoy the experience of learning. This is shown in their excellent behaviour, their levels of concentration and their enthusiastic responses when talking about their learning. Pupils told me that they especially value the ‘teachers who plan work that is really exciting and makes us want to learn’. Parents also share the pupils’ pride, with one parent saying, ‘I feel privileged in having both kids at Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School.’

p.1

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

You and your leaders have a very precise understanding of the school’s main strengths and those areas that can develop even further. You have very high expectations of your staff. You impress upon staff the need to make sure that their classroom practice ensures that pupils attain highly and make strong progress, both academically and in their personal development. All staff respond positively to these high expectations. Your belief that ‘all children can and will achieve’ permeates the school. Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, make exceptionally strong progress in reading and mathematics. In both subjects, pupils’ progress has been substantially above average for the last three academic years. Progress in writing has been above average in two of the last three years. Attainment is also high, with the proportion of pupils achieving and exceeding the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics considerably above average.

p.1

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

You have responded effectively to the areas for improvement from the last inspection. Your assistant headteachers now play an integral role in school improvement. They support staff to develop their practice through coaching and modelling. As a result, teaching across the school is at least good, with much being outstanding. Staff all take responsibility for pupils’ attainment and, as a result, there are no dips as pupils move through the school. All staff share in the success at the end of key stage 2 and you have established a strong team culture.

p.2

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Children in the early years make a very strong start to school. They achieve well from starting points that are below those typical for their age due to carefully planned learning activities that inspire and motivate them to learn. The early years is a vibrant and purposeful area that promotes children’s love of learning. The outdoor learning environment is used very effectively to promote mathematical thinking and reasoning skills. Planned opportunities to develop the expressive arts have also led to children being more imaginative and confident. Children now initiate their own creative activities such as role play and drama.

p.2

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Governors are very knowledgeable about the school and are keen to continually improve their effectiveness. They know the strengths of the school and show an unrelenting desire to continue to improve. They are clear about what the school does well and what remains to be done to bring about further improvement. Governors hold leaders to account effectively and carry out monitoring that allows them to accurately assess the impact of school improvement priorities.

p.2

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

You are passionate about making sure that the school continues to improve even further. You have begun to ensure that the most able pupils move on to solving challenging mathematical problems more quickly. You are also developing the skills of your teaching assistants to ensure that they all question pupils effectively to further their learning.

p.2

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose.

p.2

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

There is a palpable ethos of care and support for children, parents and staff. Leaders and governors are tenacious in all matters relating to safeguarding and take their responsibilities very seriously. They make sure that all recruitment checks are carried out on the suitability of staff and keep up-to-date with safeguarding regulations. All staff have received training, for example on the ‘Prevent’ duty, so that they know how to recognise and report causes for concern. Safeguarding records show that leaders take prompt and effective action to ensure that pupils receive the support they need. You ensure that pupils, parents and staff are given the help they need through Catholic Care, an agency you buy in to provide support when needed. Records are detailed and of high quality.

p.2

Short inspection of Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Pupils’ behaviour, both in and out of the classroom, is excellent. Disruption in lessons rarely occurs and when it does it is dealt with effectively. Pupils say they feel safe because they are kind to each other. Pupils say that no one is discriminated against because of religion, ethnicity or race. All pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe. They have an excellent knowledge of how to stay safe online. Pupils can talk confidently about the ‘Safeguarding Team’ of adults who they can talk to if they are worried about anything.

p.3

Inspection findings

 At the start of my visit, we agreed a number of key lines of enquiry for the inspection. Firstly, I looked at how effectively pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported to make progress. Pupils with SEND make very strong progress due to well-planned interventions that are often led by the assistant headteachers. Leaders regularly check the progress of pupils to ensure no child is being left behind. Bespoke support for individual pupils is put in place to ensure that the majority of pupils with SEND are working within age-related expectations. At times, it was very difficult to spot pupils with SEND in the class as they were working so well and accessing resources to support them to be able to work alongside their peers.  The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has a clear understanding of the needs of the pupils with SEND in the school. She models high expectations of

p.3

Inspection findings

the pupils and has the expectation that the majority of pupils with SEND will reach national expectations by the end of Year 6.  I also looked at whether leaders have ensured that attainment at the end of key stage 2 has remained high and how much progress pupils are making currently. Leaders are relentless in their drive for pupils to continue to achieve exceptionally well. The school’s performance information indicates that pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics continues to be above average, with the proportion achieving the higher standards also being above average. Achievement is also very strong in key stage 1, with pupils reaching above average standards in reading, writing and mathematics. Class teachers are unyielding in their determination for pupils to succeed. This was seen in lessons, where expectations of the pupils were very high. At times, some teaching assistants did not challenge pupils effectively through their questioning.

p.3

Inspection findings

 Work in books shows that current pupils’ attainment is high, especially in writing. Handwriting in pupils’ books across all subjects is neat and well-presented. It is exceptionally well-presented in Year 6. It is clear that pupils take an immense pride in their work. Work in mathematics books is just as well-presented. However, we did see some missed opportunities to challenge the most able pupils further in mathematics.  Finally, I looked at how leaders ensure that pupils access a motivating and meaningful curriculum. The curriculum is well planned and bespoke to the school. It is well-designed to motivate pupils and develop their knowledge systematically in all curriculum areas. An example of this was in art, where a well-thought-out plan was in place to ensure that pupils built up their skills based on their prior learning.  Leaders at all levels have thought carefully about how to make learning

p.3

Inspection findings

meaningful for pupils. The pupils spoke with great excitement about how they went to the cinema to watch `The Greatest Showman’ and then came back and wrote biographies about P.T. Barnum. Leaders also consider how to develop pupils’ sense of responsibility and independence. Pupils are given a wide range of jobs in school and can confidently discuss how these jobs have a positive impact on the school. For example, pupils shared how ‘Bistro Buddies’ encourage healthy eating, how ‘Playground Buddies’ help pupils to feel happy and safe on the playground, how ‘Corridor Cops’ keep pupils safe in the corridor when walking around school, and how ‘Savings Club’ helps children to learn about the value of money and save for their future. Pupils also talked about ‘take over day’, when children and adults changed roles for the day. They talked enthusiastically about how they were able to be teachers, work in the office, and how some

p.4

Inspection findings

pupils even became the headteacher and carried out a learning walk and led a whole-school assembly.

p.4

Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that they:

p.4

Next steps for the school

 increase the proportion of pupils who achieve the higher standards in mathematics through giving more opportunities for pupils to solve challenging problems  ensure all teaching assistants are supporting pupils to progress through effective questioning.

p.4

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 Leeds (RC), the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Leeds. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

p.4

Information about the inspection

During the inspection, I held meetings with you, the assistant headteachers and other middle leaders. I also spoke to four governors, a representative from the Diocese of Leeds and a representative from the local authority. I met with a group of pupils. I evaluated documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation, the school development plan, information about pupils’ progress, minutes of governing body meetings, behaviour and attendance records and information about safeguarding. I considered the three free-text responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. I also looked at the 22 responses to the staff questionnaire and 200 responses to the pupil survey. I visited every classroom with you to observe teaching and learning and to scrutinise pupils’ work in their books.

p.5