Christ Church Primary SW9

Christ Church Primary SW9 Cancell Road, North Brixton, London SW9 6HN

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good

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Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 The executive headteacher offers strong leadership across the school.  The SW9 partnership with St. Andrew’s CE Primary School strengthens the school’s capacity for future school improvement.  Leadership at all levels, including governance, is effective, and good teaching is delivering year-on-year improvement.  Pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 1 is above the national average in reading, writing and mathematics.  Phonics is taught well, and the percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in the Year 1 phonics screening check is above the national average.  Pupils’ attainment at the end of key stage 2 for reading, writing and mathematics is in line with national expectations.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language are well supported and make good progress.  Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress from their starting points.

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Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

 Behaviour is good, and pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning.  The school has a positive faith ethos, and all pupils reported feeling safe and well cared for.  The school grounds are exceptional, and outdoor learning is a key strength across the school.  The school celebrates the diversity of the local community, and pupils are prepared well for life in modern Britain.  Attendance has shown strong improvement, and it is in line with the national average.  Outcomes for most-able pupils at key stage 2 are below the national average. Leaders have identified this as a key priority.  From low starting points on entry to Nursery, children make strong progress. However, further challenge is needed as children progress through the early years.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Ensure that there is greater challenge for children as they progress through the early years foundation stage by: – encouraging children to write independently and apply their phonics skills in their writing – enabling children to deepen and strengthen their knowledge and understanding across all areas – supporting children’s reading choices to ensure that they have access to suitable books to develop their confidence and fluency.  Ensure that the most able pupils in key stage 2 have opportunities to write independently and at length.

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

 The executive headteacher and the SW9 partnership with St Andrew’s CE Primary School offer the school strong leadership capacity.  The executive headteacher and head of school have developed a strong team who share a realistic understanding of school self-evaluation.  Senior leaders and middle leaders demonstrate strong impact in their leadership responsibilities. All leaders display common purpose, strong ambition and a determination to secure future school improvement.  Leaders have worked well to develop an exciting, innovative and creative curriculum. Pupils enjoy full coverage of the national curriculum programmes of study.  Leaders are outward looking and have offered support to other local schools, as a partner of the Lambeth Teaching School Alliance.  Leaders recognise the value of working partnerships with national and local providers, such as The National Theatre and The Oval cricket ground, in order to raise levels of

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Effectiveness of leadership and management Good

enjoyment and achievement across the school.  New members of staff receive strong induction support and mentoring from experienced teachers. Newly qualified teachers feel confident in their practice as a result of their colleagues’ support and collaboration.  Leaders, including governors, manage staff performance well. Future leaders are nurtured successfully through a rich programme of personal and professional development opportunities.  Pupil premium funding and special educational needs funding are used effectively to provide a wide range of intervention and support. This enables these pupils to make good progress.

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Governance of the school

 Governors are knowledgeable and know their school very well. All governors make regular visits to the school to oversee standards and offer a wide skill set to support school improvement.  Governors have been instrumental in the development of the soft federation with St Andrew’s CE Primary School. The federation brings the school strong capacity under the leadership of the executive headteacher.  An effective programme of governor training keeps governors informed and up to date with current educational issues.  Strong fiscal oversight enables governors to use the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils wisely. Governors also ensure the sports premium is used effectively to develop the physical education curriculum.  Governors fulfil all their statutory responsibilities, and they are strongly ambitious for the school. They ask the right questions to move the school forward, and they present

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Governance of the school

effective challenge in holding school leaders to account.  Governors have championed the outdoor environment to provide high-quality outdoor learning to support pupils’ interaction with the natural world. This promotes pupils’ health and emotional well-being.  Governors have been instrumental in encouraging a parent-teacher association to strengthen parental partnerships in the school.

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Safeguarding

 Arrangements for safeguarding are effective.  The designated safeguarding lead is known to all staff, and procedures for reporting initial concerns are clearly understood.  The safeguarding team has trained all staff to be vigilant to potential risks, and vulnerable pupils are monitored closely. Leaders have established effective partnerships with social services, and they make referrals with the support and guidance of the local authority safeguarding board.  Staff and governors are rigorous in their duty of care to keep children safe, and regular training updates are given to all staff.  The governor with specific responsibilities for safeguarding works closely with the designated safeguarding lead to ensure that all practice, policy and procedures are compliant. This includes safer recruitment checks for all new staff. This information is held on the school’s single central record of staff checks.

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Safeguarding

 Curriculum leaders ensure that pupils are taught to keep safe in the local area. This includes learning about topics such as e-safety and stranger danger. The school works closely with community police to raise awareness of the risks of knife crime and gang culture.  Parents reported that the school has a warm and supportive ethos where children feel safe and are well cared for. Parents described the ethos of the school as similar to that of a family. This is also the view of pupils, who take pride in their school and reported that they are listened to and feel safe.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 Leaders monitor the quality of teaching and learning to ensure there is ambition and high expectations for all pupils.  Teachers have good subject knowledge and use questioning skilfully to encourage pupils to speak with confidence about their learning.  Assessment information is used well to inform future learning, and to ensure pupils make good progress.  Leaders have focused on the continuity and progression of key skills in reading, writing and mathematics. This ensures that all groups of learners are appropriately challenged in their learning. Pupils have regular opportunities to practise and rehearse key skills. This builds confidence, accuracy and fluency, and encourages pupils to deepen their thinking.  Groups of learners, particularly the most able, have high-quality reading texts to develop their vocabulary and improve their outcomes. Progress for lower and middle ability pupils is evident in pupils’ books.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

 The school successfully meets the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and pupils make good progress from their starting points. Educational health and care plans are good quality, and specialist provision supports pupils in their learning.  Teaching assistants support pupils’ good learning. Leaders have worked with external agencies to provide professional development training for support staff. This has had a positive impact on pupils’ outcomes.  The teaching of phonics is strong. Pupils routinely use a wide range of approaches, including blending sounds and segmenting words, to help them read. However, in the early years, children lack opportunities to apply their phonics skills when they write.  The teaching of mathematics has been strengthened through the introduction of a new curriculum, which emphasises reasoning skills. Pupils can readily explain and apply

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good

their mathematical skills confidently across the curriculum.  Specialist teachers of Spanish, music and physical education (PE) have strengthened the quality of teaching and learning. This has raised pupils’ standards in these subjects.  Outdoor learning is a key strength of the school. The school enhances pupils’ learning by encouraging their interaction with the natural world in the school grounds, the kitchen garden and the forest school.  Learning is exciting, and pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment and engagement activities. Regular visits are planned to museums and galleries, and the school undertakes curriculum projects with a wide range of national providers.

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Personal development and welfare

 The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good.  The ethos of the school permeates all learning, and the school is a warm, welcoming and nurturing environment. Pupils said they feel safe, ‘Because everyone is listened to and made to feel special.’  Pupils have an active voice in the school through a school council and a faith council. They understand the concepts of democracy and the rule of law. Pupils are consulted on changes to the curriculum, and their views on school improvement are listened to.  Classrooms are bright and attractive spaces to motivate and inspire learning, and displays celebrate the diversity of the local community. Strong moral, social and spiritual themes encourage pupils to be respectful and considerate of the needs of others.  All pupils are known as individuals, and school leaders know their families well. Pupils’ confidence, self-esteem and resilience are supported well. Additional adults offer

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Personal development and welfare

support to vulnerable pupils.  Pupils are aware of the need to stay safe in the community. The school works with a range of external agencies, including the local police and fire officers, in order to raise awareness of potential risks.  Pupils understand the need to be fit and active, and to make healthy eating choices to promote their well-being. A breakfast club is available to pupils, together with a wide range of after-school activities, covering sports, games and the arts.

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Behaviour

 The behaviour of pupils is good.  Pupils are polite, courteous and respectful to each other. Behaviours for learning are positive, and classrooms are calm and purposeful.  Play equipment is available to make playtimes fun and enjoyable. Pupils play well together. They share and take turns, and they are keen to ensure that everyone is included.  The school grounds are organised to create different play spaces to keep pupils safe.  Pupils report that name-calling and bullying are rare but, when it does happen, it is dealt with quickly and appropriately.  School attendance has improved to be in line with the national average, and school leaders employ a wide range of motivational rewards to encourage good attendance. The school has a policy of contacting home on each day of a pupil’s absence to ensure that pupils are safe.

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Outcomes for pupils Good

 Pupils make strong progress over time. Pupil attainment at the end of key stage 1 and key stage 2 has shown an upward trend over the last three years. Pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 1 is higher than the national average.  Most able pupils perform in line with the national average for greater depth in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 1. Pupil attainment in reading, writing and mathematics is above the national average for expected attainment at the end of key stage 2.  The attainment of most-able pupils in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 is lower than the national average. As a result, leaders have made this a school priority.  Pupils who speak English as an additional language make strong progress from their starting points to meet age-related expectations.  Disadvantaged pupils make strong progress over time and attain above the national

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Outcomes for pupils Good

average for expected attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of key stage 2.  Gaps in attainment between disadvantaged pupils and non-disadvantaged pupils are closing due to effective intervention and support funded by the pupil premium.  Outcomes at the end of the early years’ foundation stage are in line with the national average. Phonics is taught well, and the proportion of pupils meeting the required standard in the phonics screening check in Year 1 is above the national average.

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Early years provision Good

 The partnership with St Andrew’s Primary School has strengthened the leadership of early years. It encourages the schools to share best practice and check the accuracy of children’s achievement across the two settings.  The majority of children enter Nursery with lower starting points than is typical for their age. Children make good progress, and the proportion who make a good level of development by the end of Reception Year is in line with the national average.  Early years outdoor provision is high quality and supports children’s language development. Learning is exciting, creative and imaginative. Children are curious. They ask questions, want to explore and they show resilience when trying out new ideas.  Safeguarding is effective. Children are kind and respectful to each other, and they are willing to share and to take turns.  The teaching of phonics is good, and children use their knowledge of the sounds letters

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Early years provision Good

make to blend to decode words. Early reading is supported through the sharing of much-loved books.  Children listen attentively and talked with confidence about the characters and key events in the books that are read to them. However, children do not always select appropriate books to take home. This means that they do not routinely practise and consolidate their knowledge from the books they choose.  Throughout the Nursery and Reception classes, there are frequent opportunities for mark making, and children understand quickly that writing conveys meaning. However, as children progress through the early years, they are not routinely encouraged to apply and rehearse their phonics skills in their writing.  Children make strong progress in mathematics, and they are confident in their understanding of early number and shape. Mathematical vocabulary is modelled well and, as children progress in the early years, they begin to record their findings.

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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

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Email address sheronherridge@christchurchschool.cc

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School details

Date of previous inspection 29 to 30 November 2016

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Information about this school

 The school is smaller than the average-sized primary school.  The school is part of the SW9 partnership. This is a soft federation of two local schools working together under the leadership of an executive headteacher. Each school has its own governing body.  The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is higher than the national average.  The proportion of pupils known to be eligible for free school meals is above the national average.  The number of pupils with SEND is higher than most schools nationally.  The school runs a wide range of extra-curricular clubs, including a breakfast club and an after-school club, from 3.30pm to 6.00pm.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors visited all classrooms with senior leaders, and they spoke to pupils about their learning and looked at their books.  Documentation was made available for inspectors to scrutinise. This included the school’s self-evaluation, school development plans, assessment information and monitoring records.  Meetings were held with senior and middle leaders to discuss curriculum development and school improvement.  A meeting was held with the designated safeguarding lead and deputy safeguarding lead to discuss safeguarding procedures, including attendance, and to view the school’s single central record of staff suitability checks.  A meeting was held with four governors, including the chair of governors, to discuss their effectiveness in holding leaders to account.  Inspectors observed pupils at playtimes and lunchtimes, and meetings took place to discuss behaviour, first-aid records and how children are kept safe.

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Information about this inspection

 An inspector listened to pupils read and met with pupils from the school council and faith council to gather their views about the school.  An inspector met with the school improvement partner from Lambeth local authority and with the education adviser from the Southwark diocesan board.  In addition to speaking with parents in the playground, inspectors took into account the 21 responses from the online questionnaire, Parent View. Inspectors also considered 20 responses from the online staff survey, and 15 responses from Ofsted’s free-text service for parents.

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Inspection team

Tom Canning, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Julian Grenier Ofsted Inspector guidance ‘Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . 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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Inspection team

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. www.gov.uk/pupil-premium-information-for-schools-and- alternative-provision-settings .

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Inspection team

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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Inspection team

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.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted .

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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