Christ Church CofE Primary School

Inspection of Christ Church CofE Primary School Church Road, Coseley, Bilston, West Midlands WV14 8YB

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Outstanding 25–26 February 2020

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What is it like to attend this school?

This well-led school serves its community well.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are kept safe and always have someone to turn to if they have any problems. Pastoral support is excellent.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils usually listen to their teachers. They get on well with one another, but there is some lively behaviour. This is usually good-natured because pupils enjoy being at school. On occasions, some pupils upset other pupils, so adults step in to help. If bullying happens, pupils report it and adults work to stop it.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders are ambitious for everyone to do well in all aspects of school life. There is great team spirit and a huge sense of loyalty to the school from pupils and staff. Pupils learn to take responsibility by helping out with jobs and representing the school at events. There are many clubs that they can go to and take-up rates are high.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils do a lot of physical education (PE) and achieve very well in different sports. English and mathematics are planned well and taught well every day. In both of these subjects, standards are rising, but could be even higher. In other subjects, work is planned out carefully, but science and history are not taught as successfully as they could be.

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better?

Leaders care and everyone works hard. Morale is high. A sign in the headteacher’s office says, ‘Never give up on anybody.’ This captures the approach at Christ Church CofE Primary.

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better?

The school is full of books and staff are well trained in the teaching of reading. In all classes, reading sits at the centre of the school day. Planning and teaching are consistent and parents receive information about how they can help at home. Consequently, most pupils master how to read. Staff are now working to strengthen standards by improving pupils’ vocabularies and stamina in reading and writing.

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better?

Mathematics work is also well planned. As in reading and writing, standards are rising, but could be higher. In particular, girls do not do as well as boys.

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better?

In other subjects, work is often organised through ‘learning journeys’ that follow a particular theme. Teachers’ plans set out what should be taught when. On top of this, strong teamwork ensures that everyone understands expectations. Even so, some subjects are not taught as successfully as others. In history and science, for instance, some subject knowledge and skills get missed. This is because tasks focus more on writing than on the subject matter being taught. Clearly, writing is important, but there is a balance to be struck. Currently, the balance is not quite right. 25–26 February 2020

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On the other hand, work in PE and sport is excellent. During the school day and in clubs, pupils take part in a huge variety of sports and activities. Participation rates and standards are high. Teams enjoy success in competitions and pupils learn about healthy lifestyles. They also go on overnight visits to adventure centres, which helps to build independence and resilience.

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Indeed, there are many opportunities beyond the classroom. There is a school orchestra, a debating team and over 30 different clubs each term. Staff go above and beyond to make sure everyone is involved in something. Pupils have a voice in shaping school improvement and every pupil takes on a job to help out with school life.

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The school has a positive track record of supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils who struggle with their learning or behaviour benefit from efficient support to help them concentrate and achieve.

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In lessons, most pupils get on with their work. A few find it hard to settle, but most staff deal with this well. In fact, staff go out of their way to provide extra support for pupils who need it. If anyone needs to talk about a problem, or needs time to calm down, they can go to the school’s ‘Place2Be’. Here, an adult will listen and talk to them. This supports individuals to cope with their feelings and allows the school day to run smoothly for others. Consequently, learning is rarely disrupted by poor behaviour. Pupils say that some pupils swear and can be rough, but that adults usually sort this out when it happens. School record-keeping for this is adequate, but could be better.

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The early years classes are joyful places. There is always plenty going on and lots of productive fun. Children dance, play and learn in lots of different ways, both inside and outdoors. Adults put a lot of energy into helping children settle in school and develop their social skills. Even so, while ambitions are high, some adults speak for children instead of prompting them to talk.

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Governors bring a healthy level of challenge and support to the school. They are ambitious for the pupils and equally mindful of staff welfare.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff receive weekly updates on safeguarding matters. They work closely with other organisations in order to support pupils and their families. The school’s family support worker is a familiar face to parents and this helps with the flow of information. Any unexplained pupil absences are followed up quickly.

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Safeguarding

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe. During this inspection, for example, the fire brigade visited to talk about fire safety. Pupils are also taught about the dangers of careless behaviour. 25–26 February 2020

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All the correct checks are carried out on adults in school and the school site is kept secure.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Pupils’ attainment in reading, writing and mathematics has risen, but could be higher. Currently, standards at the end of Year 6 remain below average. To raise standards in reading and writing across the school, leaders should help pupils to build up their vocabulary and their comprehension skills, and develop their ability to be resilient when completing tasks. In mathematics, leaders should maintain the current focus on improving the teaching of reasoning, with particular attention to raising girls’ attainment.  In science and history, the sequence of learning is planned out carefully. However, classroom tasks can lose focus and some subject-specific knowledge is missed. To improve this, leaders should make sure that staff interpret curriculum plans in the right way. In addition, they should do more to check what pupils know and remember in these subjects.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection.

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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How can I feed back my views?

If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

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. 25–26 February 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10133461 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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Information about this school

 Christ Church Primary is a Church of England voluntary controlled school. The most recent section 48 inspection of its religious character took place in February 2019.  In addition to many extra-curricular clubs, the school provides before- and after- school childcare on site.

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Information about this inspection

We carried out this inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We deemed the inspection a section 5 inspection under the same Act.

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Information about this inspection

The previous ‘outstanding’ judgement reflected the school’s overall effectiveness in May 2013 under the relevant inspection framework at that time.

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Information about this inspection

The new judgement of ‘good’ reflects the current inspection framework as well as any changes at the school since the last inspection.

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Information about this inspection

The school has not been inspected for over six years, which is longer than the five- year maximum interval between inspections under section 5 of the Education Act 25–26 February 2020

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2005. Changes in school effectiveness may have happened at any point in that period. The long time between inspections is because the law changed in 2011; it made most outstanding schools exempt from routine inspection.

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 During the inspection, we focused on the following subjects: reading, mathematics, history and religious education. In these subjects, we visited lessons, looked at pupils’ work, examined teachers’ plans and talked with pupils and staff about the way the subjects were taught. We also looked at other subjects in less detail to check how they were organised and taught.  We examined external performance data about the school and looked at school documents. These included information about behaviour, bullying, attendance, the curriculum, SEND, governance, and school improvement planning. The school’s website was also checked.  We asked pupils, staff and leaders about safeguarding arrangements. We examined the record of employment checks on school staff and looked at other school records. We also found out about safety procedures and routines at the school.  We watched pupils’ behaviour in class, in assembly, in clubs and at other times

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during the day.  During the inspection, we had formal meetings with the headteacher, senior and subject leaders, governors, teachers and pupils. We also talked informally with pupils, staff and parents to gather general information about school life. One inspector had a telephone conversation with a local authority education adviser.  By the end of the inspection, there were nine recent responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View. This is too few to generate a report.

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Inspection team

Martin Pye, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Linda Brown Ofsted Inspector 25–26 February 2020

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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