Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Lyttelton Road, Stechford, Birmingham, West Midlands B33 8BL

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 January 2022

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Outcome

Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

‘Learning to love, loving to learn whilst living together in Christ’ is deeply embedded in this school. Pupils get on well together and work hard. They are curious, keen to learn and show resilience to keep on having a go. Leaders have created a harmonious school community where pupils thrive.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders and teachers strive to ensure that all pupils achieve well. They ensure that each pupil is supported and challenged to do their very best. High expectations of what pupils can achieve are evident from Reception to Year 6.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite, well mannered and extremely courteous. This is encouraged from the moment pupils start school. For example, pupils in the Reception class say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and offer chairs to visitors without being asked. Pupils are respectful and value each other’s differences. Bullying is rare but pupils and parents say that it is quickly sorted out if it does happen.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, including school ambassadors, represent the school well. They enjoy being involved in ‘Stetchford in Bloom’, gardening and litter picking in the local community as they ‘clean for the Queen’. Pupils participate in ‘take over day’ when they can apply to run the school.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have improved and developed further the quality of education since the last inspection. They have created a highly professional staff team, eager to develop their skills. The team work together to provide the best possible educational experience for pupils. Leaders and staff are deeply committed to ensuring that each individual pupil flourishes and succeeds in whatever they do. There are many strengths at this school.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders ensure that all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), study a rich, stimulating curriculum. The curriculum has been very carefully considered. There is a clear rationale behind the curriculum choices leaders have 19 and 20 January 2022

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made. ‘Golden threads’ set out the key ideas, knowledge and skills pupils will learn. These plans are well established from Year 1 to Year 6 but less well developed in the early years.

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Leaders have considered how best to help pupils learn and remember. For example, every mathematics lesson begins with arithmetic practice followed by a hook into the new learning. Teachers model and present new ideas before pupils practise independently. This results in an effective and consistent approach to teaching across the school. The curriculum is planned and sequenced to enable pupils to learn, remember and apply what they know, day by day, week by week and term by term.

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Teachers ‘mark in the moment’ to check what pupils can do. They use this information to adapt lessons skilfully to meet the needs of individual pupils. Interventions for specific pupils are carefully planned. This is a highly inclusive school and pupils with SEND are supported effectively.

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Books are found everywhere in the school. Teachers link them purposefully to every subject area. Pupils eagerly share books at home with ‘Christi Bear’. Leaders want pupils to develop the reading skills needed to learn in different subjects as well as developing a love of reading. They have put in place a comprehensive reading curriculum. This includes a progression through phonics. Staff are well trained and there is a rigour in the teaching of reading. From Reception onwards, pupils who struggle are given support and extra practice. Nothing is left to chance.

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Mathematics is a real strength in the school. Staff use their expertise to help pupils become confident mathematicians. They want pupils to be able to do more than just calculate. Pupils love the challenge in mathematics lessons. They use what they know to prove and explain the answers they find.

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Leaders build in purposeful experiences to enhance the curriculum. For example, a visitor brought animals to the school and helped pupils classify animals in a science lesson. Subject-specific vocabulary is built into the curriculum and taught explicitly. This is helping pupils express themselves more clearly. There is a clear focus on developing communication and language from the moment pupils start school.

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Behaviour at the school is very good. The school is calm and orderly with a very positive feel as a result. Highly respectful relationships are evident.

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Staff teach pupils that all are equal. They use visits, such as to a Buddhist temple and the city museum, to help pupils understand different faiths and cultures. Through charity work locally and abroad, pupils develop their sense of social responsibility. Leaders and staff want every pupil to become a global citizen.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff are highly vigilant, extremely caring and work together to keep pupils safe. They are well trained and know exactly what to do, who to talk to and how to record any concern. 19 and 20 January 2022

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Leaders act quickly to provide support for vulnerable pupils and their families. Regular meetings of the safeguarding team ensure that the right help is provided at the right time.

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Safeguarding is threaded through the school curriculum. Pupils learn about signs of safety and develop a network of trusted adults. They know how to stay safe when using the internet and when out of school.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Leaders have not yet identified the key knowledge they expect children to gain in the early years to the same extent as they have in the rest of the school. As a result, it is not always clear what pupils are learning to do. Leaders should ensure that the foundations of the curriculum are securely established in the early years so that pupils are prepared for their next stage of learning.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or outstanding school, because it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the section 8 inspection as a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 23 and 24 January 2012.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View 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 . 19 and 20 January 2022

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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. 19 and 20 January 2022

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School details

Inspection number 10205143 Type of school Primary

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Website www.corpuschristi.bham.dbprimary.com/

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School details

Date of previous inspection 3 November 2016, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use alternative provision.  The school is a Catholic school, within the Archdiocese of Birmingham. Its most recent section 48 inspection took place in February 2017. The next inspection will be within eight years of the last section 48 inspection.

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Information about this inspection

 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspector met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, subject leaders, the special educational needs coordinator, members of staff and a member of the office team. The inspector held a meeting virtually with six governors, including the chair of the governing body. The inspector also had a telephone conversation with a representative of the Archdiocese of Birmingham.  Deep dives in reading, mathematics and art were carried out. These included discussions with subject leaders, visits to lessons and scrutiny of pupils’ work. The 19 and 20 January 2022

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inspector also met with pupils to discuss their learning in these subjects and listened to pupils read.  A range of documentation was scrutinised, including leaders’ plans to improve the school, curriculum plans and the school website. Minutes of governor meetings and reports from external advisers were also checked.  When inspecting safeguarding, the inspector considered the school’s procedures for recruiting staff, the quality of staff training and the school’s procedures for keeping pupils safe.  The inspector spoke to parents at the end of the first day and the start of the second day of the inspection. She considered the responses, including the free-text comments, to Ofsted Parent View, the online questionnaire. The inspector considered the responses to the staff survey.

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Inspection team

Nicola Harwood, lead inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector 19 and 20 January 2022

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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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