Copthorne CofE Junior School

Inspection of Copthorne CofE Junior School Church Road, Copthorne, West Sussex RH10 3RD

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Overall effectiveness Requires improvement

The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Requires improvement Previous inspection grade Good 1 and 2 March 2022

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils love many aspects of school life, such as competitive sports and learning how to make fires using flint. They are looking forward to their up-and-coming residential and trying new activities such as kayaking and dry slope skiing.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have ensured that pupils feel happy and safe at school. Pupils report that bullying has happened in the past but is very rare now. They know that leaders deal well with any issues. Recently the autism ambassadors have created a quiet area, Arthur’s Place, in the school grounds for pupils who want somewhere calm to play. Pupils show great compassion and respect for each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour has improved recently. Pupils say lessons are rarely interrupted by poor behaviour anymore. Parents too have noticed many changes for the better. Attendance has improved, with rates higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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What is it like to attend this school?

However, in recent times, pupils have not had the quality of education they deserve. There is much to do to ensure that pupils learn as well as they should. The new headteacher has quickly identified what is not good enough and has taken swift action to tackle the issues. Leaders want pupils to learn well and are working hard to ensure that these expectations are fully realised.

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better?

Senior leaders, including governors, have an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and weaknesses.

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better?

Leaders, with support from the local authority, have started to review the curriculum for some subjects, for example reading and history. This work is not finished, and there are many subjects still to plan. This means that leaders have not precisely identified the key information that they want pupils to remember. In turn, teachers do not know exactly what knowledge pupils have learned before to build on.

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better?

Leaders have ensured that pupils now study a balanced curriculum. Some subjects were not taught, or not taught well enough, in the past. The partial school closures caused by the pandemic have also affected pupils’ learning. This means that pupils have gaps in their knowledge. The system to check on how well pupils are learning does not always tell teachers what they need to know. Therefore, teachers cannot adapt their teaching well enough to give the right support to pupils.

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better?

Pupils enjoy reading and listening to stories. Leaders have made sure that where pupils are still at an early stage of learning to read, the books they read match the sounds they know. However, leaders know that the teaching of reading, including phonics, is not precise enough. They had to cancel staff’s training recently, due to an unplanned school closure. This has put leaders’ ambitious plans back by a few weeks. 1 and 2 March 2022

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The teaching of mathematics is an example of how effectively leaders are improving learning for pupils. There is a well-sequenced mathematics curriculum in place that breaks learning into small chunks. Teachers know what to teach and when to teach it. However, sometimes, teachers do not teach the mathematics curriculum in the way that leaders expect. This happens in other subjects too, with teachers planning lessons that are enjoyable but are not tied closely to what pupils need to understand and remember. This slows pupils’ learning.

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Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the support they need with their work. Leaders identify needs accurately and address these through carefully considered individual targets. However, the gaps in curriculum thinking and delivery hinder pupils with SEND from achieving as well as they could.

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Leaders support pupils’ personal development well. They have planned pupils’ learning in personal, social and health education carefully. They make sure that pupils learn about looking after their mental health. Pupils are curious about the world beyond Copthorne. For example, pupils have pen pals from a school in Tanzania. They have an impressive insight into their friends’ lives. They show great empathy for others.

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A few staff voiced concerns about workload, as many changes are being made. Nevertheless, staff appreciate the changes that leaders are making, with one member of staff calling them ‘refreshing’.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Since her arrival, the headteacher has rightly prioritised ensuring the school does all it can to keep pupils safe. Staff are alert to possible risks. They know what to do if they have a concern about a pupil’s safety or welfare. Leaders carry out safer recruitment checks diligently.

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Safeguarding

Leaders keep thorough records. They follow through with all concerns. Training for all adults who work or volunteer in the school is regular. However, there is more to do to fine-tune adults’ understanding of peer-on-peer abuse.

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Safeguarding

The curriculum, including the recent internet safety workshop, has ensured that pupils understand online dangers, including grooming.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The curriculum does not build pupils’ knowledge sequentially in many subjects, including reading and phonics. Staff do not always have the subject knowledge to teach content well, including phonics. This means that pupils do not achieve as 1 and 2 March 2022

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well as they should. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is developed as a matter of priority and that staff are well trained to teach it successfully.  Pupils have not learned all that they needed to in the past to ensure their success in the next stage of their education. Systems to check whether pupils understand and remember what they are taught are underdeveloped. Leaders, including subject leaders, need to make sure that they have identified the key knowledge pupils must retain and that teachers know how to check it has been learned.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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 .

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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. 1 and 2 March 2022

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Frances Strickley

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School details

Website www.copthorne.w-sussex.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 29 and 30 November 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 There have been significant changes in leadership at the school since the last inspection. The headteacher has been in her post since September 2021 and the deputy headteacher since September 2019. The chair of governors started in her role in September 2021.  The last section 48 inspection of the school’s religious character took place in February 2016.  The school currently uses one alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Information about this inspection

This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors met with senior leaders, staff, pupils and parents. 1 and 2 March 2022

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 Inspectors did deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and art. Inspectors spoke to subject leaders, staff and pupils, visited lessons and looked at pupils’ work. An inspector heard pupils read to adults from the school.  Inspectors sampled curriculum planning, looked at pupils’ work and spoke to pupils about some other subjects.  An inspector spoke to the alternative provision that the school currently uses.  The lead inspector met with five governors, including the chair of governors, and spoke with representatives from the local authority and the Diocese of Chichester.  Inspectors reviewed the school’s safeguarding arrangements. This included safer recruitment checks and record-keeping of concerns. Inspectors also spoke to staff, governors and pupils about safeguarding.  Responses to the Ofsted Parent View survey and free-text comments were considered by the inspectors. They also considered the responses to Ofsted’s

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Inspection team

Lea Hannam, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Kirstine Boon Ofsted Inspector 1 and 2 March 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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