Corporation Road Community Primary School

Inspection of Corporation Road Community Primary School Corporation Road, Darlington, County Durham DL3 6AR

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Inspection dates: 19 and 20 September 2023

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Early years provision Outstanding Previous inspection grade Requires improvement

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Mark Dipple. This school is part of Lingfield Education Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Nick Blackburn, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Stuart Crowther. 19 and 20 September 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils at this school are very happy. They greet visitors with warm welcomes and broad smiles. Pupils are very proud of their school and its community. Staff and pupils embody the school’s virtues of ‘kindness, respect, resilience, honesty, independence and courage’. Pupils feel safe in school. Well-trained, knowledgeable and devoted staff ensure that this is the case. Parents agree.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for all. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are exceptional. These are supported by the school’s high-quality curriculum for personal development. Pupils show genuine empathy and understanding of others. There are high levels of respect shown by staff and pupils alike. The celebration of diversity and equality radiates throughout the school. One pupil told an inspector: ‘We come from lots of different countries, but we’re all the same.’ Bullying is rare. Pupils and parents agree that staff would deal with it effectively if it were to happen.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and parents feel part of the Corporation Road community. A parent reflected the views of others, when they said: ‘I consider this school to be my family and the family of my children.’

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better?

Leaders in the school and trust have worked hard to develop and tailor a curriculum that meets the needs of pupils. All pupils, including those with SEND and those who speak English as an additional language, become confident learners. Pupils entering the school with little or no English make swift progress. Tailored support helps to remove any barriers to their achievement. In core curriculum subjects, some pupils are not always given sufficient opportunities to deepen their knowledge. They do not, therefore, achieve as highly as they might. In some subjects, the content choices and approaches do not always match the learning that the school wants pupils to experience.

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better?

Staff in Nursery and Reception provide children with high-quality experiences to explore and develop language. Phonics is taught consistently well. Children quickly learn the sounds that they need to know. Adults help children to become confident and fluent readers. Staff within early years plan exciting and engaging tasks for children, which allows them to build their learning from low starting points. Children are well prepared for their next stage of learning. In key stage 1 and 2, if pupils fall behind with reading, they are given the right support to help them to catch up. The school ensures that reading has a high priority. All pupils have access to a wide range of quality books. Pupils enjoy many opportunities for reading within the school day. They talk with real enthusiasm about the books that they are reading in class. 19 and 20 September 2023

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The school’s exceptional personal development curriculum enables pupils to become well-rounded individuals. Pupils talk with deep understanding about issues such as mental health and discrimination. The curriculum helps to broaden pupils’ understanding of different faiths and cultures. Pupils understand the importance of equality and respect. They live this out in their relationships with each other.

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Pupils enjoy a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and residential trips. Leaders check participation to ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to attend. The school removes any barriers to participation. There are many opportunities for pupils to take on responsibilities. Some pupils support their school as head boy or girl. Others help their peers as school councillors, digital leaders or pupil interpreters. Pupils in Year 2 plan and run the school fair to help them to learn about enterprise. These opportunities are preparing pupils to be citizens of the future.

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Governors and trustees have a very good understanding of the school and the community it serves. They check that their actions have a positive impact for all pupils. Governors have a clear understanding of their responsibilities delegated by the trust. Leaders take swift and effective action to promote attendance and punctuality. All groups of pupils attend well. Where this is not the case, the school does all it can to ensure good attendance. The school carefully considers the workload and well-being of all staff. Staff appreciate the support that they receive. They are proud to work in this very inclusive school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In core subjects, the curriculum is not as ambitious as it might be. Some pupils are not always given sufficient opportunities to deepen their knowledge and achieve as well as they might. The school should ensure that all pupils are provided with opportunities that help them to deepen their knowledge and achieve as well as possible.  In some curriculum subjects, content choices and approaches do not always match the intended learning. This means that pupils do not always experience the learning that leaders want. The school should ensure that the content and approaches used more closely match the intended learning.

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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. 19 and 20 September 2023

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

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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’ is used to mean pupils with SEND; pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 19 and 20 September 2023

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Chair of the trust

Dates of previous inspection 24 and 25 September 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The current headteacher was not in post at the time of the previous inspection and took up post in September 2022.  The school converted to become a sponsored academy in 2016.  The school is part of the Lingfield Education Trust.  The school admits children from nursery age.  The school uses one registered alternative provider.  The school runs a breakfast club.

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision. 19 and 20 September 2023

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 This was the first routine inspection that school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, school leaders, other school staff, representatives of the governing body and representatives from the trust.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: reading, mathematics, history and art. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  An inspector listened to pupils from Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 reading to a familiar adult.  Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors reviewed the single

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central record, met with those responsible for safeguarding, took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils, and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors considered the responses to the staff and pupil online surveys and Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Richard Beadnall, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector Jim Hindess Ofsted Inspector 19 and 20 September 2023

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