Churchfields Primary School

Inspection of Churchfields Primary School Churchfields Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 4QY

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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 Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

The headteacher of this school is Sarah Atherton. This school is part of Quality First 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, John Grove, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Brian Ledbetter. 3 and 4 October 2023

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What is it like to attend this school?

Churchfields Primary School is a warm and welcoming place. Pupils, staff, parents and carers are all proud to be part of this community. Pupils enjoy school and are happy here.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The provision for pupils’ personal development is impressive and consistently of high quality. It is underpinned by the school’s core values of aspiration, citizenship and excellence. Ensuring that pupils have a voice in their school is extremely important to leaders and staff. Pupils are encouraged to be part of all school decision-making. For example, pupils suggest and help to run their own extra-curricular clubs. Pupils really value that leaders listen to them and take on board their suggestions. Pupils especially like that their ideas have led to an increase in the number and variety of extra-curricular clubs on offer.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils rise to the high expectations for their learning and behaviour. In lessons, they are focused and have positive attitudes to their learning. They achieve well across the curriculum. Pupils and staff are positive about the recent changes to the school’s approach to behaviour. Pupils know what is expected of them. The three golden rules, ‘ready, respectful and safe’, are clear to all. Pupils are polite, well-mannered and courteous. Relationships between staff and pupils are nurturing. Pupils feel safe. They trust that adults will deal with issues when they arise, such as bullying.

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better?

The curriculum that has been created by trust leaders is ambitious. It matches and, in some subjects, exceeds the ambition of the national curriculum.

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better?

The curriculum has been carefully designed. Decisions about exactly what should be learned start from the early years. Across the school, the curriculum identifies clearly the key knowledge and skills that pupils need to be taught and remember. This in- depth curriculum thinking supports teachers’ subject knowledge well. Staff have the expertise to teach the curriculum, and this is complemented by teaching from subject specialists in some areas.

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better?

Learning is clearly sequenced. Lessons include lots of purposeful opportunities to revisit and build on what pupils have previously learned. Pupils are helped to connect what they learn in different subjects and this enables them to consolidate their knowledge further. For example, in science, pupils in Year 3 practised what they had been taught in mathematics about using a ruler and tape measure. They used what they know to help them conduct a science experiment successfully. Pupils talk confidently about their learning in different subjects. They are remembering what they are being taught.

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better?

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included in school life. Pupils’ needs are quickly identified and support is put in place. Pupils with SEND in the mainstream classes learn the same curriculum as their peers. 3 and 4 October 2023

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Effective adaptations are made that enable pupils to understand and remember the intended learning. However, this is not as well established for pupils with severe and complex needs who attend the school’s additional resourced provision, the ARC. Here, the delivery of the curriculum, including the activities pupils are given, is not as precisely targeted as it could be to overcoming pupils’ specific barriers to learning. For these pupils, learning and activities are not broken down enough into small, achievable chunks that they can readily build on.

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Pupils’ journey to becoming a reader begins as soon as they start school. The school’s approach to phonics teaches pupils the sounds that letters make in a logical order. Daily phonics sessions provide regular opportunities for pupils to revisit their learning. This includes practice in using the sounds they have been taught to read words. Pupils read books that are matched to the sounds that they know and have been taught. This helps them develop into confident and fluent readers. Pupils that are falling behind are identified. Adults provide support in lessons and through additional reading sessions. However, most recently, the additional targeted and specific support has not been as timely as leaders intend. This means that the identified specific gaps in pupils’ learning have not yet been addressed.

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Pupils develop a love for reading through the high-quality texts used across the curriculum. They benefit from dedicated school libraries for fiction and non-fiction books. Adults read stories to them on a daily basis.

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The approach to pupils’ personal, social and health education is very well considered. It forms a key part of the school’s rich, high-quality personal development provision. For example, pupils’ understanding of the fundamental British values is developed throughout the curriculum and day-to-day school life. Pupils are taught about relationships and different families. They have plentiful opportunities to explore feelings, emotions and their own well-being.

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The trust and governing body know the school well. They provide an effective balance of challenge and support.

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Pupils’ attendance is closely monitored by the trust and governing body. The school has clear and effective procedures in place to deal with concerns about absence. Support for families is provided where needed.

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Staff value the collaborative working across the trust. They enjoy working here. They appreciate the efforts made to manage their workload and well-being.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 3 and 4 October 2023

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 For pupils in the ARC, learning and activities are, at times, not as precisely matched to their complex needs as they should be. The intended learning, while ambitious, is not always broken into small chunks that enable pupils to successfully learn. This means these pupils can experience cognitive overload and find it harder to connect new content with their prior knowledge. The trust should ensure that staff receive further training which focuses on strengthening their understanding of how pupils with complex needs learn and, in turn, enables them to make adaptations that increase pupils’ success in learning the curriculum.  Support for the weakest readers has recently not been as timely as is needed. This means these pupils have not yet had the targeted, specific support needed to address any gaps in their phonics knowledge. The trust needs to further prioritise making sure that the weakest readers get the full level of support that

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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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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 special educational needs and/or disabilities (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). 3 and 4 October 2023

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 26 and 27 April 2022, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Quality First Education Trust.  The school has two additional resourced classes for pupils with severe and complex SEND.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision.

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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.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspectors met with the headteacher, deputy headteacher, trust directors, the chair of governors, the chair of trustees and the chief executive officer. 3 and 4 October 2023

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 The inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, science, art and history. 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. Inspectors also discussed the curriculum in some other subjects.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: reviewed the single central record; 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.  The inspectors also considered staff’s responses to Ofsted’s survey.  The inspectors observed pupils’ behaviour in the playground and at lunchtime.

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Inspection team

Julie Wright, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Aliki Constantopoulou His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Tom Canning Ofsted Inspector 3 and 4 October 2023

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