Christ The King Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a good school: Christ The King Catholic Primary School Allport Road, Bromborough, Wirral, Merseyside CH62 6AE

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Inspection dates: 31 January and 1 February 2024

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Outcome

Christ The King Catholic Primary School continues to be a good school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils arrive at school each morning looking forward to the day ahead. The cheerful greetings that they receive from caring staff at the start of each school day helps them to feel happy and ready to learn. The school motto permeates everything that pupils and staff do. Everyone is treated with respect and kindness. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make friends easily and care about each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils’ achievement. In lessons, pupils are eager to contribute to discussions. They talk about their work with excitement. Pupils try their best to live up to the high ambitions the school has for them. They behave well. Pupils work hard and achieve well across a range of subjects.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud ambassadors of their school. They are thrilled to be trusted by staff with special helper roles, for example as happiness heroes, play leaders, prefects and by being members of the eco and school councils. Pupils strive to ‘be kind, work hard and never give up’. They look forward to finding out who will be ‘Star of the Week’ in assemblies. Older pupils enjoy being role models and buddies for younger pupils in the school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils relish the many opportunities that they experience as part of this vibrant school community. They enjoy a range of educational trips. For instance, they spoke about visiting castles, aquariums, farms and going on residential visits. Pupils also benefit from a range of extra-curricular activities such as fencing, computer coding, choir, brass band and chess. These experiences help them to develop their interests and talents. They also build their resilience and self-esteem.

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

The school’s curriculum is designed to incorporate the knowledge and skills that pupils need to learn from the early years to Year 6. Careful thought has been given to what is taught and the order in which pupils should build their knowledge. Teachers successfully 31 January and 1 February 2024

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make adaptations to the delivery of lessons, so that pupils with SEND can progress well through the curriculum alongside their peers.

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Teachers benefit from helpful support and guidance about how to deliver curriculums as the school intends. However, in a small number of subjects, changes that the school has made to further refine curriculums have only recently been introduced. This means that the school has not had the opportunity to measure the impact of these changes on pupils’ ability to recall their learning in these subjects over time.

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In lessons, teachers select appropriate activities to support pupils’ understanding of new learning. Teachers usually make regular checks on how well pupils have learned and remembered essential knowledge. As a result, pupils successfully build up knowledge and deepen their understanding in most subjects.

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In a few subjects, the school has not clearly identified the most important subject-specific concepts that pupils should revisit over time. In these subjects, staff do not routinely check that pupils can recall and connect newer learning with knowledge and concepts taught in previous year groups or key stages. This means that some pupils struggle to remember some key information in the longer term.

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The teaching of reading is prioritised by the school. Children in the Nursery Year learn songs, rhymes and sounds which prepare them well for their phonics learning from the beginning of the Reception Year. Staff are suitably trained and deliver the phonics programme consistently well. The books that the youngest children read are matched to the letter sounds that they know. The school has effective systems in place to help pupils who struggle with reading to catch-up quickly. Most pupils become accurate, fluent and confident readers.

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Every opportunity is taken to develop a love of reading. Children in the early years enjoy time in their ‘book nooks’ and with their reading buddies. Weekly ‘book talk time’ encourages pupils to share recommendations about the books that they have read. Families are invited to share books and stories at ‘reading cafes’. Pupils told the inspector that reading opens their minds and their imaginations.

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Children in the early years, including those in the Nursery class, settle into routines quickly. They learn to take turns and they share equipment well. This positive start is built upon as they move through the school.

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Attendance is a high priority for the school. The school makes sure that any barriers to regular attendance are identified swiftly. Appropriate and timely support is provided to those families that need it.

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The school ensures that any additional needs of pupils with SEND are identified quickly and accurately. When needed there is effective engagement with external agencies to make sure that pupils with SEND receive appropriate support.

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There is a strong focus placed on supporting pupils’ well-being. Pupils learn about the importance of keeping physically and mentally healthy. They understand that everyone is 31 January and 1 February 2024

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unique and they celebrate different beliefs, faiths and cultures. Pupils are proud of the work that they do to raise money for charities within and beyond their school community.

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Governors share the school’s high aspirations for pupils. They know the school well and they have the expertise to support and challenge decisions in equal measure. The school is mindful of staff workload when introducing changes and devising policies. Staff appreciate the time and support that they receive so they can carry out their roles effectively.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a few subjects, the school has not clearly identified the most important subject- specific concepts that they want pupils to learn and revisit over time. This means that some pupils’ learning of these concepts is not as secure as it should be. The school should ensure that teachers are clear about which key concepts to teach in these subjects and when to revisit them, so that pupils secure deepen their learning over time.  In a small number of subjects, the school has not had the opportunity to measure the impact of recent changes to subject curriculums on pupils’ learning. This means that the school does not know if these changes have helped pupils to enhance their learning in these subjects. The school should make sure that it checks how well these subjects are being implemented. This is so that they can be assured that pupils know more and remember more over time in these subjects

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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 an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in September 2014.

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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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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). 31 January and 1 February 2024

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Date of previous inspection 4 December 2018, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school is part of the Diocese of Shrewsbury. The last section 48 inspection, for schools of a religious character, took place in April 2022. The next section 48 inspection is due to take place in 2026.  The school does not make use of any alternative provision for pupils.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection that the school has received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken this into account in her evaluation.  The inspector conducted deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics and history. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke with some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. 31 January and 1 February 2024

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 The inspector spoke with subject leaders and some pupils about their learning in some other subjects.  The inspector observed pupils from key stages 1 and 2 reading to a familiar adult.  The inspector spoke with the headteacher. She also spoke with other school leaders.  The inspector met with members of the local governing body, including the chair of governors.  The inspector spoke with a representative of the local authority. She also spoke with a representative of the diocese and the school-improvement partner for the school.  The inspector talked with staff and leaders about their workload and well-being.  The inspector met with the leaders responsible for behaviour, SEND provision and pupils’ wider development.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector reviewed the single central record, took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils and considered the extent

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to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspector spoke with pupils about their experiences at school. She looked at a range of policies and documents related to pupils’ welfare and education. She also observed pupils’ behaviour during lessons and around school.  The inspector took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online surveys for staff and for pupils.  The inspector met with parents at the start of the school day and took account of the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments.

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Inspection team

Rebecca Jewitt, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 31 January and 1 February 2024

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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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