Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School Ellenborough Park South, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset BS23 1XW

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Outcome

Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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Outcome

The headteacher of this school is Mark Lawrence. This school is part of the Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Helen Taylor, and overseen by a board of directors, chaired by Catherine Christie.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy coming to school. The staff have created a warm and caring environment where pupils feel safe and happy. Staff have high expectations of pupils’ achievement, and pupils live up to these. This is evident in pupils’ work and reflected in published outcomes. Pupils are keen to share ideas in lessons and remain focused when doing independent activities. They work hard and take pride in the work they produce.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils talk highly of their school and show tolerance and respect to all. This is evident in the way they talk about their trusted adults. They know that any concern they raise will be resolved swiftly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy the wider opportunities that staff plan for them. These include visits to the Roman baths to enhance their history learning and to the Create Centre in Bristol to learn life skills. The school also invites visitors to come and support the pupils’ learning. These opportunities enrich pupils’ wider development.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Parents and carers state how happy they are with the school and feel that Corpus Christi goes to great lengths to ensure their children are catered for. Parents typically say that the school has nurtured their children to be more independent. 25 and 26 March 2025

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

Leaders work hard to meet the needs of all pupils and ensure that early reading, phonics and mathematics are priorities for all groups of children. Reading is at the heart of the curriculum. Pupils apply their phonics knowledge well and, in most cases, can read with fluency and accuracy. Staff who teach phonics are well trained and use timely interventions to support those who struggle to read. Older pupils read for pleasure and access a variety of texts that enrich their reading experience. Leaders have worked tirelessly to promote language opportunities throughout the school. From the early years, children experience learning that develops their language and builds on their vocabulary knowledge. This supports pupils who speak English as an additional language (EAL).

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

The curriculum is well designed and helps pupils to build their knowledge over time. In mathematics, pupils develop a secure understanding of number, which helps them with more complex learning as they progress through school. For example, in the early years, pupils can explain how to sort quantities of numbers. Moreover, pupils in Year 6 can use previous knowledge of rectangles to work out the area of a parallelogram. In addition, pupils are very confident reciting their times tables and are excited to share their knowledge with teachers and peers. Teachers use well-selected resources to support pupils’ learning. As a result, pupils can explain their understanding accurately.

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

The school’s wider curriculum has been recently refined so that pupils can build on existing knowledge. In most subjects, staff check pupils’ understanding carefully. These checks inform future teaching and help staff to identify and address any misconceptions. However, in some subjects, teaching does not routinely check what pupils have learned and understood. This leads to gaps in pupils’ knowledge.

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

The school creates an inclusive environment. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and pupils who speak EAL are supported well. Teaching ensures that adaptations are made to support these pupils to progress well through the curriculum.

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

The school has prioritised attendance. It works well with external agencies to secure better attendance for all pupils, particularly those who are persistently absent. The staff ensure that families are well supported and understand the importance of getting their children to school.

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

Pupils love their school. They know how the school values of curiosity, stewardship and forgiveness help them to be a supportive friend. This contributes to warm and caring relationships within the school community. The school encourages pupils to be considerate and to help others. For example, the ‘chaplaincy team’ supports local charities by raising funds through cake sales and school discos.

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

The trust and the local governing committee hold leaders to account effectively. They are aware of the school priorities and work closely with school leaders to enact change. As a result, pupils’ outcomes in Year 6 continue to improve and pupils develop the knowledge and skills they need. They are well prepared for the next stage in their education. The trust ensures that staff workload and well-being are supported at all levels. 25 and 26 March 2025

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The school has not developed assessment well enough in some wider curriculum subjects. As a result, staff do not have an accurate understanding of what pupils know and remember in these subjects. The trust should support the school to develop its use of assessment information effectively so that pupils build knowledge well and any gaps in knowledge are addressed.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. 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’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection 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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, to be good for overall effectiveness in September 2021.

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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. 25 and 26 March 2025

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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). 25 and 26 March 2025

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 The school is part of The Dunstan Catholic Educational Trust.  Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School converted to become an academy school in March 2022. When its predecessor school, Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good for overall effectiveness.  This school has a catholic denomination and was last inspected under Section 48 in March 2022.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of the school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in their evaluation of the school. 25 and 26 March 2025

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 The inspector met with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the special educational needs leader, subject leaders and a group of staff. The lead inspector also met with representatives of the local governing committee, the trust’s improvement director and members of the trust’s board, including the CEO and the chair of trustees.  The inspector visited a sample of lessons, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at a sample of books.  A wide range of documents were scrutinised, including those relating to safeguarding, behaviour, the school’s self-evaluation and curriculum documentation. The inspector spoke with staff and pupils throughout the inspection about safeguarding and behaviour. The inspector reviewed responses to Ofsted Parent View, including free-text comments, and responses to the staff and pupil surveys. The inspector also spoke to some parents at the beginning and end of the school day.

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 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 to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Darren Preece, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 25 and 26 March 2025

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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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