Christchurch Primary School

Inspection report Christchurch Primary School

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Unique Reference Number 131847 LEA Redbridge

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Inspection number 269330 Inspection dates 4 - 5 October 2004 Reporting inspector Pat Kime HMI

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Inspection carried out under section 10 of the school Inspectors Act 1996, and was deemed section 12(3) under the same act.

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Type of School Primary School address School category Community Age range of pupils 3 - 11 Wellesley Road Ilford Essex IG1 4LQ Gender of pupils mixed Telephone number 020 8478 5560 Number on roll 742 full-time equivalent Fax number 020 8478 7289

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Appropriate authority The governing body Chair of governors Mr R Wood Date of previous inspection June 1999 Headteacher Mr Kevin Baskill

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Age group Published Reference no. 3 - 11 November 2004 269330

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This report may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that all extracts quoted are reproduced verbatim without adaptation and on condition that the source and date thereof are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the School Inspections Act 1996, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. Introduction

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The inspection was a pilot of the new arrangements for inspection announced by Ofsted in its consultation paper of February 2004. It was carried out with the support and co-operation of the staff of Christchurch Primary School and of the local education authority.

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The inspection was carried out by four of Her Majesty’s Inspectors and an independent lay inspector.

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Description of the school

Christchurch is a very large and over-subscribed primary school in Ilford, which is being reduced in size. It caters for boys and girls aged between three to eleven years. The pupils come from a wide range of ethnic backgrounds and between them speak 43 languages. The vast majority have sound knowledge of their home languages when they start school and are at an early stage of learning English. There are 696 full-time pupils and 91 children attending the nursery part-time. A further 37 are due to join the Reception classes in January 2005. A broadly average proportion of pupils, 23 per cent, are eligible for free school meals. The number of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) is above average. Pupils are of average ability. The headteacher took up the post at the beginning of September 2004.

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Key for inspection grades

Grade 1 Outstanding Grade 2 Good Grade 3 Satisfactory Grade 4 Inadequate

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Christchurch Primary School provides its pupils with a very good education and gives very good value for money. It is a very happy, culturally diverse community in which every child matters and the degree of racial harmony is excellent. Pupils make very good progress academically and in their personal development, and they achieve high standards. Staff give high priority to pupils’ well-being and provide very high quality care, support and guidance. The school offers a very good curriculum and the teaching is good. Provision is good in the nursery and reception classes. The school is very effectively led and managed. Its evaluation of its effectiveness as good was too modest.

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Improvement since the last inspection

This has been very good. The main issues for improvement from the last inspection in 1999 have been tackled very well. Consequently, the curriculum is better planned, pupils make better progress, and standards have risen faster than in most schools. The quality of teaching remains good despite considerable staff turnover.

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Capacity to improve

This is good. Improvement to date is the result of vision and innovation, strong teamwork and the energy of staff at all levels. The staff are thoughtful, receptive to new ideas, and keen to work together to make the school even better. The senior staff and middle managers have shown their ability to bring about improvement and the recently-appointed headteacher is forming a largely accurate picture of the school. The school’s self-evaluation is reasonably closely aligned to the inspectors’ judgements.

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What the school should do to improve further

In order to build on its success and raise standards even further, the school should:

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What the school should do to improve further

• implement its plans to improve provision in the Foundation Stage • spread its best practice to improve the marking of work and setting of targets, ensuring that: a) pupils know more precisely what they need to do to improve and b) expectations are sufficiently high for the more able pupils.

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Pupils’ academic progress is very good and standards are high. Differences in rates of progress between different groups of pupils are slight. Nevertheless, some of the more able could do better. Children make good progress in the nursery and reception classes. Pupils for whom English is an additional language rapidly acquire competence in the language. Those with special educational needs progress very well towards their targets.

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Over the last five years, results in the national tests at the end of Key Stage 2 have improved more rapidly than in most schools, though there have been fluctuations from year to year. The 2004 test results were very high in mathematics and science. In English they were high, but writing was not as good as reading. Pupils find the more advanced skills of writing in English difficult. For the current Year 6, the work seen in lessons and pupils’ books was above average overall, so they are likely to meet the school’s targets.

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Observations of pupils at work and play and discussions with them show that their personal development is outstanding. They respond extremely positively to everything the school offers and to the staff’s high expectations. Consequently they make very good progress in this aspect of learning. The pupils are generally very well-behaved; they have extremely good attitudes to school and are confident learners. They enjoy their lessons and the very wide range of extra activities on offer, and they are eager to do well.

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Overall, pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is excellent. They have a clear sense of right and wrong. They build very good relationships, showing respect for others and valuing cultural and religious diversity. They learn to play an active and responsible part in the life of the school and the wider community and, through the school council, they develop an understanding of citizenship.

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The school’s systems to promote attendance are good and attendance rates are rising slowly but they are still lower than in most schools.

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Grade: 1

The quality of provision is very good overall. The curriculum is very good and the care, support and guidance provided for pupils are of a very high order. Teaching is good throughout the school. These strengths have been maintained against a background of considerable staff turnover.

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Grade: 1

Discussions with pupils, the work in their books, and the lessons observed all confirm that teaching is good overall. This reliable quality of teaching, combined with pupils’ highly positive attitudes and desire to do well, and high levels of support, enables then to make very good progress. Lessons are

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well-planned and purposeful. Teachers have excellent relationships with pupils and ensure that they learn in an extremely positive, very well-ordered and encouraging atmosphere. Three features support the effectiveness of teaching particularly well. Firstly, the system of ‘setting’ pupils for English and mathematics ensures that, for the most part, work is well-matched to pupils’ learning needs. The most able undertake some very challenging work in science, but some pupils in the upper sets could be pushed further on in mathematics. Secondly, the strong teamwork among teachers supports effective planning of lessons. Thirdly, very good use is made of the many teaching assistants and specialist staff, such as those who support pupils with English as an additional language. English is taught very well to pupils at the early stages of acquiring the language. Assessment is good. Teachers keep good track of pupils’ progress lesson by lesson and over the longer-term. Marking of

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pupils’ work has several good features but is less effective than it might be because, too often, it does not help pupils know what to aim for next. Parental support is harnessed very well to help pupils’ learning.

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The school’s curriculum meets pupils’ needs very well. It meets national requirements and draws on and celebrates the richness and diversity the school encompasses. There are several positive innovative features. For instance, regular ‘creative weeks’ deepen pupils’ learning through practical work and first-hand experience which brings topic work to life; gifted and talented pupils are fast- tracked for some lessons; and pupils study French in Years 5 and 6. The curriculum in nursery and reception is satisfactory. It is securely established and appropriate for these young children, but needs development to achieve greater continuity and coherence. The range of activities provided beyond lessons, through clubs and educational visits, is very good. It includes a visit to France where pupils exchange pounds for euros and use their French language skills to shop. Pupils learn about enterprise through the Pocket Money Club in which they cost, buy and sell items to other pupils. The

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school promotes pupils’ economic well-being very well.

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The exceptionally good quality of care pervades all aspects of the school’s life and work. For example, pupils who arrive with little or no English are allocated friendship and language buddies. The procedures for child protection are very good. The school uses external agencies very effectively to help it meet pupils’ particular educational needs. Healthy lifestyles are promoted very well, for instance through the range of sporting activities and teaching about a healthy diet. Very good attention is paid to smoothing pupils’ transfer into and out of the school and there is a good focus on transition as pupils move up the school.

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Grade: 1

The school is very effectively led and managed. The new head has the very able support of deputies and middle managers who have a very good understanding of the school’s work. They ensure the school runs very smoothly and make a major contribution to its inclusive ethos in which every child really does matter. They have kept up the momentum of improvement and are strongly committed to continuing to move the school forward. Governors are very well informed. They challenge the

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school’s spending plan and carry out their statutory duties well. One of the school’s outstanding strengths lies in the teamwork of all teachers and support staff, for example in the way they monitor each others’ weekly plans and help new members to establish themselves in the school. This inclusive leadership spreads the benefits of training widely and operates very efficiently. For example, careful monitoring of lessons reveals where the strengths in teaching are to be found and there is a very good level of additional training for teachers. Data are well managed and analysed, so that the achievements of minority ethnic groups are interpreted very well and all groups have equal opportunities to achieve. Planning for improvement is very extensive and initiatives are evaluated but the findings are not always recorded clearly. The building is being well refurbished but the lack of a central library and the limited outdoor facilities remain disadvantages.

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procedures set out in the leaflet 'Complaining about HMI-led Ofsted inspections',

which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk.

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