Christ Church CofE Primary School

Inspection Report Christ Church CofE Primary School

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101035 Unique Reference Number Wandsworth LEA LEA 276445 Inspection number 22 May 2006 to 23 May 2006 Inspection dates Christine Canniff AI Reporting inspector

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This inspection was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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Batten Street School address Primary Type of school Battersea Voluntary aided School category London SW11 2TH 3 to 11 Age range of pupils 020 7228 2812 Telephone number Mixed Gender of pupils 020 7228 0747 Fax number 225 Number on roll Canon Peter Clark Chair of governors The governing body Appropriate authority Mrs F Bussy Headteacher 15 January 2001 Date of previous inspection

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Inspection number Inspection dates Age group 276445 22 May 2006 - 3 to 11 23 May 2006 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, 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.

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Introduction

The inspection was carried out by two Additional Inspectors.

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Description of the school

Christ Church C of E School is an average size primary. The percentage of pupils from minority ethnic groups is high. The majority of these pupils are of African or African-Caribbean heritage. Almost half the pupils come from homes where the first language is not English and many younger pupils are new to English when they start school. More than a quarter of pupils have a learning difficulty or disability. The school draws its pupils from an area of high socio-economic disadvantage and the number eligible for free school meals is well above average. Many children come from a Christian background, but other faiths are also represented.

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Key for inspection grades

Outstanding Grade 1 Good Grade 2 Satisfactory Grade 3 Inadequate Grade 4 1 Inspection Report: Christ Church CofE Primary School, 22 May 2006 to 23 May 2006

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Grade: 2

This is a good school where pupils enjoy learning and make good progress. Inspectors agree with the school's evaluation of its own performance. Pupils learn and achieve well because of their positive attitudes to learning and the good teaching. However, teachers do not make the most of opportunities for pupils to practise their spoken language skills. Pupils behave well. Relationships are good, creating a happy, orderly community. This is because the school places pupils' personal development and care for pupils at the heart of its work. The curriculum caters well for the needs of all pupils. Good guidance and support enable pupils to learn well. The Foundation Stage gives pupils a good start to their education and they make good progress. This is because the well-planned curriculum provides a wide range of experiences that meet pupils' needs. Leadership and management are good. The school's self-evaluation processes are used

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Grade: 2

effectively to identify weaknesses and plan for improvement. The governing body carries out its responsibilities satisfactorily. Governors do not visit the school often enough to be sufficiently well informed or provide sufficiently strong strategic guidance. Senior managers and governors focus on providing high quality care and education. The school has good capacity to improve. This is shown by the effective steps made in raising achievement in mathematics and in improving the provision for information and communication technology (ICT) since the last inspection. Value for money is good.

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What the school should do to improve further

* Make the most of opportunities provided in all lessons for pupils to develop their spoken language. * Plan governor visits to give governors a more informed view of different areas of school life.

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Grade: 2

Pupils achieve well. From a low start in the nursery, pupils make good progress although they do not achieve all the goals set for five years olds, particularly in their use of language. They do well in the development of their personal and social skills. Pupils progress well from Years 1 to 6 to reach broadly average standards by the time they leave. This is because the secure system for tracking pupils' progress identifies where additional teaching will be most beneficial. Extra help is well directed at those who need it, enabling pupils with learning difficulties and disabilities to achieve the targets set for them. The early, focused support to develop pupils' language skills is benefiting those pupils whose first language is not English, so that over the course of their time in the school they make good progress. The targets set for Year 6 are appropriately challenging and pupils generally meet and sometimes exceed these.

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Grade: 2

2 Inspection Report: Christ Church CofE Primary School, 22 May 2006 to 23 May 2006

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Grade: 2

Pupils attain good levels of spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development. Because of the school's strong religious ethos and links with the local church pupils' spiritual awareness is particularly good. Pupils like coming to school. They greatly enjoy the visits that the teachers arrange for them. Attendance is good and reflects their positive attitudes. Pupils behave well and work hard. Relationships are good and the school is racially harmonious. Pupils feel safe and cared for. As one pupil put it, 'Because everyone is nice'. Pupils respect the many different cultures represented at the school and in the wider community. They demonstrate awareness of the needs of others, for example, by raising money for charities and providing entertainment to members of the local community. Pupils know how to stay safe and understand the importance of a healthy diet and regular exercise. Pupils have a satisfactory grasp of the basic skills

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Grade: 2

they will need in the future, but sometimes have difficulty in expressing themselves clearly.

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Grade: 2

Teaching and learning are good. The school has recently changed its approach to teaching in Years 1 and 2 to focus on teaching pupils in small groups. This enables pupils to experience a broader range of activities during the day. However, this is not yet sufficiently embedded to have significant impact on pupils' overall long-term progress and achievement. Teachers carefully plan key learning skills, particularly in English and mathematics and provide tasks that promote effective learning. They use resources well to promote pupils' understanding. Teachers place strong emphasis on extending pupils' vocabulary, but there are not enough opportunities to practise their oral skills. Support assistants are deployed well. They contribute significantly to the learning of pupils with difficulties and disabilities, and of pupils whose first language is not English. Teachers mark pupils' work well and involve pupils in self-evaluation

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Grade: 2

so that they know what they have achieved and where more work is required.

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Grade: 2

The school has carefully evaluated the needs of its pupils and organised a good curriculum. There is a strong and very appropriate focus on the core skills of literacy, numeracy and ICT. The well planned curriculum caters well for the needs of all pupils and places learning in a relevant context by linking subjects together. Teachers plan for the development of pupils' spoken language, but do not provide enough opportunities for them to practise using their skills across all subjects. The curriculum has improved since the last inspection and all aspects of ICT are now covered. The Foundation Stage curriculum is good and well resourced. There is a comprehensive 3 Inspection Report: Christ Church CofE Primary School, 22 May 2006 to 23 May 2006 programme of personal, health and social education. Numerous visits to places of interest both locally and in central London extend pupils' horizons and broaden their

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Grade: 2

experiences of life. Pupils enjoy attending a good range of out of class activities, which are enriched by the use of visiting experts and the staff's own skills, for example, in providing French and Spanish clubs.

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Grade: 2

The school makes good provision for the care, guidance and support of pupils. There is strong concern for pupils' well-being and vulnerable pupils are well cared for and supported. Assessment is used well to identify appropriate targets for improvement. Pupils know these and try hard to make the required improvements. 'And he has!' commented one pupil warmly on another's efforts to improve his writing. Marking of work and observation in lessons are used effectively to guide pupils. Support for pupils with learning difficulties or disabilities and for pupils who are at an early stage of learning English is good. These areas are managed flexibly enough to respond appropriately to pupils' changing needs. Child protection procedures are good. Health and safety procedures are effective and include systematic inspection of the site and thorough risk assessment of all school related activities.

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Grade: 2

The complementary skills of both the headteacher and deputy help to promote good academic and personal development. Their determination and high expectations have helped forge a good team of teachers and support staff who work well together to identify areas for improvement and see through the necessary developments. In the last year, pupils' skills in reading and mental calculation have improved. The senior management team has established a detailed system for monitoring the school's work that includes seeking the views of parents. This provides the school with an accurate view of its strengths and weaknesses. In most cases, the school improvement plan is sharply written, clearly identifying the correct priorities and carefully weaving them into the work and targets of both staff and pupils. This has ensured that, in the last year, pupils have had more experience and success in solving mathematical problems.

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Grade: 2

Governance is satisfactory. Governors have supported the school through many initiatives and are becoming more questioning of the school. They gain a sound knowledge of the school's strengths and areas for development from the information that they receive. However, governors do not visit the school often enough to be well informed and provide sufficiently strong strategic guidance. The school has taken effective steps to raise achievement since the last inspection. Standards in mathematics have risen and improved provision for ICT ensures that pupils regularly practise their skills. The school has good capacity to improve and raise standards further. Value for money is good. 4 Inspection Report: Christ Church CofE Primary School, 22 May 2006 to 23 May 2006 .

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set out in the guidance 'Complaints about school inspection', which is available from Ofsted’s

website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. 5 Inspection Report: Christ Church CofE Primary School, 22 May 2006 to 23 May 2006

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Overall

Key to judgements: grade 1 is outstanding, grade 2 good, grade 3 satisfactory, and grade 4 inadequate

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learners?

NA 2 How well does the school work in partnership with others to promote learners' well-being? NA 2 The quality and standards in foundation stage NA 2 The effectiveness of the school's self-evaluation NA Yes The capacity to make any necessary improvements NA Yes Effective steps have been taken to promote improvement since the last inspection

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well do learners achieve? NA 3 The standards 1 reached by learners

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Achievement and standards

NA 2 How well learners make progress, taking account of any significant variations between groups of learners NA 2 How well learners with learning difficulties and disabilities make progress

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learners?

NA 2 The extent of learners' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development NA 2 The behaviour of learners NA 2 The attendance of learners NA 2 How well learners enjoy their education NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt safe practices NA 2 The extent to which learners adopt healthy lifestyles NA 3 The extent to which learners make a positive contribution to the community NA 3 How well learners develop workplace and other skills that will contribute to their future economic well-being

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needs and interests of learners?

NA 2 How well are learners cared for, guided and supported?

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needs and interests of learners?

Grade 1 - Exceptionally and consistently high; Grade 2 - Generally above average with none significantly below average; Grade 3 - Broadly average; Grade 4 - Exceptionally low.

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and supporting all learners?

NA 2 How effectively leaders and managers at all levels set clear direction leading to improvement and promote high quality of care and education NA 2 How effectively performance is monitored, evaluated and improved to meet challenging targets, through quality assurance and self-review NA 2 How well equality of opportunity is promoted and discrimination tackled so that all learners achieve as well as they can NA 2 How effectively and efficiently resources are deployed to achieve value for money NA 3 The extent to which governors and other supervisory boards discharge their responsibilities NA Yes The adequacy and suitability of staff to ensure that learners are protected

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The extent to which schools enable learners to be healthy

Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to eat and drink healthily Yes Learners are encouraged and enabled to take regular exercise Yes Learners are discouraged from smoking and substance abuse Yes Learners are educated about sexual health

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The extent to which providers ensure that learners stay safe

Yes Procedures for safeguarding learners meet current government requirements Yes Risk assessment procedures and related staff training are in place Yes Action is taken to reduce anti-social behaviour, such as bullying and racism Yes Learners are taught about key risks and how to deal with them

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The extent to which learners make a positive contribution

Yes Learners are helped to develop stable, positive relationships Yes Learners, individually and collectively, participate in making decisions that affect them Yes Learners are encouraged to initiate, participate in and manage activities in school and the wider community

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The extent to which schools enable learners to achieve economic well-being

Yes There is provision to promote learners’ basic skills Yes Learners have opportunities to develop enterprise skills and work in teams NA Careers education and guidance is provided to all learners in key stage 3 and 4 and the sixth form NA Education for all learners aged 14–19 provides an understanding of employment and the economy

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

Children Not long ago we visited your school to see how you were getting on. Thank you for the thoughtful way you made us feel welcome. We enjoyed meeting you and your teachers. Everyone was friendly and this made it easy for us to do our job. I am writing this letter to tell you what we found out about your school. We found Christ Church to be a good school. There are lots of things that we liked and think are good. We were impressed with your good behaviour and the way that you get on with each other. You make good progress in your learning. You enjoy coming to school and like the lessons. The school provides you with lots of interesting things to do and you greatly enjoy the visits that your teachers plan for you. Your head teacher leads the school well and all the people working there take good care of you. We have asked the school to try to do some things even better. We would like your teachers

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Text from letter to pupils explaining the findings of the inspection

to give you more opportunities to practise your speaking skills and use the new vocabulary that you learn. We have also asked members of the governing body to visit the school more often so that they get to know more about the work of the school. We are confident that you will continue to enjoy your school and we wish you well in the future. Yours sincerely Christine Canniff Lead Inspector

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