Christ The King RC Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Christ The King RC Primary School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils, parents and carers see Christ the King as a family, where everyone is welcome and treated with respect. Pupils are eager to attend each day.

They bound into school with enthusiasm and are greeted warmly by staff. Pupils know that they are well cared for and safe. They have a trusted adult they can speak to if they have worries.

Pupils and staff alike share and live out the school's mission, 'together we wonder, together we believe, together we shine and together we achieve'. The school has high aspirati...ons for pupils' achievement. Pupils enjoy learning and are keen to share all that they know and can do.

They take pride in the work that they produce and recognise the importance of always trying their best. Pupils behave and achieve well.

There are vast opportunities for pupils to broaden their horizons.

They enjoy visits to museums and historical places of interest that bring learning to life. Pupils appreciate the residential trips on offer, which develop their confidence and help them to build strong relationships with their peers. Enrichment activities widen pupils' talents and interests.

These activities are popular and have a high uptake, with pupils keen to partake in cricket, football and coding to name but a few.

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

The 'vow to wow' curriculum is ambitious for all pupils. The purposeful choices that the school has made about curriculum content make learning relevant and engaging.

The school has set out clearly what pupils should learn and in what order. This begins in the early years and builds logically over time.

Teachers have a thorough understanding, based on research, of the innovative way in which the school has chosen to deliver the curriculum.

They work alongside universities to provide opportunities that engage pupils and broaden their learning. One such initiative builds girls' aspirations for future career options in science, technology and engineering.

The school monitors carefully what pupils know and can do.

Typically, teachers identify and address pupils' misconceptions as they arise. However, this is not consistently applied in pupils' writing, where some errors go unchecked. This limits pupils' ability to showcase their curriculum knowledge through their writing.

Pupils learn to read quickly, starting their journey in the early years. Children in the Nursery Year enjoy sharing stories and rhymes together. In the Reception Year, children are introduced to the sounds and vocabulary that will support them to become confident readers.

Staff deliver the phonics programme successfully. Those pupils who need additional help to learn to read receive this swiftly. Most older pupils read with accuracy and independence.

They enjoy talking about the stories that they have shared in class.

Effective training for staff informs the well-chosen resources and adaptations to curriculum delivery made for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This helps pupils with SEND to successfully access the same curriculum as their peers.

This is all underpinned by the school's systems that accurately identify the additional needs of these pupils. This begins when children enter the Nursery Year. Pupils, including those with SEND, achieve well across a range of subjects.

Children in the early years are well-behaved. They follow established routines and learn cooperatively alongside one another. Behaviour across the school is highly positive.

Kindness runs like a golden thread through the school and is visible in how staff and pupils act towards each other. Pupils have excellent attendance. The school's systems and procedures to maintain high rates of attendance are highly effective.

The school's approach to pupils' personal development is carefully considered. Pupils learn about mental health and staying safe. This prepares them well for life beyond the school.

Pupils take on projects and roles to be 'champions for change' in the school and in the wider community. They arrange litter picks, support the behaviour of children in the early years and raise money for the homeless. Pupils have a voice and know how to use it to make a positive contribution to their school.

Governors are ambitious for and proud of the school. They have the necessary skills and expertise to fulfil the role effectively. However, they lack the oversight and depth of information to sufficiently challenge and fully hold leaders to account.

Governors, alongside leaders, support staff to reduce their workload. Staff are highly appreciative of the care and thought that is placed on their well-being and the support that they receive to continue their own professional development.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Staff do not ensure that pupils apply their knowledge of spelling, punctuation and grammar across the wider curriculum. As a result, some pupils do not achieve as highly as they could. The school should ensure that staff support pupils to apply their knowledge, skills and understanding of spelling, punctuation and grammar when writing across different subjects.

• The systems for governors to gain an accurate insight into the effectiveness of the school are not as thorough as they could be. As a result, governors do not have enough information to offer sufficient challenge to the school to ensure that it continues to go from strength to strength. The school should ensure that those responsible for governance are enabled to gain a sharper overview of the school's strengths and areas for improvement.

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.

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.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in March 2016.