Church Hill Middle School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The executive headteacher, senior leaders and governors are determined to improve the school.

They have an accurate view of its strengths and weaknesses and are introducing effective improvement strategies. Some recently introduced initiatives still need to be fully embedded and evaluated to ensure that they are having the desired effect on pupils' outcomes. Improvements to the curriculum, teaching and the tracking of pupils' progress mean that current pupils are making stronger progress than pupils in the past.

Published pupils' outcomes in the past have been weak. Current pupils at the school make stronger progress. This is because of i...mproved teaching and a newly redesigned, balanced curriculum.

Leaders track pupils' performance rigorously so that they can put effective interventions in place. Consequently, pupils achieve better. Despite significant underperformance in the past, current disadvantaged pupils are making stronger progress because of well-targeted teaching, high-quality pastoral support and effective use of pupil premium funding.

However, differences still remain between the progress they make and that made by other pupils nationally. Leaders, governors and the trust have created a culture and ethos that is inclusive and focuses on strong pastoral care and high aspirations for all pupils. Behaviour in lessons and at social times is good.

Pupils are polite, friendly and well mannered. Consequently, the number of fixed-term exclusions has reduced sharply. Pupils feel safe and cared for at school and are very complimentary about the effective pastoral support that they receive.

Parents, staff and pupils are supportive of leaders and say that the school has improved markedly since the executive headteacher joined. Although improving, the number of pupils who are persistently absent is too high. Engagement with the parents of these pupils is not yet as effective as it might be.

Leaders' rigorous evaluation of the quality of teaching has identified that teaching in key stage 2 is not always as effective as it might be. Appropriate support and training are beginning to have a positive impact.

Information about this school

This is a smaller-than-average middle school deemed secondary school.

The school is part of the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) family of schools. The vast majority of pupils are of White British origin. The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above average.

The proportion of pupils with SEND is above average. The number of pupils who have an education, health and care plan is average. A very small number of pupils attend an off-site alternative provision for medical reasons.

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