St Christopher’s Church of England School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Staff know every child at this school really well and put them at the heart of everything they do. Leaders have extremely high standards for all.

The school's vision of 'be the best' is truly part of day-to-day life. The vision is threaded through everything staff and pupils do. The 'Shine principles' ensure that pupils strive to be the very best version of themselves.

Every child knows these values and demonstrates them around the school in their conduct and interactions.

Pupils are kind and respectful towards each other and feel safe and happy in school. They say that bullying is rare and that if there were incidents, they are confident these would be dealt... with quickly.

Warm relationships between adults and pupils are evident. Leaders have high expectations of pupils and what they can achieve. As a result, the curriculum is engaging, and pupils love learning.

Leaders have ensured that pupils can take part in a wide and rich range of clubs and experiences. Pupils relish the opportunities available to them, such as school council, eco-council and spirituality club. They fundraise for local charities as well as more well-known, national ones.

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

Leaders have created a broad and ambitious curriculum that is carefully sequenced from early years through to key stage 2. There are clear plans in place that identify the important knowledge for the majority of subjects. In subjects such as mathematics, art and geography, pupils get the opportunity to build effectively on past learning.

This ensures that pupils remember the key facts before moving on to new learning. In subjects such as music and computing, leaders have not yet mapped out key knowledge to match the ambition of the other curriculum areas.

Reception children receive an excellent start to their school life.

They experience a rich curriculum that is engaging and well thought out. Their interests are clearly prioritised through the topic work, and as a result, children in early years are motivated and highly engrossed in their learning.

From the moment children start in Reception, they begin to learn to read through effective phonics teaching.

This continues into Year 1 to ensure that pupils become fluent readers. Teaching of phonics is consistently accurate across the school. Teachers act quickly to close any gaps, so that pupils catch up with their peers.

Leaders have matched reading books to the sounds that pupils are learning. They also ensure that pupils love reading and have access to a range of different books and genres. The whole school is excited about the new library, which will be opening soon.

Through experiencing the rich variety of books, children from Reception upwards develop an ambitious vocabulary.

Pupils know the expectations of them and want to always try to be the very best. Pupils listen well in lessons and are well behaved.

Sometimes, a very small minority of pupils do not always behave as expected. This is swiftly dealt with by adults. Leaders are determined to enhance their policies and training to ensure that all staff are empowered to deal with any poor behaviour choices in a restorative way.

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are identified quickly and are exceptionally well supported in their class. They have access to the same curriculum as their peers. Leaders have thought carefully about the appropriate adaptations needed for pupils with SEND to succeed.

The work of leaders to develop pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural experiences is of exceptional quality. Pupils demonstrate a deep understanding of respect and friendship and feel that everyone would be welcome at the school. One pupil said, 'We are full of uniqueness, and this is a unique school.'

Leaders ensure that there is a rich set of experiences that deepen pupils' character development. There is an impressive range of clubs and visitors to the school from which all pupils benefit. Every pupil feels that they know they can go to any adult for support if needed.

For example, pupils from armed forces families have their own club and support.

Trust leaders and governors are equally ambitious for the pupils. They support and challenge appropriately and really demonstrate how well they know the school and the community.

They are mindful of staff well-being and workload and offer a range of support to help leaders and staff. All staff are proud to work at this school and are offered a range of training and development opportunities.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have created a strong culture of safeguarding and ensure that staff are well trained to be able to support the pupils in their care. There is a highly vigilant culture among staff, and staff clearly know to whom to report concerns.

The trust and governors ensure that their statutory duties in relation to safeguarding are met and that there are clear challenges and checks in place.

This includes safer recruitment training.

Pupils know to whom they can go if they have a worry or concern and made reference to the safeguarding pictures around the school. Pupils have a clear understanding of online safety.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The curriculum is not yet well sequenced in subjects such as computing and music. As a result, pupils do not learn and remember knowledge and skills as well in these subjects. Leaders should make sure that each subject is planned and implemented to the high standards evident in subjects such as art and geography, so that pupils receive a consistent quality of education across all subjects.

• The school's inclusive behaviour policy is not yet fully embedded. As a result, the consistency of support some pupils receive when making the wrong behaviour choices is not always as expected. Leaders should ensure that all staff are fully trained to apply the school's approach consistently, in line with leaders' expectations.