Christ Church CofE First School

Overview

Christ Church CofE First School is described as a “nurturing, close-knit community” where pupils are “welcomed in and greeted warmly.” The inspection confirms that the school has “taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection,” continuing to provide a high-quality education for its pupils.

Strengths

• The curriculum is “logically ordered and ambitious,” enabling pupils to “recall confidently the knowledge and skills they have learned” in wider subjects.
• There is a “strong reading curriculum” with skilled phonics teaching, ensuring pupils grow into “confident and fluent readers.”
• The school is “highly inclusive” in supporting pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), whose needs are “quickly identified” and met through effective collaboration.
• Attendance rates remain positive due to “detailed and thorough” support for pupils and families.
• Staff well-being is prioritised, with leaders being “mindful of staff workload” and providing appropriate support.

Areas to improve

• The school must ensure improvement strategies are “routinely monitored and reported to governors and trustees” to gain clarity on what is working well.
• Essential knowledge in mathematics is not defined well enough; the school should ensure this “key knowledge is better defined in the curriculum” to enhance pupils’ understanding.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”