Christchurch Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 1 November 2022

Leaders, staff and governors care passionately for the school's pupils and their families. As a result, pupils receive excellent care and support for their well-being. For example, leaders ensure that there are expert therapists and counsellors available to help pupils to deal with any worries they may have. The extremely high level of pastoral care adds hugely to pupils' readiness to learn. Staff are ambitious for pupils and expect them to behave well. Pupils meet these expectations and achieve successfully. They behave well in lessons and around the school. Pupils said that they enjoy school and agreed that behaviour is good. They reported that bullying is rare and that they are confident that their teachers will deal with any incidents properly. Leaders and staff ensure that any concerns are recorded and responded to effectively. Another major strength is the wide range of experiences provided for pupils. These include visits by authors to promote reading as well as volunteers who come into school to support pupils' well-being and learning. Visits to places of interest aim to develop pupils' learning further, for example pupils went to the Museum of London to learn about the history of the city. The broad range of after-school activities are well attended.

What the school should improve

• Although the curriculum is expertly planned, in a few cases it is not implemented as effectively as it needs to be. In a few subjects, the work to review the curriculum, and put it into practice across the school, remains work in progress. This leads to one or two inconsistencies in how well pupils develop their subject knowledge. Leaders need to ensure that the implementation of the curriculum is embedded securely into everyday practice. This includes using the strong professional development programme to strengthen staff expertise further.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)