St Mary’s Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

The culture in this school has improved in recent years. The school now has high expectations of how pupils should behave.

Pupils rise to these and conduct themselves well. In lessons, most pupils display positive attitudes to learning.

Pupils, including students in the sixth form, benefit from strong pastoral support through 'the hub'.

This provision, alongside well-trained staff, helps a minority of pupils to reflect on their behaviour or emotions and then re-integrate quickly into lessons. The school deals with incidents of bullying swiftly and effectively. Pupils are happy and feel safe.

The school has thought carefully about pupils' wider develo...pment. Pupils are encouraged to pursue interests and talents through a range of activities, such as ukulele, Chinese and poetry clubs. They are especially proud of taking part in whole-school productions.

The school does not have high expectations for pupils' academic achievement. Progress in raising pupils' achievement has been too slow. Consequently, pupils' outcomes, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are disadvantaged, are low.

Pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

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

Changes in leaders, of both the school and the trust, have improved pupils' behaviour and created a climate in which pupils can learn. There is a consistent approach to managing behaviour across the school.

In most lessons, pupils learn free from distraction. However, the school has not addressed the poor outcomes that too many pupils, including students in the sixth form, achieve.

There is a broad and ambitious curriculum in place, including for pupils in the specially resourced provision, 'The Arc'.

In most subjects, the school has considered the important knowledge that pupils should learn. However, at all key stages there is a disconnect between the ambition of the curriculum and the way in which it is delivered. At times, teachers do not use the most effective activities to teach the intended curriculum.

Some of the activity choices do not help pupils to remember important knowledge over time.

In several subjects, the assessment methods that teachers use do not link securely to the curriculum. Furthermore, the school's processes to check whether the curriculum is being delivered as intended are not robust.

As a result, the school has not identified the precise weaknesses in terms of how the curriculum is delivered and how to remedy them.

The school has taken effective action to prioritise reading across the curriculum. Staff use information about pupils' reading abilities to adapt their teaching.

Pupils who struggle with reading benefit from intensive support. Staff are well trained to be able to deliver the reading curriculum each day. Although pupils say that they enjoy the daily reading sessions in school, only a minority choose to read independently for pleasure.

Many pupils do not attend school regularly. This means that they miss out on learning the full curriculum. The school does not carefully analyse the reasons for pupils' absence.

The actions taken to improve pupils' attendance rates have not been effective.

The school engages well with parents. For instance, it recently ran an information evening for parents and carers of Year 11 pupils about how to support them with their preparation for examinations.

The school has a strong moral purpose to ensure that pupils with SEND access and benefit from the same opportunities as their peers. It identifies pupils' additional needs accurately. Pupils with SEND receive effective support.

Nevertheless, weaknesses in how well the curriculum is delivered to all pupils prevent pupils with SEND from achieving as well as they could.

The school is committed to improving pupils' wider development. There is a carefully constructed 'Inspire' programme, which broadens pupils' interests, experiences and understanding of others.

It is flexible to respond to any issues that arise. For instance, pupils recently learned about the impact of knife crime on victims' families. The careers programme gives pupils access to local employers and prepares them well to make informed decisions about their next steps.

Staff feel that the school listens to their suggestions about well-being. For example, staff helped to design the assessment calendar, which helped to ensure that workload is spread out over the year. They are positive about the changes that have been made since the appointment of the headteacher.

The trustees and governors are confident in the school's capacity to improve. However, they have an over-generous view of the school's strengths and weaknesses. They have not challenged the school sufficiently well to bring about the improvements needed in the quality of education that the school provides.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In many subjects, teachers do not use appropriate pedagogical choices to deliver the curriculum. At times, these choices do not reflect the ambitious aims of the curriculum.

Consequently, pupils do not secure a deep body of knowledge in these subjects. The school should enhance teachers' pedagogical knowledge so that they can deliver the curriculum as intended. ? The school's systems for checking how well the curriculum is delivered are not effective.

This means that trustees, governors and the school have an over-generous view of how well pupils learn. The trustees, governors and the school should ensure that there are effective systems in place to check the implementation of the curriculum. ? In some subjects, assessment methods are not used effectively to check what pupils know and remember.

This hinders teachers from identifying gaps and misconceptions in pupils' knowledge. The school should continue to refine its approach to assessment in these subjects so that teachers can identify and address any gaps in knowledge. ? Too many pupils and students in the sixth form are absent or persistently absent from school.

The school does not systematically identify the barriers to attendance that these pupils have. As a result, many pupils miss out on their education. The school should take all possible steps to improve pupils' attendance.