Corpus Christi Catholic High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Corpus Christi Catholic High School seeks to enrich pupils' lives through faith and extremely high-quality care, support and guidance.

This is a notable strength of the school and contributes positively to pupils' well-being, behaviour and engagement in learning. Pupils enjoy being at school and achieve well. Senior leaders ensure that all members of the school community place pupil and staff well-being at the heart of all that they do.

The school has developed strong relationships with a wide variety of partners to broker the best possible support for pupils. It has developed highly effective approaches to support pupils in overcoming barriers to learning. There are robust procedures in place that keep all pupils safe, an...d the culture of safeguarding permeates throughout the school.

In collaboration with its partner primary schools, the school has developed a clear vision for the development of Curriculum for Wales. The importance of good teaching and subject knowledge is at the core of this vision and leaders are developing valuable learning opportunities for pupils. Generally, teachers have suitably high expectations for pupils and ensure helpful levels of challenge and support in the classroom.

The curriculum provides appropriate opportunities for pupils to develop their literacy and numeracy skills. The provision for digital skills is at an early stage of development and currently the school does not promote the use of the Welsh language strongly enough in areas other than Welsh lessons. The school is well led and managed.

Leaders have established a culture of collaboration and mutual respect based on Catholic values. They foster a sense of pride in the school that is shared by all staff and pupils and promote successfully a community where all are supported to achieve. The school has developed its processes for self-evaluation and planning for improvement suitably.

However, a few aspects of self-evaluation lack precision, particularly in teaching and learning, and this means that departmental and whole-school priorities for improvement tend to be too broad. Recommendations R1 Refine self-evaluation so that it identifies precisely any aspects of teaching and learning that need improvement R2 Increase the range of opportunities for pupils to practise their Welsh language and digital skills What happens next The school will draw up an action plan to address the recommendations from the inspection. Estyn will invite the school to prepare a case study on its work in relation to reducing barriers to learning for vulnerable pupils by raising aspiration, supporting pupils' emotional health and well-being, and developing their literacy and numeracy skills, as part of its pupil-centred ExCel intervention, targeting the most disaffected learners, for dissemination on Estyn's website.