Saint Cecilia’s Church of England School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Main findings

Saint Cecilia's, Wandsworth is a good and strongly improving school which offers a well-balanced provision for its students and sixth form students. The school not only consistently supports them very well to attain above average results, but to develop into thoughtful and mature young people who are confident about moving on to the next stage of their education.

Students and parents are overwhelmingly positive about the strong ethos and values of the school; they value its reputation in the local community and beyond and hold it in high regard. A new Year 7 student said, 'I feel at home' while others described it as 'friendly', 'diverse' and 'inclusive'. These comments accurately illustrate the outst...anding quality of care, guidance and support provided.

They also confirm the high levels of confidence parents and carers have in the school and the outstanding partnership the school has with them. Leadership and management are good. The senior team drives improvements in a structured way so that all staff have a clear understanding of the strategic vision to accelerate students' progress and give them high quality experiences.

Students therefore enjoy coming to school and their attendance is exceptionally high. The good quality teaching, students' positive approach to learning and their good behaviour with impeccable features are important factors that contribute to them achieving well. That said, inconsistencies in teaching remain, which is not always inspiring enough to stimulate a buzz and increase independent thinking.

Homework and marking are not set consistently nor with detailed comments to help students to reach a higher level. Furthermore, although assessment and tracking are good, the information is not always used to match work to the needs of individuals and different ability groups. The school's main and subsidiary specialisms are used well to develop staff expertise and share good practice within the school and beyond.

In particular, both subjects are used to support and develop partnership work very well particularly in primary schools and the local community. Since the previous inspection, the school has made good progress in tackling the areas for development. In particular, the sharp focus on broadening the curriculum in Years 10 and 11 has led to students receiving a range of pathways suitable to their needs.

Provision for students' spiritual, moral social and cultural development is outstanding; it underpins community cohesion and supports the tightly knit school community that is responsive to corporate needs and those of individuals and groups. The strong emphasis on monitoring and evaluating outcomes is integral to the school's development. However, the school is aware that there is still more to do when using performance data to identify students that are potentially at risk of underachieving and in ensuring that provision is carefully tailored to needs to accelerate progress further.

Strong leadership and the sustained and strongly improving outcomes mean that the school's capacity for improvement and value for money are good.

Information about the school

Saint Cecilia's, Wandsworth is slightly smaller than the average-sized secondary school. Since opening in 2003 with 150 students, the roll has increased and the school is heavily oversubscribed.

The school serves a diverse community with White British students as the largest ethnic group. The school has a high proportion of minority ethnic groups but few students are at the early stage of learning English as an additional language. The proportion of students eligible for free school meals is average.

Although a high proportion of students have a statement of special educational needs, the proportion with special educational needs and/or disabilities is below average. The main needs are physical or medical and autistic spectrum disorder. In 2009, the school entered into a soft federation with Blackheath Bluecoat Church of England School in the London Borough of Greenwich.

This partnership will end in August 2012. The school has a main specialism in music with mathematics as a subsidiary. The school offers a range of extended services and has gained the Healthy Schools Award.