St Andrew’s Catholic School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school.

This outstanding school enables almost all its pupils to make rapid progress in their learning and to achieve extremely well. The sixth form is outstanding. It offers an increasingly broad range of courses, and high quality teaching enables pupils to make excellent progress from their starting points.

The school's promotion of pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is highly effective, and pupils are very well prepared for the next stage of their education and for work. The quality of teaching, especially teachers' use of assessment, has improved considerably since the last inspection, and is now outstanding. T...eaching staff understand pupils' needs very well and provide activities that allow pupils, including disabled pupils and those with special educational needs, to learn extremely well in lessons.

Occasionally, pupils make good rather than outstanding progress in lessons because they are not given sufficiently stimulating activities. The behaviour of pupils in and outside classrooms is often exemplary. Pupils are routinely polite and courteous to one another, to staff, and to visitors to the school.

They say they feel extremely safe in school. Leaders have very high expectations of teachers. Staff performance management arrangements are extremely robust.

All members of staff share a very strong sense of purpose, and the pursuit of excellence is the norm. Leaders are passionately committed to providing the best for pupils and to ensuring that each individual realises his or her potential. The governors work extremely well with the headteacher in planning for the school's development.

This has allowed the school to improve rapidly in all respects. Parents are highly supportive of the school, and of its mission to bring out the best in all.

Information about this school

This is a broadly average-size secondary school.

Most pupils are of White British heritage. The proportion of students known to be entitled to free school meals is well below average. About 12% of students are supported through school action, which is in line with national averages.

Approximately 13% are supported at school action plus or have a statement of special educational needs. This figure is above the national average. A very small number of pupils attend classes on one day a week at a local college.

Approximately 11% of pupils are known to be eligible for the pupil premium (additional funding provided by the government). This proportion is well below the national average. The school meets the government's current floor standard, which sets the minimum requirements for pupils' attainment and progress.