All Saints Catholic High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

All pupils, including students in the sixth form, are greeted with a warm welcome and a friendly smile from their teachers when they arrive at All Saints Catholic High School.

Leaders and teachers have high expectations of pupils' academic achievement. Pupils and students live up to these high expectations.

Pupils enjoy coming to school.

They feel safe and happy. They know that they can approach staff for help if they need it. Pupils told inspectors that staff deal with any instances of bullying quickly if they should occur.

Leaders expect pupils to behave well. Pupils behave very well in lessons. Learning is rarely interrupted.

Pupils also ...move sensibly around the school and socialise well at break times and lunchtimes. There is a calm atmosphere, which promotes positive learning and behaviour.

Pupils benefit from a good-quality education.

They progress well through the curriculum. This includes those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and disadvantaged pupils. Pupils are well prepared for their future lives.

Pupils access a wide range of extra-curricular provision. This includes the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, sporting activities and drama clubs. Pupils also volunteer to take part in charity events or act as junior leaders and role models to other pupils.

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

Leaders, including governors, have successfully improved the quality of education that pupils receive at All Saints Catholic High School. Governors skilfully hold leaders to account. Leaders and governors have worked well with subject leaders to develop a high-quality curriculum across all key stages.

Leaders have taken care to match the curriculum content to the needs of pupils and students in the sixth form.

Leaders have strengthened the curriculum for pupils in Years 7 to 11. In almost all subjects, the curriculum is broad, ambitious and well planned.

In a small number of subjects, leaders are still in the process of fine-tuning their curriculum plans further. This is so that pupils' achievement continues to improve in these subjects. Even so, pupils achieve well in all year groups, and students in the sixth form progress well through their chosen curriculum pathways.

Overall, curriculum plans, including those in the sixth form, are well thought out. Leaders have ensured that the curriculum builds up pupils' knowledge in different subjects in a logical way. In discussions with pupils about their work, it was clear to inspectors that pupils are knowing more and remembering more of topics and concepts across a range of subjects.

Across the school, including the sixth form, teachers deliver leaders' curriculum plans effectively. Most teachers have good subject knowledge. There are systems in place to support less experienced teachers whose subject knowledge is still developing.

Teachers explain new topics clearly to their pupils and students.

Teachers regularly check how well pupils and students are learning. They are skilful in identifying misconceptions.

Teachers ensure that they adapt their curriculum plans to address any misunderstandings. Teachers provide pupils, including students in the sixth form, with appropriate ongoing feedback, which helps them to deepen their knowledge and understanding.

The curriculum is equally ambitious for pupils and students with SEND.

Leaders have effective processes in place to identify the specific needs of pupils and students with SEND. Most pupils with SEND achieve well. However, the support that they get from teachers and teaching assistants is, at times, not as effective as it could be.

As a result, some pupils with SEND do not achieve as highly as they could.

Teachers have established that some pupils have fallen behind in their reading due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This sometimes stops them from getting the most out of their lessons.

Leaders have put in place a variety of strategies to help pupils to catch up quickly, including the employment of a specialist teacher. However, some pupils' general reading knowledge, including their ability to read subject-specific texts with confidence, is not as strong as it should be.

Behaviour in lessons and during social times is strong.

Senior leaders are quick to intervene when pupils misbehave. The number of exclusions from school, and the use of the internal exclusion room, have fallen steadily over time. Leaders ensure that pupils attend school regularly.

Staff support pupils' wider development effectively. The personal, social, health and economic education curriculum is well planned and delivered sensitively and effectively. Many pupils, including students in the sixth form, participate in a wide range of extra-curricular clubs and activities.

Leaders provide a high-quality careers education, advice and guidance programme. Many students in the sixth form benefit from well-planned courses that are linked to apprenticeships and career pathways in the health, social care, sports and protective services sectors.

Staff are happy.

Leaders take account of staff's workload and well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is a strong safeguarding culture across the school, including in the sixth form.

Leaders provide relevant safeguarding training to all staff. As a result, they are able to spot the signs that pupils may need additional support. Leaders know their pupils and their circumstances very well.

Leaders work closely with outside agencies to ensure that pupils and their families receive support in a timely manner.

Staff are knowledgeable about the risks that pupils may encounter in the local area. Pupils are knowledgeable about the potential dangers they might encounter outside school because of a well-designed personal safety programme.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Some teachers and teaching assistants are not as confident as they could be in adapting the delivery of the curriculum for pupils with SEND. On occasions, some of these pupils do not achieve as highly as they could. Leaders should provide ongoing training and support so that all staff become skilled in how to implement the curriculum even more successfully for pupils with SEND.

• Some pupils do not have the knowledge and skills to read as fluently as they should. This sometimes hinders how well they access subject-specific content across the curriculum. Leaders need to ensure that these pupils catch up quicky so that they become confident and fluent readers.