Bishop Stopford’s School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Bishop Stopford's School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The school is a highly welcoming place for all pupils. Leaders create a nurturing and harmonious community based on equality.

Leaders make sure that pupils at the school are happy and safe. Working relationships between pupils and adults are positive.

Leaders have high expectations and show determination that pupils can flourish.

The school's moto of 'believe, strive, succeed' is at the heart of what the school does each day. The curriculum is ambitious and designed carefully to consider how to build pupils' knowledge and understanding over time. This ambition extends to... pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

The curriculum is taught by teachers with strong subject knowledge.

The school champions diversity. They have appointed both pupil and staff diversity ambassadors, who organise a range of events throughout the year.

Pupils are proud to represent their school community. They are welcoming to both visitors and new pupils. Sixth-form students are positive role models for younger pupils and provide support for their peers.

Pupils appreciate the rich range of visits and activities available to them.

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

The school provides all pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum. Leaders have a strong grasp of how to build pupils' knowledge progressively over time.

For example, in mathematics teachers make sure that pupils secure key skills before they move on to new content.

The school's curriculum thinking makes sure important content is revisited regularly, which helps in pupils' recall. For example, in English, pupils develop their understanding of poetry by revisiting poetry analysis each year.

Pupils use their understanding and apply what they have learned to different styles of poems. The curriculum is successfully adapted, designed or developed to meet the needs of pupils with SEND.

Teachers ensure that they revisit pupils' prior knowledge and understanding regularly.

This helps pupils to make connections with their learning. Teachers provide pupils with SEND with a range of effective strategies. These help pupils to access the curriculum successfully.

Typically, teachers identify and address any misconceptions in pupils' learning effectively.

Teachers know their subjects well. They support pupils' knowledge and skills effectively, including through high levels of guidance in lessons.

In a few subjects, the ambitions of the curriculum are not implemented as precisely. This means that pupils do not deepen their understanding of subject content securely.

Reading and pupils' literacy development are a priority for the school.

Staff help pupils who need extra help in their reading carefully. This includes tailored support that is well matched to pupils' needs. Staff enable pupils to gain confidence and fluency in their reading.

The school places an increased focus on improving pupils' punctuality. Actions taken by the school have resulted in improvements to pupils arriving to school on time. Attendance is very well managed.

Leaders work constructively with families, pupils and professionals to identify barriers to attending school. This has helped attendance to improve.

Typically, staff's expectations of pupils' behaviour is high in lessons.

Pupils have positive attitudes to their learning and concentrate well. However, in the corridor, pupils' behaviour is not as positive. On occasions, pupils' boisterous behaviour is not addressed quickly, which results in lost learning time.

Leaders are keen to ensure that pupils are well prepared for life beyond school. A carefully sequenced tutor programme helps pupils to learn clear messages about responsibility and safety, including how to stay safe online. Pupils have opportunities to reflect through collective worship in a variety of ways, including the school's gospel choir.

Leaders provide pupils with a wide range of activities and clubs. These include the very popular basketball club as well as a drama, strategy games and chess clubs. There are a range of leadership opportunities in school for pupils.

For example, sports leaders visit local primary schools to deliver sporting activities for younger pupils. Pupils take part in many educational visits including to the National Portrait Gallery, British Airways and a geography fieldtrip to Whitstable. Students who study Health & Social Care in the sixth form also regularly visit a local care home.

Leaders know their school very well. This accurate evaluation ensures that leaders understand what is working well and priorities for the future. Staff feel supported by others and their well-being is carefully considered.

Those responsible for governance maintain strong oversight of the school's work.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In some subjects, the ambitions of the school's curriculum thinking are not implemented precisely.

This limits pupils' deeper knowledge and understanding in these subjects. The school should ensure that teaching in all subjects builds closely on pupils' subject-specific knowledge and skills. ? Sometimes, in corridors, pupils do not regulate their own behaviour.

This means that on occasion pupils' behaviour can be boisterous. The school should ensure that its high expectations of behaviour are met beyond the classroom so that corridors are calm, orderly and purposeful so that learning time is not lost.

Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good.

This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act.

Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in January 2015.

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