Litherland High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to attend Litherland High School. They appreciate the commitment and care that staff display for them each day.

This helps pupils to feel safe, happy and valued in school.

The school ensures that staff have high expectations for pupils' behaviour. Pupils respond well to these expectations.

They demonstrate positive behaviour in lessons and during breaktimes. The school is equally ambitious for pupils' learning, including those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). In recent years, the school has considerably strengthened the curriculum across a broad range of subjects.

As a result, an increasing number of ...pupils achieve well.

Pupils appreciate the opportunities that the school provides for their personal development. They have a secure understanding of how to keep themselves safe and healthy in their everyday lives.

Pupils take part in a range of clubs and activities that build their interests and talents. For example, pupils have tried new sports such as curling or judo, and they have taken part in a range of performances and art projects.

Pupils on the junior leadership team are excellent role models for younger pupils.

They are thoughtful and professional when representing pupils' views to staff. Pupils said that leaders readily consider their suggestions and ideas. This contributes further to the strong relationships between staff and pupils.

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

Support from the trust has contributed considerably to the improvements that the school has made to the quality of education that pupils receive. The school has overhauled the curriculum to ensure that it is broad and suitably ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND. For example, the school is increasingly ambitious for pupils to study the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects.

The published data in 2023 does not reflect the quality of education at this school or how well current pupils are learning. This is because pupils who are no longer at the school did not benefit fully from the strengthened curriculum offer.

Teachers use their subject knowledge and expertise to deliver the curriculum skilfully.

They design purposeful activities that support pupils to learn essential subject knowledge successfully. In the main, pupils learn well across a range of subjects.

Within lessons, teachers routinely check what pupils know.

This enables teachers to swiftly address pupils' misconceptions as they identify them. Teachers also use assessment strategies well to check what knowledge pupils know and remember over a longer period. However, in a small number of subjects, assessment information does not provide teachers with the information that they need to know how well pupils have learned across a series of lessons.

This hinders staff from ascertaining where pupils have gaps in their knowledge or whether refinements to the curriculum are required.

The school accurately identifies pupils who find reading challenging. These pupils are provided with a comprehensive programme of support to help them catch up quickly with their peers.

Pupils are encouraged to read widely and often. They are exposed to a range of thoughtfully selected texts. Despite this, pupils' reading within subjects is less developed.

In some subjects, leaders have identified the subject-specific vocabulary that they want pupils to know and use. However, in other subjects, this work is at an earlier stage. This means that some pupils do not build subject-specific vocabulary as well as they should.

From time to time, this prevents these pupils from deepening their understanding in these subjects.

The school identifies the additional needs of pupils with SEND effectively. Teachers are provided with the information and training that they need to meet the needs of pupils with SEND well.

As a result, teachers make adaptations to the delivery of the curriculum as necessary so that pupils with SEND can learn well alongside their peers.

The school has prioritised improving pupils' attendance. Staff monitor pupils' rates of attendance carefully and provide effective support for those pupils who find coming to school more difficult.

As a result of leaders' endeavours, these pupils' rates of attendance have improved considerably.

The school has a carefully designed programme to support pupils with their personal development. This enables pupils to build their knowledge in an age-appropriate way.

For example, pupils learn how to develop healthy relationships and how to look after their mental health. Pupils receive comprehensive information about opportunities for further education and different careers. Pupils value this learning and feel well prepared for their lives beyond school.

Trustees and governors are clear about their roles and responsibilities. They have recently developed their systems to ensure that they provide timely support and challenge for the school. However, from time to time, the school lacks detailed information about the impact of the updated curriculums in some subject areas.

Staff feel well supported by leaders in terms of their workload and well-being. Parents and carers were full of praise for the school and the communication that they receive about how well their children are achieving.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• In a small number of subjects, the school's assessment strategies do not provide teachers with sufficient information to identify how well pupils are learning over a series of lessons. As a result, some pupils develop gaps in their learning. The school should ensure that in these subjects, approaches to assessment enable teachers to successfully identify and remedy pupils' missed or forgotten learning.

• In some subjects, the school has not identified the subject-specific vocabulary that it wants pupils to know and remember. From time to time, this prevents some pupils from learning as deeply as they could in these subjects. The school should ensure that pupils are suitably furnished with the subject-specific terminology that they need to build a deep body of subject knowledge.

• The school does not have a clear enough understanding of the impact of some aspects of the curriculum. On occasions, this hinders staff from knowing when further improvements to the curriculum are necessary. The school should ensure that it has appropriate strategies in place to fully evaluate the quality of education that pupils receive.

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