Mount St Joseph RC High School a Voluntary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Mount St Joseph is a friendly and welcoming school. Pupils are happy to attend each day.

There are strong relationships between staff and pupils. Pupils understand that staff are there to support them.

Pupils follow the school's routines and structures diligently.

This helps them to manage their behaviour well in lessons and during breaktimes and lunchtimes. In the main, pupils are considerate of other people.

The school has high expectations of pupils' achievement.

However, it has not ensured that the curriculum is suitably broad and ambitious for all pupils. For instance, a considerable proportion of pupils in Year 9 do not learn a modern ...foreign language. Furthermore, in many subjects, pupils do not recall what they have learned with ease.

This means that pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

There is a myriad of opportunities to support pupils' wider development. For example, pupils can be involved in the MSJ band, school productions and they can act as members of the school council.

Pupils readily learn how to take on responsibilities. Head prefects and house captains are wonderful ambassadors for the school. They lead their fellow pupils maturely and act as excellent role models.

The school supports pupils to successfully look after their own mental health. Pupils learn how to keep physically healthy. For example, during recent assemblies, pupils learned about the dangers of vaping and why it is harmful.

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

In most subjects, the school has identified what pupils need to learn and the order in which this content should be taught. Most teachers have secure subject knowledge. However, there is an unevenness in how well teachers deliver the curriculum.

This hinders how well some pupils learn.

In some subjects, teachers choose appropriate activities that support pupils to build on what they already know. This helps pupils to learn well and to deepen their understanding of concepts over time.

In other subjects, however, some teachers do not design learning that enables pupils to consolidate and apply their prior knowledge effectively.

The school has secure processes in place to accurately identify any additional needs that pupils may have. However, the information that teachers receive about pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is variable in its quality.

This makes it difficult for some teachers to adapt their delivery of the curriculum effectively for these pupils.

The school has recently strengthened its assessment systems, particularly in key stage 3. However, in some subjects, teachers do not use assessment strategies sufficiently well to alert them to what pupils may have forgotten.

This means that some pupils have gaps in their learning that go unaddressed. Furthermore, some teachers do not routinely use assessment information well to adapt future learning. As a result, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

The school has not ensured that its approach to supporting struggling readers is effective. For example, the school's systems do not enable staff to diagnose the specific gaps in pupils' reading knowledge. Therefore, the support that staff provide for weaker readers does not help pupils to improve their reading fluency quickly enough.

As a result, pupils who struggle with reading also struggle to access the wider curriculum.

The school has successfully raised attendance rates for pupils, including for those who are disadvantaged and those with SEND. Pupils understand the benefits of attending school regularly.

In lessons, pupils behave well.

The school encourages parents and carers to be involved in their child's education. For instance, Year 7 parents are keen to attend a welcome mass where they can review a sample of their children's work.

The school ensures that there are sufficient opportunities for pupils to gain a rounded view of the world. For example, pupils celebrate diversity in the school community through cultural days and awareness weeks. There are lots of clubs on offer for pupils.

Woven through the curriculum, the school's careers programme prepares pupils to make informed choices about their next steps.

In the main, staff told inspectors that leaders support them well with managing their workloads.

The school, including governors, does not evaluate the impact of the decisions or actions that it takes.

For example, the school does not assure itself that there is equity across the curriculum for all pupils. Moreover, it has not identified the precise priorities that will have the biggest impact on improving the quality of education that pupils receive.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• The school has not ensured that the curriculum is sufficiently ambitious for all pupils. This means that some pupils miss out on learning a broad range of subjects in key stage 3. The school should ensure that the curriculum is as broad and ambitious as the national curriculum for all pupils.

The school is not adept at using reading assessment information to identify the precise gaps in pupils' reading knowledge. As a result, some pupils do not read as well as they should, and this prevents them from learning the wider curriculum successfully. The school should ensure that staff have the expertise to be able to identify and address the gaps in pupils' reading knowledge rapidly.

• In some subjects, assessment methods do not enable teachers to check well enough on what pupils have learned. This means that some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge that remain unchecked. The school should ensure that its assessment systems are designed to check whether pupils have learned the key knowledge defined in the curriculum.

• The school, including governors, does not evaluate the impact of its decisions or actions closely enough. Consequently, the school is unclear about the weaknesses in the quality of education that pupils receive. The school should ensure that it carefully monitors the impact of its actions and uses this information to better inform its school improvement priorities.