Mullion School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud to be members of Mullion's learning community. They are positive about the opportunities available to develop their interests and talents.

Curriculum planning is ambitious, broad and balanced. Expectations are typically high, so pupils try their hardest and take pride in their work. Pupils achieve very well, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are disadvantaged.

Mullion School has been through a recent period of change. New leaders recognise that standards in learning and behaviour slipped and have taken rapid and effective action. As a result, the school is already improving.

Pupils inte...ract and conduct themselves positively. Lessons are generally calm and orderly. However, some low-level disruption still occurs.

Most staff deal with this effectively, although some inconsistency remains.

Pupils feel happy and safe at school. They learn what bullying is and know how to report concerns.

A few pupils use derogatory language towards others. However, since the change in leadership, the school is aware that this happens and determined to eradicate it. A revised programme of education has been introduced and responses to incidents are now more robust.

Pupils recognise that, on the rare occasions it happens, it is now dealt with properly.

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

Mullion is a strong and improving school. Trust and school leaders have worked together determinedly to turn around a previous decline in standards.

They have a clear vision for excellent and inclusive provision. They have raised expectations, stabilised the ship and improved the school systematically. Staff, like pupils, are proud to be a part of this close community.

Many are now recognising the benefits of being part of an effective trust. As a result, the curriculum has improved and pupils' learning, behaviour and attendance are returning to their pre-pandemic strength.

The school has redesigned and strengthened the curriculum.

Subject leadership has been prioritised. This has helped raise expectations and ensure learning is sequenced sensibly. Teachers utilise this planning to promote pupils' learning across subjects in meaningful ways.

As a result, pupils, including those with SEND, remember relevant knowledge and achieve well.

Nevertheless, there is more to do. New approaches to implementing the curriculum and managing behaviour are widely understood and often practised securely.

However, sometimes inconsistencies in their application remain. For example, recent improvements to the way pupils are supported to remember key knowledge are used better in some subjects than in others. Trust strategies to improve attendance have led to a halving in the numbers of pupils who are persistently absent.

However, although attendance overall is improving, the school has rightly recognised this could still be better.

Reading is appropriately prioritised. The school has established purposeful and enjoyable ways for pupils to experience books, stories and other texts.

The school has carefully planned approaches that ensure pupils' cultural capital and understanding of diversity are improved. Pupils' reading ability is assessed carefully. From this the school adapts provision to meet pupils' specific needs, as well as provide targeted intervention for pupils who need it.

As a result, pupils' reading improves. Many learn to love books and use the greater opportunities provided by the repurposed library.

Pupils' wider development is promoted well.

Leaders ensure that all learning and extra-curricular activities are accessible to all pupils. For example, pupils appreciate the range of clubs and trips and the chance to improve their talents through the performing arts. Pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is stimulated effectively through regular school celebrations and events.

Recent changes to the careers programme have improved the quality of advice and guidance that pupils receive, which had slipped during the pandemic. However, the school rightly recognises there is more to do in monitoring the impact of this.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Improvements to the curriculum are new and embedding. There is some variation in how these improvements are implemented, which means pupils learn better in some subjects than others. The trust should continue to strengthen the implementation of the curriculum so that pupils achieve well across all subjects.

• New expectations for how behaviour should be managed are not yet consistently applied. This means that occasionally expectations are higher in some parts of the school than in others. The trust should continue to strengthen the implementation of these policies so that low-level disruption is minimised.

• The school's careers programme is not as strong as it should be. In particular, pupils have only recently received careers advice early enough and there are too few links to local employers. Leaders should continue to improve the quality of careers advice so that pupils are well informed about their next steps.