Sacred Heart Catholic High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school. The girls' achievement and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development are both outstanding. As a result they are exceptionally well prepared for the next stage of their life.

The girls achieve well-above average standards by the end of Year 11 and make better than expected progress in a very wide variety of subjects. They build well on this throughout the sixth form, with all girls achieving A* to E grades last year at A level and an above-average proportion achieving A* to A grades. The progress of all groups of girls is excellent because much teaching is outstanding and caters particularly well for their individual needs....r/>
The sixth form is good and rapidly improving, with teaching that is equally as strong as in the rest of the school and a range of courses that meet very well the needs of all the girls. There has not yet been time for the school to ensure that actions taken in response to its recent sixth-form audit are leading to students making consistent, exceptional progress throughout the two years. Literacy is promoted very well across the school within a curriculum that engages and motivates the girls and gives them all equal chances to succeed.

The teachers give helpful advice to the girls during lessons about how to make further progress, and marking of their assessments is detailed and specific. However, daily marking is inconsistent in its regularity and quality. The girls are very proud to attend the school.

They show this through their excellent behaviour and attitudes to learning and to each other, their high attendance, and their support and respect for each other and the staff. They model the school's Christian ethos which threads through all the school's work. They feel very safe because the school knows them all, values them all and has very good systems to look after their individual needs and to help to keep them safe.

Their parents agree and support all of the school's work. The headteacher leads astutely the very effective work of leaders and managers at all levels. Together with the governing body, they focus on achieving even higher standards of teaching, to make sure that all of the girls continue to achieve very well.

Information about this school

Sacred Heart Catholic High School became an academy in December 2011. It has kept its original name. When its predecessor school was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be outstanding.

It is a Catholic school for girls and accepts those from other faiths. Sixty per cent of the girls are Catholic. The school is much larger than others of its type and is over-subscribed.

The proportion of girls supported through the pupil premium (additional government funding for looked after children, those from service families and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals) is above the national average. An above-average proportion of girls is from minority ethnic groups and a well-above average proportion speaks English as an additional language. The proportion of disabled girls and those who have special educational needs supported at school action is below average.

The proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs is below average. The academy meets the government's current floor standards, which set the minimum expectations for students' attainment and progress. The headteacher took up her post in September 2013.

No girls are educated off-site. The school has been a teaching school since 2011. It also supports several other schools to strengthen their performance.