Saint Mary Magdalene Church of England All Through School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

Saint Mary Magdalene Church of England All Through School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

The vision of family, faith and fellowship is central to this school. Leaders have developed a warm and welcoming community. Working relationships between staff and pupils are extremely positive.

Staff know individual pupils very well, which ensures that they are safe in school.

Pupils are polite, kind and proud of their school. Staff motivate pupils to learn and enjoy being in school.

Leaders have high expectations for all pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Pupils have positive at...titudes to learning in the classroom. The school campuses are calm and orderly places.

This includes in early years, where children share well and show respect for each other. Students in the sixth form have the opportunity to become peer mentors to support younger pupils in the school.

All pupils have access to a wide variety of extra opportunities.

These include a range of sports clubs and a gospel choir at primary. In the secondary phase pupils access many opportunities, including climate, pottery and master chef clubs. The school ensures that pupils have opportunities to take part in competitions and events.

These include poetry and short story competitions and workshops delivered by visiting authors.

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

Leaders have developed an ambitious curriculum for all, including pupils with SEND. This builds knowledge over time progressively from early years through to Year 13.

In early years, staff provide a nurturing environment and ensure that children develop their communication and language skills.

Teachers have strong subject knowledge and present information clearly. They are highly skilled at making adaptations to ensure that pupils with SEND can learn content effectively.

Typically, teachers check pupils' understanding carefully. Sometimes, teaching does not identify and address pupils' misconceptions in a timely way. As a result, some pupils are not fully ready to learn new content and commit knowledge to their long-term memory.

Leaders focus on pupils learning to read when they first enter Reception. Staff are well trained to deliver the phonics programme and identify pupils who are falling behind. They provide effective support for these pupils to ensure that they catch up.

In the secondary phase, pupils who struggle to read are identified swiftly. Staff ensure that pupils make improvements in their reading fluency and confidence. Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND receive strong support with their reading.

Systems to manage behaviour are effective and used consistently by staff. In early years, children demonstrate high levels of self-control and concentrate on activities. Leaders ensure that attendance is high.

They have robust procedures in place and work closely with parents and carers to support pupils to attend school regularly.

Leaders have developed a well-planned personal development programme. This has been carefully designed to consider risks that the pupils may face.

Pupils develop an understanding of how to stay safe and healthy. Staff develop pupils' understanding of important topics in an age-appropriate manner, such as online safety and healthy relationships. Staff assess and address any gaps in pupils' understanding of these topics with great expertise.

All pupils attend a range of outings to support their wider development, for example visits to museums and places of worship and going to concerts. These help to broaden pupils' cultural experiences. Pupils also can attend numerous subject trips abroad, including a history trip to Italy.

The school welcomes a range of external speakers, including visiting artists, a local MP and a journalist.

Pupils take part in leadership roles, including the school council, house representatives and the student faith team. Students have also developed their own clubs, including a black empowerment group and a gender and sexuality group.

Leaders make sure that all pupils access high-quality careers advice and guidance. Pupils also have access to a range of high-quality experiences of the workplace. A range of employers and training providers visit the school to talk to pupils.

Students in the sixth form receive regular advice and support with applications to future education and employment.

Leaders look after the health and welfare of all their staff. They are conscious of the pressures of workload and explore strategies to minimise this where possible.

The school has built extremely strong relationships with parents and the local community. Parental workshops are delivered regularly on a variety of topics to help support their children.Governors understand the strengths and priorities of the school.

They provide a wide range of expertise and carry out their role effectively.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• On occasion, teaching does not consistently check pupils' understanding and identify misconceptions.

This means that sometimes pupils are not fully ready to learn new content and commit knowledge to their long-term memory. The school should develop the expertise of all teachers so that they consistently identify and address any gaps in pupils' understanding.

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 first ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2018.

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