St Augustine’s Roman Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

There is a strong sense of community at St Augustine's. The school encourages pupils to take on responsibilities and many do.

Pupils spoke with pride about their work as well-being ambassadors to support their peers' mental health. Pupils enjoy being part of this school. They appreciate the importance of working together for a greater good, for example by raising money for their chosen charities.

Most pupils rise to meet the school's high expectations. They are polite and respectful to each other and move around school calmly. Relationships between staff and pupils are typically positive.

Pupils told inspectors that there is always an adult that they can talk... to, should they have any worries. The school resolves any such concerns quickly and well. Pupils are positive about recent changes to how the school deals with any poor behaviour.

The school wants all pupils to achieve well, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). These pupils benefit from the same ambitious curriculum as their peers. To meet its high expectations, the school encourages all pupils to develop their independence and their resilience.

In the main, they achieve well. Pupils with SEND thrive here.

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

The school offers a broad and balanced curriculum.

Pupils in key stage 4 choose subjects that align with ambitious post-16 destinations. In addition, a comprehensive careers programme helps pupils to make informed decisions about their future education, employment or training. Pupils, including pupils with SEND, are successful in their education and are well prepared for their next steps.

Across all subjects, the school has identified the most important knowledge for pupils to learn and by when. This helps pupils to build up their learning gradually. Most teachers deliver the curriculum using strong subject knowledge.

They explain new concepts clearly.

In many subjects, staff use effective strategies to ensure that pupils remember what they have learned. They check pupils' understanding and address any gaps in pupils' learning.

In other subjects, however, assessment strategies are not as successful. At times, staff in these subjects are not aware when pupils have forgotten important information. This makes subsequent learning more difficult for some pupils.

The school assesses pupils' additional needs accurately. Staff use a range of approaches to ensure that pupils with SEND learn well. These approaches are well matched to each pupil's needs and starting points.

Most pupils with SEND succeed in the classroom. Expert staff support a small number of pupils who need more specialist help. Over time, this helps these pupils to return to learning the curriculum alongside their peers.

The school engages positively with parents and carers about the support that their children receive. Many parents of pupils with SEND are full of praise for the ways that the school helps their children to achieve the best that they can.

The school identifies pupils of all ages who find reading more difficult.

Well-trained staff provide appropriate support to help these pupils to catch up with their peers. Most pupils' reading improves as they move through the school.

Uneven attendance had an impact on the published examination results for some pupils in 2023.

Since then, the school has taken appropriate action to improve pupils' attendance. Although most pupils now attend well, a small number of disadvantaged pupils do not. Consequently, these pupils are less likely to achieve all that they should.

The school provides a comprehensive programme to support pupils' personal development. This helps pupils to become well informed about life in modern society. For example, they learn about different types of healthy relationships and the importance of consent.

Trustees and governors understand the school's priorities. They work together with the school to ensure that new strategies are not burdensome for staff. However, at times, the school does not have a clear enough view of how well these strategies are carried out.

On occasions, this hinders the school's further improvement.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• A small group of pupils do not attend school as often as they should.

This leads to gaps in their knowledge over time and hinders their achievement. The school should bolster its efforts to ensure that these pupils attend school regularly. ? In some subjects, staff do not have a thorough enough understanding of how well pupils are learning the curriculum.

Staff are sometimes unaware of the gaps that some pupils have in their knowledge. This hinders subsequent learning for these pupils. The school should ensure that staff use assessment strategies consistently well to rectify pupils' misconceptions and address forgotten learning.

• Some of the school's systems do not provide leaders with a clear enough view of the impact of their actions to improve the school. At times, some strategies are not implemented effectively. The school should ensure that any improvement strategies are monitored and evaluated carefully to ensure that they have the intended positive impact on the quality of education at the school.