St Boniface’s RC College

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are proud of their school. Relationships between staff and pupils are cordial. Pupils usually behave well in lessons and around the school site.

However, some pupils lose focus and motivation to study when the curriculum is not well structured or well taught.

The curriculum develops pupils' positive character traits, for example through the study of philosophy in 'Ubuntu' lessons. Most pupils are polite, respectful and friendly.

They can define bullying accurately. Pupils state that bullying is not an issue and that staff resolve any concerns.

Pupils attend a breadth of sporting activities and clubs at the school.

They have opportunit...ies to develop leadership skills through joining the junior leadership team and the anti-bullying ambassadors. However, pupils have limited opportunities to enrich their wider knowledge and appreciation of subjects in the curriculum, beyond what they learn in school.

Pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), study a well-planned careers programme.

They have opportunities to learn about apprenticeships, further education and careers in Plymouth and beyond.

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

Pupils' results at the end of Year 11 in 2022 were significantly below the national average. Although leaders and staff have worked to revise the curriculum, these changes are not securely embedded in all subjects and year groups.

Where the curriculum is stronger, the sequence of learning that pupils follow is clearly planned. For example, the modern foreign languages curriculum focuses on developing pupils' grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. Where it is weaker, staff do not consistently check what pupils know or do not know before moving on to more complex concepts.

Additionally, there is still too much variability in how well the needs of pupils with SEND are met. This means that these pupils do not learn successfully in all subjects.

Leaders use assessment to check how well pupils can read.

This information is used to identify pupils who require further support with their reading and in their understanding of phonics. Leaders have placed an emphasis on the teaching of literacy in all subjects. However, this is still in its infancy, so the full impact of this work has not been realised.

Leaders have established effective pastoral support for pupils. Pupils commented on the improvements they have noticed in behaviour, resulting from the actions that leaders have taken. However, the rate of suspensions, particularly for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, is still too high.

Although pupils are punctual to lessons, overall attendance is below what is typical nationally. Leaders have introduced strategies to improve pupils' attendance, but it is too early to judge their impact.

Through the personal, social and health education curriculum, pupils learn to be respectful, tolerant citizens.

They learn about issues in the wider world and have opportunities to discuss them. Through the careers programme, pupils learn about local employers and the opportunities they offer. For example, pupils are knowledgeable about local engineering apprenticeships.

Governors know the school very well. They share the ambitions of leaders and staff to ensure the academic, social and emotional success of all pupils. They have established strong systems to evaluate the effectiveness of leaders' actions.

They pose challenging questions. Staff are overwhelmingly positive about the way in which leaders and governors support their well-being. Early career teachers are unanimous in feeling well supported.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders are vigilant about keeping pupils safe both physically and emotionally. They know pupils and their families well.

All staff are trained and receive regular, up-to- date information about how to keep pupils safe. Leaders ensure that staff know about risks in the community to pupils' safety. As a result, staff identify when a pupil may be at risk, and know how to refer their concerns.

Leaders work well with external agencies to keep pupils safe, and are not afraid to challenge when they have concerns.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders have not ensured that the curriculum and the way in which it is taught and assessed are consistently effective. Consequently, pupils do not learn well enough in many subjects.

Leaders need to ensure that the revised curriculum is embedded more securely so that pupils learn more and remember more over time. ? The number of suspensions for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils is too high. Leaders should ensure that they develop their approach to the management of behaviour, so that the number of suspensions reduces.

• Some pupils, including pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils, do not attend school as well as they should. This has a detrimental impact on their learning. Leaders must ensure that parents, carers and pupils understand the importance of attending school regularly.