St Cecilia’s RC High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are polite, kind and considerate. They enjoy the positive relationships that they have with staff, who care for them well. Pupils make a strong contribution to the calm and respectful atmosphere that exists at the school.

They are happy here.

Pupils respond well to the high expectations that the school has of their achievement and conduct. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are fully included in the life of the school.

Pupils achieve well.

The school provides pupils with access to many activities that help them to develop their talents and interests. These include sports and art clubs, mindful crafts and the schoo...l's choir.

Trips to places of interest help to deepen pupils' understanding of the subjects that they study. For example, pupils visit places of worship and they enjoy trips abroad. Pupils take part in outdoor and adventurous activities during residential stays.

Visitors to the school help pupils to learn about other faiths and cultures.

Pupils make a positive contribution to their community. For example, they support food banks, raise money for charities and learn about the importance of fair trade.

The broad range of activities on offer at the school helps pupils to become confident, resilient and independent young people.

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

Governors have a detailed understanding of the performance of the school. They provide appropriate support and challenge to assure themselves about the quality of education that pupils receive.

Governors carry out their statutory duties effectively.

The school has designed an ambitious curriculum. It has thought carefully about the important information that pupils should learn.

Staff appreciate the time that they have been given to develop their subject curriculums to include global issues. This has supported their workload. For example, in mathematics, pupils learn about poverty and inequalities through the study of international engineering projects.

Most pupils are well prepared for each stage in their education. This includes further education, apprenticeships or employment with training.

Typically, staff use their subject knowledge to design activities that help pupils to develop their knowledge and understanding securely over time.

Sometimes, however, the activities that staff create do not help pupils to build their knowledge sufficiently well. When this happens, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.

Staff make regular checks on what pupils know and remember.

However, at times, staff do not promptly address the gaps and misconceptions that some pupils have in their learning. Consequently, some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready.

The school accurately identifies the additional needs of pupils with SEND.

It provides staff with clear guidance about how to support these pupils effectively. Staff use this information well to ensure that these pupils can learn successfully alongside their peers.

The school identifies and addresses the reading needs of pupils with precision.

For some pupils, this includes help to close any gaps that they may have in their phonics knowledge. The school provides pupils with the support that they need to become confident and fluent readers. The books that pupils read make a significant contribution to their understanding of the world.

For example, pupils read books that help them to learn about justice, democracy, bereavement and how to recognise the features of a healthy relationship.

The school provides well-considered support to a small number of pupils that need help to manage their behaviour. These pupils respond well to this help.

The school has successfully addressed the barriers that have prevented some pupils from attending regularly. This has reduced the number of pupils that are persistently absent from school.

The school's provision for pupils' personal development helps them to flourish.

It prepares pupils exceptionally well for life in modern Britain. Pupils are taught about how to develop their emotional resilience. They know how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy.

Pupils learn how to keep themselves safe, including online. The school's programme of careers education helps pupils to make informed decisions about their futures.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• At times, staff design activities that do not help pupils to develop sufficient depth of knowledge in the subjects that they study. This prevents some pupils from achieving as well as they could. The school should ensure that it supports staff to design learning activities that prepare pupils well for each stage of their education.

• Sometimes, the school is not quick enough to rectify gaps and misconceptions in some pupils' knowledge. This means that these pupils move on to new learning before they are ready. The school should ensure that staff address pupils' misunderstandings in a timely manner so that pupils build their knowledge securely over time.