St Edward’s Roman Catholic/Church of England School, Poole

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Outcome

St Edward's Roman Catholic/Church of England School continues to be a good school.

What is it like to attend this school?

This school is a positive learning community. The core values of kindness, hard work and the development of individual strengths and skills are evident in the school's work.

Pupils are happy, friendly and polite. They learn to respect others and celebrate difference.

Pupils feel safe in school.

They say that there is an adult they can talk to if they have any concerns. Pupils say bullying is rare. They have confidence in staff to deal with it effectively if any incidents do occur.

Leaders have high expectations of pupils' behaviour. Th...ere are positive and respectful relationships between staff and pupils. This leads to a calm learning environment.

During social times, pupils are orderly and polite.

Pupils talk about having a range of clubs, sports and visits available to them. These include leadership roles in the sixth form to mentor younger pupils, as well as sporting and musical opportunities.

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

This school is well led and managed. The school's ethos and values run through all they do: unity, achievement, faith. Leaders ensure that there is an ambitious and challenging curriculum in place.

Subject leaders and teachers design the curriculum together. This means pupils benefit from a curriculum, where the knowledge they need to learn has been carefully considered.

Teachers have high expectations of what pupils can achieve through the curriculum.

There is careful ordering of the knowledge pupils need to learn in each subject. This is logical and allows pupils to build their knowledge over time. The curriculum is adapted as necessary to correct any misunderstandings that pupils may have.

In the sixth form, teachers know the students they teach very well. Teaching supports students to develop a deep understanding of the subject.

Leaders are ambitious for pupils to take the full suite of English Baccalaureate subjects.

Leaders have recognised that some pupils are restricted in their option choices, so have taken steps to strengthen the curriculum offer from the next academic year.

Leaders have worked with the local authority to develop provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff now have an increased expertise in this area.

Teachers have the information and training that they need to make sure that the curriculum is adapted to support such pupils. Leaders assure themselves that this is of the high quality they expect. Those pupils who are at the early stages of learning to read receive support to develop their understanding of phonics.

Pupils are encouraged to read more extensively through the tutor reading programme. This helps pupils to become more fluent readers.

All pupils follow a religious education curriculum.

Pupils also benefit from a well-planned personal development curriculum. This is flexible enough to include topical issues when needed. There is appropriate training in place for staff to deliver this curriculum effectively.

Pupils have a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities open to them. However, leaders do not have a sharp enough understanding of whether pupils take up this offer. Pupils receive helpful guidance on the options open to them for future employment, training or further education.

The school meets the requirements of the Baker Clause.

There is strong moral leadership from the headteacher. Everything leaders do are in the best interests of the pupils that attend the school.

Staff have a very positive view of leaders. They say leaders are approachable and considerate of their workload. Governors understand their responsibilities well and are cognisant of the need to support staff well-being.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have created a strong culture of safeguarding. They ensure that staff receive up- to-date safeguarding training.

Staff use this well to identify and report any concerns quickly. Leaders work effectively with vulnerable pupils and their families to ensure they get the help they need. Pupils are taught how to be safe and know where to seek help if required.

Leaders ensure that the school has suitable policies in place to raise awareness among staff and parents about the dangers of sexual harassment, online sexual abuse, and sexual violence. Recruitment checks are undertaken thoroughly.

What does the school need to do to improve?

(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

• Leaders do not have a detailed enough understanding of the pattern of pupils' participation in extra-curricular activities.

This means that they do not know which pupils are regularly accessing these opportunities. Leaders should ensure that they have a clearer overview, which allows them to check that all pupils are benefitting from the enrichment programme.

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 second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good in May 2013.