St Mary’s Catholic High School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is a good school The school is very well led by its headteacher. It is constantly improving.

Pupils now get a good deal at St Mary's. Senior leaders do sterling work alongside the headteacher. The work of middle leaders, such as heads of subject, has considerably improved.

Leaders are really moving the school, and the quality of teaching, forward. Teaching usually meets pupils' needs well. Staff provide strong encouragement to pupils to give their best.

Pupils respond keenly. They take pride in their work. They make good progress and almost all get some good GCSE grades.

The governing body, too, has improved its work notably. Governors d...o a good job in holding leaders to account supportively. The school spends pupil premium funding excellently.

Disadvantaged pupils do very well. Pupils who struggle with literacy and numeracy when they join the school are supported effectively. Pupils who speak English as an additional language also get good help and achieve well.

However, too much time is spent on this support outside mainstream lessons, and so the pupils miss other important subjects. Pupils behave well. Incidents of serious misbehaviour are uncommon.

Any that do occur are quickly dealt with by the staff. The school looks after pupils very well. It takes the right steps to keep them safe.

Pupils feel secure, confident and happy. There is a strong sense of community and care, clearly upheld by the school's inclusive Christian foundation. Pupils who have particularly high attainment or ability achieve well.

However, they could do better still. They are not given as much attention by staff as are other pupils. Sometimes teachers do not give pupils the time they require to do important work or to try things out for themselves.

As a result, their progress slows. In some practical subjects and lessons, pupils do too little essential hands-on work. This hinders their learning.

Pupils' attendance is slightly below average. This is mainly caused by a small number of pupils being persistently absent. The school recognises that there should be a wider range of options to suit pupils' needs, particularly in vocational subjects, at key stage 4.

Information about this school

This is a small secondary school, located in central Croydon. It serves a diverse area. The largest ethnic group is Black African.

There are more boys than girls. The school had a sixth form until the summer of 2016. This has now been suspended.

A larger than average proportion of pupils do not speak English as their first language. More than two out of five pupils are entitled to the support of pupil premium funding. This is above the national average.

The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average. Some pupils attend provision off-site. The three providers used are Phil Edwards Pupil Referral Unit, the Saffron Valley Collegiate and Educational Excellence and Wellbeing.

These are all within the local borough. The school meets the floor standards, which are the government's minimum expectation for pupils' progress. The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website.