Earlier this term we had a routine monitoring visit from Ofsted. The purpose of this visit was to evaluate our progress since the previous full Ofsted inspection (January 2022). A monitoring visit provides schools with one of two possible judgements:
I am delighted to inform you that Ofsted have recognised that our school is making progress and we have been judged:
Leaders have made progress to improve the school
Please read the full letter from the Headteacher here.
Please see the March 2023 report here.
As we start the year, we want to take the time to share with you the key priorities for the year, which have been shaped with the feedback families provided at the end of last year. If at any point you feel you need to get in touch with me, please contact me on the details given below.
May God bless us all for the year ahead.
Chris Hammill
• Weekly Email: We want this to be helpful and informative for families, highlighting upcoming weekly and termly events. A copy of each email is placed on the school website.
• Website: The plan is to overhaul our website this year, our feeling is that whilst there is a wealth of information for families, we want the website to be more user-friendly for parents.
• ClassCharts: Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. We have started to use ‘announcements’, this will be the main form of daily reminders and updates for parents. Please keep an eye out for updates, as well as seeing how your child is doing in school.
• Contacting the School: We have updated the website including examples to illustrate communication. It also explains how to contact the school should you feel your initial enquiries still need some attention and you would like to talk to the Headteacher.
• Assessment and Achievement Structure: Following your feedback, we will be launching a new system of reporting on achievement for pupils in Year 7, 8 and 9 this year. A Parents’ Information Evening for each of these year groups will take place in half-term one to explain this system and give an opportunity for parents to come into school and ask questions. These evenings will be recorded and uploaded to the school website so that every parent / carer can participate. Parents’ Information Evenings for Year 10 and 11 will also take place in term 1, and assessment guides will also be available for parents. Pupils in Year 10 and 11 will receive their GCSE targets in half-term 1.
– Year 9 Parents’ Information Evening: Tuesday 4th October
– Year 8 Parents’ Information Evening: Thursday 13th October
– Year 7 Parents’ Information Evening: Wednesday 19th October
– Year 10 Parents’ Information Evening: Tuesday 29th November
• Reports and Assessment Guides: Pupils in Year 7, 8 and 9 will now receive a subject report at the end of every term where they will receive a grade in several skills relevant to that subject. These grade descriptors will be explained during the Parents’ Information Evenings. In addition, parents will all receive an assessment guide which details the grade descriptors for each subject skill and also the structure of topics and assessments throughout each year.
• Parents’ Evenings: Finding the balance for Parents’ Evenings is difficult. We responded to parents last year, by keeping Parents’ Evenings on Teams, as over 70% of parents and carers preferred this method. We will continue to review our provision for Parents’ Evenings with the aim to improve this system throughout this year. We will communicate with parents prior to each Parents’ Evening how this process will work.
• Examination Success: As a school we were delighted with the examinations results from the summer. In a year of exceptional improvement across the whole school, the group of pupils who made the most progress, compared to the last set of results from 2019, were the pupils with a Special Need or Disability. As a group they improved on average by nearly 1.5 grades – in every subject – and, SEND progress is a full grade above the national average. An incredible well done to all our SEND pupils!
• Leadership: Our SENCo, Mrs Smith, has been in contact with all families, including all new Year 7 pupils who have joined us this term. We continue to track and monitor the progress of all SEND children and have set up forms for parents and staff to flag any new or emerging needs. Mrs Smith is assisted in her work with the addition of Mrs Merren, who is dedicated to SEND admin and parental support.
• Training: We have continued extensive SEND training with staff this term, our focus for this half-term is around autism-friendly teaching. We continue to work on a weekly basis with Director of SEND for the Trust, SEND Lead for the Trust and various external agencies related to SEND.
• Reading: This week, Star Reading Assessments have been taking place during English lessons in Years 7, 8 and 9. These assessments will continue into next week. The Star Reading Assessments will provide accurate reading and spelling ages for all of our pupils in Key Stage 3, ready for the launch of our Accelerated Reader programme. Key information from the Star Reading Assessments, such as reading ages and guides on the Accelerated Reader programme, will be made available to parents shortly after the assessments are complete. The school will also be using this information to increase the number of bespoke sessions for pupils who require extra support; for example, we will be implementing Lexonik programmes this year, which are high-impact literacy intervention schemes. We have also continued to dedicate one tutor time a week to reading, as well as the reading provision offered within English lessons.
• Appointments: The new appointments to the Leadership Team and to the Administration Team in April have settled in really well; this increased capacity will result in improved provision for enrichment, careers, transition, Catholic Life, literacy intervention, ClassCharts, school events and celebrations of achievement.
• Monitoring and Support: Every member of the Governing Body is now linked to a member of the leadership team. There are now formal ‘Monitoring and Support’ meetings once a term which is brought together in a separate forum from our normal operational meetings.
• Expansion: Working with the Trust and the Diocese we are in the process of appointing new governors to further expand our capacity and expertise in this area.
• We will continue to celebrate the success of our pupils with Achievement Assemblies at the end of every half-term. We are aware of the incredible success of our pupils across a range of sporting, musical and other extra-curricular activities. We are grateful when parents share this success with the school, and where you are happy for us to do so, will celebrate this success in our weekly communication.
• In response to your requests, we have increased the coverage of mental health awareness, and how young people can look after their mental health, as part of the Personal, Social and Health Education sessions that take place on Wednesday mornings.
• We understand that nationally the cost of living is in the forefront of all our minds. We would ask that any family finding it difficult to cover the costs of school to contact us for discreet support. This could be with uniform, PE kit, transport or trips. Moving forward we are looking at how we can adapt curriculum planning to look at the provision of ingredients for Food lessons or specialist equipment for other subjects. Please contact Mrs Curry to discuss any help in this area.
Please find a link to the school’s more recent Section 48 report.
Please find a link to the Ofsted website.
If, as a parent / carer of a pupil attending this school, you require a paper copy of the information on this website, we shall provide this free of charge.
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