The Headteacher, staff and governors at Christ The King Catholic High School and Sixth Form Centre in Birkdale in Southport have been praised for being “relentless in maintaining a sharp focus on school improvement”.
While Ofsted recognised that “leaders have made progress to improve the school”, they assessed that it “continues to require improvement”.
Inspectors said that “more work is necessary for the school to become good”.
Ofsted published its findings after carrying out a Monitoring Visit in May. It was the third Monitoring Visit by Ofsted since the school was rated as ‘Requires Improvement’ during an Ofsted inspection in February 2020.
In her letter to Chris The King headteacher Erin Wheeler, His Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Kate Bowker said: “Since the previous graded inspection, you have taken effective action to strengthen leadership across the school. For example, you have appointed a new deputy headteacher.
“Furthermore, you and governors have restructured the roles and responsibilities of middle leaders. This has enabled you to streamline and strengthen systems around quality assurance and accountability.
“You, other senior leaders and members of the governing body have responded positively and swiftly to address the areas of improvement identified in the previous inspection report.
“You have acted quickly to develop leadership at all levels, including the leadership of subject curriculums.
“You have introduced clear procedures for monitoring and checking the quality of the curriculum. This is having a positive impact.
“For instance, subject leaders are now better equipped to ensure that subject curriculums are being delivered as intended.
“The previous inspection report highlighted that some teachers were not delivering the curriculum consistently well. To address this, you have ensured that subject leaders are equipped to support teachers to select the most effective teaching methods to deliver learning. As a result, many teachers are increasingly choosing activities and making use of effective pedagogy to help pupils to remember and recall previous learning.”
“You, together with governors and leaders, have high aspirations and expectations for pupils with SEND and for disadvantaged pupils. You have ensured that all pupils access the same ambitious curriculum. For example, you have taken steps to ensure that pupils, regardless of background or ability, access equitable learning across the curriculum.
“You recognised that the delivery of the curriculum for pupils with SEND was not as effective as it could be. To remedy this, you have sought external support to upskill teachers in adapting the delivery of the curriculum for pupils with SEND.
“This work is beginning to have an impact, although it is in the early stages of implementation. “Since the previous inspection, you have acted decisively to prioritise reading.
“You understand that, on entry to the school, a greater proportion of pupils are behind with their reading than in the past.”
She added: “You, together with governors, have been relentless in maintaining a sharp focus on school improvement. Governors are incisive in their understanding of the strengths, barriers and priorities for the school. They robustly hold you and other leaders to account for the quality of the curriculum.
“Staff are appreciative of your efforts to support their workload and well-being.
“The previous inspection report highlighted that some sixth-form students were not attending school regularly enough. You have worked successfully to raise staff’s expectations of attendance and punctuality in the sixth form. As a result, rates of overall and persistent absence in the sixth form have decreased since the last inspection. This has been particularly important as the number of students in the sixth form has increased.
“Together with leaders, you have strengthened the personal development programme offered to students in the sixth form. As a result, students are now receiving important life lessons and have access to a range of enrichment activities. This is helping to prepare students more readily for life in modern Britain. It is also ensuring that students are informed well about their next steps into education or employment.”
Erin Wheeler was praised for valuing the support that she has received from the archdiocese, the local authority and external advisers.
As well as this, she has accepted support from a national leader of education and specialist leaders of education to support her school improvement journey.
Christ The King has been recommended to take further action to:
- ensure that teachers use assessment systems consistently well to identify and address
pupils’ missing knowledge before introducing new learning
- ensure that teachers are fully equipped to successfully adapt the delivery of the
curriculum so that pupils with special educational needs and / or disabilities (SEND) learn well
- strengthen the support for pupils who are in the early stages of learning to read, or
who are behind with their reading, so that they can catch up quickly with their peers.
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