Corpus Christi Catholic High School Ofsted Report

Full report

What does the school need to do to improve further?

• Improve teaching so that all pupils make better progress, especially those who are disadvantaged and who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, by teachers:
  • using information on what pupils can already do to plan work which builds on this,
  • so that all pupils are suitably challenged, including the most able identifying gaps in learning and providing pupils with work to do to fill these gaps so that they quickly catch up with other pupils.
• Improve the quality and use of assessment, especially for pupils in Years 7 to 9, by leaders:
  • providing training in assessment practice so that teachers’ assessments are accurate and better reflect what pupils have learned
  • using this information reliably to check on the progress made by individual pupils and groups, from their starting points at the end of key stage 2
  • checking that the additional help provided for pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, is making a big enough difference and is successfully removing barriers to learning
  • making sure that pupils have targets in all subjects that are realistic and achievable but which better reflect the higher expectations of new GCSE courses.
• Improve numeracy development for all pupils, but particularly for those who start in the school with weak numeracy skills, by:
  • providing pupils with additional support of the same high standard given to pupils to improve their literacy skills
  • making sure that all teachers know how to help pupils to apply their numeracy skills in other subjects, such as in drawing accurate graphs.
• Continue using the newly introduced strategies to improve pupils’ behaviour to quickly reduce the number of pupils who are excluded from school, especially disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. An external review of governance should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved. An external review of the school’s use of the pupil premium and the Year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up funding should be undertaken in order to assess how this aspect of leadership and management may be improved.

Inspection judgements

Effectiveness of leadership and management

Requires improvement

• Leaders have acted decisively to improve teaching and continue to promote their high expectations of standards of behaviour for all pupils. The now stable team of teachers, with very few temporary or supply staff, means greater consistency in the quality of teaching and the way behaviour is managed across the school. These improvements, however, have not made enough difference to many pupils’ progress, which is still too slow.
• Leaders are confident that teachers’ assessments are accurate in key stage 4 because their internal checks are validated by teachers from other schools. However, assessment in key stage 3 is inaccurate. Leaders are unable to use this information reliably to hold subject leaders to account or to identify particular groups of pupils who may require extra help.
• Leaders do not know if pupil premium funding is quickly diminishing the wide differences seen in the past because recent assessment information is available only for pupils in Year 11. No reliable information is available for any pupils in key stage 3.
• Pupils who join the school with weak numeracy skills receive no additional support through the Year 7 catch-up funding to help them to improve their numeracy skills. Pupils do not receive the support they are entitled to through this funding.
• Support for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is helping to remove some barriers to learning but progress for some pupils in this group is affected by poor attendance and behaviour.
• Leaders have introduced a range of on-site support for pupils reluctant to accept the new high standards of behaviour. This includes support through Bosco House, the fixed-term exclusion centre (FTEC) and the internal exclusion room. Fewer recorded incidents of low-level disruption suggest that behaviour is improving. The number of pupils excluded for persistent disruptive behaviour, however, continues to be high.
• Weaknesses in teaching are being eradicated because teachers are well supported by training, improvement plans and regular reviews of their performance objectives to help them to improve their practice. Teachers value the support they receive.
• Leaders use capability procedures if improvements to teaching happen too slowly. Additionally, the governing body does not allow teachers to move up their pay scale unless they have met their objectives. Some teachers have chosen to leave the school in response, but leaders say the teachers who are now in post are more effective, compared with at the time of the last inspection.
• Leadership is improving. Several subject leaders are new in post, including the acting subject leader for mathematics. Subject and other middle leaders are well supported to help them to develop the skills needed to check accurately the effectiveness of teaching. Good-quality training is provided by the local authority and senior leaders provide coaching to help middle leaders to develop their leadership skills further.
• Following a curriculum review, leaders have introduced a wider range of academic courses, reducing the number of vocational courses. This better meets the needs of pupils currently in the school because an increasing number of pupils with high prior attainment start in the school each year. The variety of extra-curricular activities available adds richness and breadth to pupils’ learning and includes sporting activities, debating, cheerleading, an animation club and fire cadets.
• Spiritual, moral, social and cultural learning is promoted well through assemblies and the fortnightly lessons in CPSHE. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe from a range of threats. They have a deep understanding of tolerance and respect reflecting the Catholic values of the school, and are prepared well for life in modern Britain.
• Pupils’ attendance is improving, including for disadvantaged pupils. Leaders monitor this area well through regular checks on attendance and punctuality. Leaders now involve parents more in discussions about their child’s attendance. The headteacher and other leaders hold meetings with parents to arrange further support for families of pupils with the lowest attendance.

Governance

• The governing body’s effectiveness in holding leaders to account for improvements to the school varies, depending on the quality of the information that is provided by the school’s leaders.
• Leaders give governors information on the achievements of pupils in Year 11, with some information on pupils in Year 10, but very little on the achievements of pupils in other year groups. Consequently, governors do not know if teaching is good enough to accelerate the progress of pupils in all year groups, including for disadvantaged pupils and the most able.
• Minutes of meetings show that governors regularly ask challenging questions of leaders and ask for evidence to back up the claims made by leaders.
• Governors know that Year 7 catch-up funding is not used as well as it might be because there is no strategy to provide extra numeracy support for pupils entitled to support through this funding. They know that support for literacy is effective and know the difference this funding is making.
• Governors’ decisions on teachers’ salary increases make sure that only the most effective teachers are rewarded.
• Governors’ training is up to date. A governor who has been trained in safer recruitment is always present whenever staff are appointed to the school.
• The governing body is not aware that the school’s website does not meet requirements. It does not routinely assure itself that the school’s internet filtering system is effective.

Safeguarding

• The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. Leaders took immediate action to tackle some weaknesses identified by inspectors, including restricting access to the school site, improving the quality of information held on staff and governors’ records, and improving the school’s admissions register.
• Safeguarding training is up to date, and further catch-up training is planned for the few staff who missed this training. Staff understand their responsibility to keep children safe and know what to do if they have a concern about a pupil.
• Pupils say they feel safe in school and parents agree with this. A very small number of parents raised concerns about bullying and the lack of action taken by school leaders to stop it. However, pupils say that bullying is not a problem and are confident teachers will do something to stop it quickly if it is brought to their attention.

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Requires improvement

• Teachers do not use assessment information well enough in their planning. Consequently, teaching does not build on learning that has gone before, which means that some pupils do not receive the extra support they need while others, including the most able, are not challenged sufficiently to deepen their learning.
• When pupils are given work to do at different levels, they are not always guided to the most appropriate work for them. Pupils who lack confidence spend too long on straightforward work they can already do.
• Teachers’ expectations of standards in literacy are inconsistent. Some teachers diligently check and correct spelling errors, such as subject terminology used in headings, while others do not. When teachers ignore these errors, pupils continue to misspell key words so they are not helped well enough to improve their work.
• Pupils in Year 9 are not expected to complete extended writing in English to the same standard in all groups. Consequently, some pupils write very little because teachers’ expectations are too low.
• Science teachers accept poor standards of presentation of graph work. Pupils’ work in books shows graphs drawn without axes labelled correctly. The use of irregular scales leads to errors in plotting results and further errors in interpreting the findings.
• Not enough mathematical equipment is provided for the weakest pupils in mathematics, particularly those in Years 7 to 9, to help them develop a deep understanding of number and to understand fully the written calculation methods they use.
• Teachers plan work for the most able pupils in mathematics but sometimes do not give pupils enough support to help them all to improve their work equally. For example, pupils in Year 9 were given a choice of problems to tackle but the teacher only modelled the correct response for one of these. Most pupils did not know if their work was correct or how to improve their solution.
• Pupils’ presentation of their work in books is good when teachers take the time to help pupils to improve it. Pupils appreciate this help as most have positive attitudes towards learning and want to try their best to improve their work.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are helped to improve in lessons. These pupils have personalised intervention plans so that all teachers know how to remove any barriers to learning. Screening tests, carried out regularly, make sure that these pupils are accurately assessed and are given any support they need.
• Teachers encourage pupils to develop their oral skills through sharing their ideas and responses with a partner, or with the class. Pupils do this confidently and with good explanations.
• Teachers have good subject knowledge because teachers largely teach their own subject and encourage pupils to share their own passion for the subject. In many cases, this enthusiasm is infectious and pupils are keen to please their teacher.
• Non-specialist teachers in mathematics have additional support and training to help them to ‘convert’ to mathematics teaching. Mathematics teachers consider how to introduce and teach particular topics in department meetings, which encourages the sharing of effective practice across the department.
• Teachers plan well-structured lessons in creative subjects such as drama. They devise interesting and engaging activities, and use a good range of resources to add variety to learning.
• Teachers’ assessment of pupils’ attainment in Years 10 and 11 is accurate, because teachers have a good grasp of GCSE assessment criteria and the standard of work required to meet these.

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement

Personal development and welfare

• The school’s work to promote pupils’ personal development and welfare is good because the broad and balanced curriculum prepares pupils well for life in modern Britain and the next stage in their education, employment or training.
• CPSHE helps pupils to understand how to keep themselves safe from a range of risks, such as when using the internet or social media. Pupils know about drugs and alcohol abuse, and their understanding of gang violence and knife crime was deepened through a recent presentation from the police.
• Careers information and guidance are effective. In addition to themes taught in CPSHE, pupils are given information to help them make informed decisions about choice of optional subjects for key stage 4. Pupils are given information on college courses and apprenticeship programmes. All pupils in Year 11 have personal interviews with careers advisers. Pupils in Year 9 say they can speak with a careers adviser if they wish.
• All Year 10 pupils take part in work experience through a one-week work placement. Pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for organising this themselves and their preferences and interests are taken into account in planning this week. Opportunities for public speaking, and support to develop interview skills, mean that pupils are well prepared to present themselves in college interviews.
• Parents’ views on the school are gathered through school surveys, such as at the recent Year 11 parents’ evening. Parents appreciate the support provided for their children and also the support provided for them. For example, the school ran a session on ‘Understanding student finance’ to help parents to realise that university is an affordable option for their child.
• British values are promoted well through religious education, assemblies and CPSHE. Pupils show respect for each other and for their teachers and understand tolerance of other cultures and faiths. Their understanding of law and democracy is less strong, particularly for pupils in Year 7 who have recently had a themed day on British values.

Behaviour

• The behaviour of pupils requires improvement because a small but significant minority of pupils are not responding to strategies to help them to manage their behaviour. This particularly applies to disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. A core group of these pupils disrupts learning in some lessons.
• The proportion of pupils excluded for fixed periods of time is well above that seen nationally and continues to rise. Disadvantaged pupils and those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities are more likely to be excluded than other pupils in the school, suggesting that their needs are not being adequately met.
• The proportion of pupils who are permanently excluded from the school is greater than the national average and rising.
• Changing the behaviour of some pupils is proving difficult to achieve, despite the provision of three separate facilities to avoid sending pupils home for their bad behaviour.
• Bosco House provides effective support for pupils returning to school following exclusion, to help them to catch up with work missed. A second centre provides an alternative to fixed-term exclusion, where pupils are removed from lessons but receive support. A separate internal exclusion room provides support for pupils excluded from lessons for short periods of time. Early indications are that these facilities are helping to reduce the number of exclusions for some pupils.
• Pupils who remain in school but who are excluded from lessons understand why their behaviour is unacceptable. They receive good support for their learning because teaching assistants work closely with teachers in planning and supporting learning for these pupils.
• Attendance overall is improving, including for disadvantaged pupils, from the below-average trend since the last inspection. Information provided by the school indicates that attendance is now broadly average, apart from pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities, whose attendance declined in 2016.
• Pupils who have received support to help them to improve their behaviour recognise the improvements they have made because of the quality of this support, including the use of on-site and off-site alternative provision. Leaders’ checks on learning in the alternative provision show that pupils are well supported.
• The conduct of most pupils around the school site is excellent. The vast majority of pupils are polite and welcome visitors. They willingly directed inspectors around the school and were proud to talk about how teaching and behaviour are improving in the school. Despite the behaviour of a small number of pupils, the school has an orderly, calm and purposeful atmosphere.

Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement

• For too long, pupils have not made the progress they should in their GCSE courses, particularly in English and mathematics, and especially for disadvantaged pupils and the most able. Early signs of improvement are indicated for pupils in key stage 4 in some subjects, including in English, but little improvement is indicated in mathematics for pupils in Year 11.
• Disadvantaged pupils make slower progress than other pupils nationally with similar starting points, especially in mathematics. The school indicates that these pupils are making faster progress but wide differences remain compared with other pupils nationally.
• Pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities make progress which is similar to pupils in the school with the same starting points, but this is slower than that of all pupils nationally.
• Following a review of the curriculum in key stage 3, leaders have continued with mixed-ability groups for the first half term in Year 7, while pupils are reassessed. No use is made of the information provided by primary schools on pupils’ strengths and gaps in learning. As a result, pupils’ progress slows over this time. Pupils told inspectors that much of the work they do during this first half term repeats what they have done before.
• Pupils’ starting points from the end of key stage 2 are not used well enough to check that they are making good progress across all subjects in key stage 3. Targets set for pupils, using old national curriculum levels, do not relate to the higher demands of the new GCSE examinations and the work set is sometimes too easy, especially for the most able.
• Leaders have not yet planned a strategy to improve numeracy across the school. As a result, pupils are not able to apply their mathematics to help them to tackle problems in other subjects. Graphs drawn in Year 10 science are poorly presented and inaccurate, slowing the progress made by pupils in their science work.
• Pupils who have weak literacy skills are exceptionally well supported to help pupils to improve their reading. A wide range of strategies are used including a phonics approach to teach the weakest readers how to read.
• Literacy support continues throughout key stage 3. Pupils enjoy reading, even when presented with quite difficult texts, and say they are encouraged to read a range of books to introduce them to new authors.
• Oral skills are well developed because teachers have been trained in strategies to help improve pupils’ skills in this area.
• Pupils leave the school with a suitable range of useful qualifications to allow them to continue to college, apprenticeships or employment. The proportion of pupils who do this has increased since the last inspection, including for disadvantaged pupils.
• Pupils who attend off-site alternative provision achieve well in their vocational courses and are able to move on to higher-level vocational courses at Preston College, or other colleges in the area, if they wish.

School details

Unique reference number Local authority Inspection number 119780 Lancashire 10019814 This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Type of school Secondary comprehensive School category Age range of pupils Gender of pupils Voluntary aided 11–16 Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 654 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair Headteacher Telephone number Website Email address Peter Metcalf MBE David Hubbard 01772 716 912 www.ccc.lancs.sch.uk admin@ccc.lancs.sch.uk Date of previous inspection 30 September 2014

Information about this school

• The school is smaller than the average-sized secondary school.
• The majority of pupils are of White British heritage with small proportions of pupils from other ethnic groups, the largest of which include pupils from White and Black Caribbean and from Indian heritages. The proportion of pupils who speak English as an additional language is average.
• The proportion of disadvantaged pupils is well above average and includes almost half of the school’s pupils.
• The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is average.
• Forty-three pupils attend alternative or off-site provision. Thirty-six pupils attend Preston College or Preston Vocation Centre for half a day each week. Seven pupils are dual registered. Four of these pupils attend Larches House or Larches Medical to support their particular needs, and three pupils are registered at partner high schools as part of a managed-move arrangement.
• The school did not meet the government’s current floor standards in 2015, which set the minimum expectations for attainment and progress.
• The school does not meet requirements on the publication of information about its complaints procedure on its website.

Information about this inspection

• During this inspection, inspectors observed teaching and learning across a range of subjects and year groups, alongside short visits to other lessons. Pupils’ work in books was checked and inspectors talked with pupils about their work in lessons to find out what they were learning.
• An inspector visited each of the three on-site alternative provision centres used to provide support for pupils to help them to manage their behaviour. Pupils working in Bosco House, in the FTEC and in the internal exclusion room were asked about their behaviour and the work given to them while they are in these centres.
• Meetings were held with senior and other leaders, the chair of the governing body and two other governors, and a representative of the local authority. Records of minutes taken during meetings of the governing body were scrutinised.
• Behaviour of pupils was observed at break and lunchtime and as pupils arrived for school and left the school site at the end of the day. A separate meeting was held with a group of pupils receiving support to help them to manage their behaviour.
• Inspectors met formally with three other groups of pupils to evaluate the quality of provision for the most able pupils and the effectiveness of support provided for pupils who need help to improve their literacy and numeracy skills, and to find out what pupils know about British values.
• The views from 13 parents expressed in the last year on Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Parent View, were considered, including eight written comments from parents. The school’s own analysis of the views of parents, gathered during the recent Year 11 parents’ evening, was also checked. An inspector spoke with a parent who requested to speak with an inspector, and also considered the concerns raised by another parent in an email to Ofsted.
• A wide range of other documentation was reviewed, including information available on the school’s website and information on pupils’ attainment, progress, attendance and behaviour. The school’s self-evaluation summary and action plan were examined along with records on the school’s arrangements for keeping pupils safe.

Inspection team

Denah Jones, lead inspector Mike Merva Will Smith Her Majesty’s Inspector Ofsted Inspector Her Majesty’s Inspector Deborah Bailey Ofsted Inspector