Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School

Cardinal Wiseman Catholic Technology College Old Oscott Hill, Kingstanding, Birmingham, B44 9SR

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Overall effectiveness

Previous inspection: Satisfactory 3 This inspection: Requires improvement 3 Achievement of pupils Requires improvement 3 Quality of teaching Requires improvement 3 Behaviour and safety of pupils Good 2 Leadership and management Requires improvement 3

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This is a school that requires improvement. It is not good because

 Overall, students are not making enough progress, especially in English and mathematics. While students’ achievement is improving, it is not yet good enough.  Lessons are not always pitched at the right level. Work set is too easy for some and too difficult for others.  Literacy skills are not promoted well across all subjects. Students are not given regular opportunities to talk about and explain their work.  Data about students’ achievement are not used well enough to make sure that they all make good progress.  Leaders have not ensured that there are enough good quality opportunities for the sharing of effective teaching practice.  The governing body does not hold school leaders to account well enough for the quality of students’ achievement.

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The school has the following strengths

 Behaviour and safety are good. This is an improvement since the last inspection. Students show respect for each other and their teachers, and enjoy school life.  Attendance has steadily improved over the last three years and is average.  Senior leaders are taking action to make this a better school and there are clear signs of improvement.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspectors observed 30 lessons. Four of these were joint observations with senior leaders.  Discussions were held with the headteacher, the Chair and four other members of the Governing Body, senior leaders, other staff and groups of students.  Inspectors took account of the 20 responses to the online questionnaire (Parent View) and the 35 responses from the staff questionnaire.  Inspectors analysed examination results and scrutinised a range of other evidence including the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plans, records relating to behaviour, safety and attendance, lesson monitoring information, safeguarding documentation and examples of students’ work.

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Inspection team

Ian Jones, Lead inspector Additional Inspector Isobel Randall Additional Inspector Ahson Mohammed Additional Inspector Patrick Walsh Additional Inspector

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Information about this school

 The college is smaller than the average-sized secondary school.  A large majority of students are White British. The proportion of students from minority ethnic groups is above average.  The proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is above that found nationally.  The proportion of students supported through school action is below the national average, as is the proportion supported at school action plus or with a statement of special educational needs.  The proportion of students known to be eligible for the pupil premium, which provides additional funding for children in the care of the local authority and for students known to be eligible for free school meals, is well above that found nationally.  A number of students with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties receive some of their education at the Emmaus Centre on the school site.  The headteacher was appointed in September 2012. Much of the leadership team are also new

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Information about this school

to their post.  In 2012, the school did not meet the government’s floor standards, which set the minimum requirements for students’ attainment and progress.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the quality of teaching and so raise achievement to good by:  ensuring that literacy skills are effectively promoted across all subjects  increasing opportunities for students to talk about their ideas  ensuring that lessons are precisely planned to take account of the ability of all students  consistently using school data to ensure that work is suitably challenging.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

 Improve the effectiveness of leaders and managers by:  eradicating inconsistencies in teaching through sharing good practice and by using effective teaching strategies in lessons  ensuring the governing body provides greater challenge for senior leaders in holding them to account for students’ achievement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Achievement requires improvement because rates of progress are too inconsistent and not enough students make good progress overall. Standards in English and mathematics are not high enough to demonstrate good progress from students’ low starting points.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In the past, the school has not challenged students enough to meet and exceed expectations of progress in English and mathematics. This has now improved and students are given more demanding targets to show good or better progress. Current assessment information shows that, although more students across the different year groups are on course to make the progress they should, not enough are on course to exceed expectations.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In recent years, students’ results at GCSE have been better in some subjects than in others. For example, in 2012, a good proportion of students achieved A* to C in English literature, biology, chemistry, French and statistics. However, figures were disappointingly low in mathematics, physical education, and design and technology.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 In English, there has been a trend of improvement since the previous inspection. Reported results were low in 2012, due in part to school administrative errors in the entry of pupils for the examinations. However, the school’s data shows that students in the current Year 11 are on track to make the progress they should. Despite this, some students’ skills and confidence in reading, writing and speaking are not developed well enough in subjects other than English.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Floor standards were met in 2010 and 2011. They were not met in 2012, due mainly to the low English results.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Disabled students and those who have special educational needs are supported appropriately in lessons and make similar progress to their peers. School data show that other groups, including students from ethnic minorities and those who speak English as an additional language, also make similar progress.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Many students with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties who attend the Emmaus Centre are successfully integrated back into the main school. They receive a good level of support at the centre, which enables them to continue to access the same curriculum as their peers. Progress for these pupils also requires improvement.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 Pupil premium and Year 7 catch-up funding have been targeted appropriately at eligible students across the school. Funding is spent in a range of areas, including individual tuition for students and additional learning resources. As a consequence, these pupils’ progress has improved and students known to be eligible for free school meals have begun to close the attainment gap with other students. In 2012, in mathematics, these students were about one term behind their peers, whereas in 2011 they were almost a year behind. However, in English, the gap widened from one term behind in 2011 to two terms in 2012.

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The achievement of pupils requires improvement

 The school has a policy of not entering students early for GCSE examinations.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 The overall quality of teaching requires improvement because students are not making as much progress as they should. During the inspection, half the lessons seen showed teaching to be good or outstanding, with a small proportion inadequate. This is similar to the school’s own view of teaching.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Lessons do not always provide the right amount of challenge because the work set is not carefully matched to students’ needs. At times, planning lacks precision and the same work is planned for all, resulting in work which is too easy for some and too hard for others.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Where teaching was found to be good, teachers were making use of assessment data to ensure that work was carefully matched to the needs of students. In these lessons, teachers drew on good subject knowledge and set high expectations for learning. As a result, students made good progress. In these lessons, teachers skilfully adapted planning as necessary to ensure that the level of challenge remained at a high level. However, the use of data to plan appropriately challenging lessons lacks consistency.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 In some lessons, students are encouraged to discuss their ideas and reflect on their learning. In a Year 9 English lesson on Macbeth, for example, the teacher used an effective range of strategies to achieve this, which also contributed to the students’ enjoyment of the topic. However, in other lessons, opportunities to develop students’ thinking and speaking skills are sometimes missed.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 There is inconsistency in the way standards of literacy are developed across all subjects. Literacy skills are better promoted in some lessons and subjects than others.

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The quality of teaching requires improvement

 Students’ work is marked appropriately giving them helpful advice as to how to improve.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students have positive attitudes to learning; they show respect for each other and their teachers. Students say they value the extra support with their studies that they receive from teachers outside of lessons.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Since the previous inspection, the school has worked effectively to improve behaviour. The Emmaus Centre, a facility largely for Key Stage 3 students, is particularly effective in providing support while ensuring that students continue to follow the curriculum. The large majority of students who receive support in this way have been successfully reintegrated back into their classes.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students work well together in lessons. They understand that others may have views different from their own and show a high degree of respect when this occurs.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students behave in a responsible manner around the school, so that breaks and lunchtimes are calm and orderly. Students are polite, courteous and friendly.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school listens to students’ views through the school council.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 Students say they feel safe and demonstrate a good understanding of issues relating to safety. They talk confidently of how they would keep themselves safe in a variety of situations, such as using the internet and social networking sites.

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The behaviour and safety of pupils are good

 The school ensures that students have equality of opportunity and that discrimination is not tolerated. It fosters positive relationships with parents and carers and other agencies. Students are well aware of what constitutes discrimination of any kind and say that it will not be tolerated at school.  Attendance has improved since the previous inspection and exclusions are rare. Robust systems are in place to ensure that behaviour is good and fixed-term exclusions are below the national average. The school has a good focus on monitoring attendance and has worked effectively with students and their families to effectively reduce the number of those persistently absent.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Leadership and management require improvement because neither teaching nor achievement are good.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The school has undergone significant changes at deputy headteacher, key stage leader and subject leader levels, following an internal review of the school staffing structure. As a result, many staff are newly appointed to their posts.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The headteacher provides clear leadership, and most senior and middle leaders have high expectations of themselves and aspirations for the school. Achievement is beginning to improve this year as a result of their work. The school has clear plans for further improvement. Raising students’ achievement in mathematics and English are rightly at the heart of their thrust to raise standards.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 A detailed tracking system introduced in September last year is providing useful information on the progress of pupils, individually and by groups. Teachers are using this information with increasing effect to ensure that work is closely matched to the needs of students, but it is not used consistently well enough.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 A programme of weekly lesson observations has also been introduced to help leaders and managers check on the quality of teaching and learning. As a result, leaders are becoming accurately informed about the variations in quality throughout the school. However, while teachers are provided with support to help them improve, not enough opportunities have been taken to share the good and outstanding teaching that exists at the school.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 Decisions on whether teachers should be paid more are carefully considered in the light of whether their performance warrants it. Recent appointments have been made which have further strengthened the teaching team.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The range of subjects and courses is appropriate and meets requirements. The school recognises the need to develop literacy skills across the range of subjects and regular training is taking place to support teachers with this.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is enhanced through lessons and the life of the school. There are numerous opportunities for students to contribute to the school and the wider community through a good range of clubs, activities and visits. Students are also given opportunities to take on responsibilities; for example, as school councillors and prefects.

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The leadership and management requires improvement

 The local authority provides appropriate support and has assisted the headteacher in arranging to work with a local outstanding school.  The governance of the school:  Governors bring a good range of skills and experience to the school. They have a good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses and are committed to improving the school’s effectiveness. However, the governing body has not been effective in holding senior leaders to account for students’ achievement in the past and it has not had enough impact in ensuring that all students make the best progress they should. Governors understand how the school uses performance management to challenge weaker teaching and have supported school leaders in tackling underperformance. Governors have also had a significant role in the recent restructuring of senior and middle leadership. They have an accurate understanding of the impact of pupil premium spending and are targeting spending on further closing the gap for

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The leadership and management requires improvement

eligible students. The governing body seeks to undergo all relevant training in order to best support the school. It ensures that all statutory requirements are met, including those relating to the safeguarding of students.

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding An outstanding school is highly effective in delivering outcomes that provide exceptionally well for all its pupils’ needs. This ensures that pupils are very well equipped for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 2 Good A good school is effective in delivering outcomes that provide well for all its pupils’ needs. Pupils are well prepared for the next stage of their education, training or employment. Grade 3 Requires improvement A school that requires improvement is not yet a good school, but it is not inadequate. This school will receive a full inspection within 24 months from the date of this inspection. Grade 4 Inadequate A school that has serious weaknesses is inadequate overall and requires significant improvement but leadership and management are judged to be Grade 3 or better. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors. A school that requires special measures is one where the school is

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Grade Judgement Description

failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the school’s leaders, managers or governors have not demonstrated that they have the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school. This school will receive regular monitoring by Ofsted inspectors.

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School details

Unique reference number 103539 Local authority Birmingham Inspection number 400628

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School details

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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School details

Type of school Secondary School category Voluntary aided Age range of pupils 11–16 Gender of pupils Mixed Number of pupils on the school roll 600 Appropriate authority The governing body Chair John McCarthy Headteacher Christina Stewardson Date of previous school inspection 28 April 2010 Telephone number 0121 3606383 Fax number 0121 366 6873 Email address enquiry@cardinalwiseman.bham.sch.uk guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 , or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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School details

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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School details

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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School details

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please

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School details

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School details

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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