Setting

Father J Briody Headteacher Savio Salesian College Netherton Way Bootle Merseyside L30 2NA

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Savio Salesian College

Following my visit to your school on 8 May 2014 I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the outcome and findings of the inspection. Thank you for the help you gave during the inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions which have been taken since the school’s previous monitoring inspection.

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Savio Salesian College

The inspection was the third monitoring inspection since the school was judged to have serious weaknesses following the section 5 inspection which took place in May 2013. The monitoring inspection report is attached.

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Savio Salesian College

Having considered all the evidence I am of the opinion that at this time:

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Savio Salesian College

The school is making reasonable progress towards the removal of the serious weaknesses designation.

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Serious weaknesses monitoring inspection of Savio Salesian College

This letter and monitoring inspection report will be published on the Ofsted website. I am copying this letter to the Secretary of State, the Chair of the Governing Body, the Trustees and the Director of Young People and Families for Sefton.

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Her Majesty’s Inspector

CfBT Inspection Services Suite 22 West Lancs Investment Centre Maple View Skelmersdale WN8 9TG T 0300 123 1231 Text Phone: 0161 6188524 enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk www.ofsted.gov.uk Direct T 01695 566939 Direct F 01695 729320 Direct email: glankertis@cfbt.com

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place in May 2013

 Ensure teaching is at least good and meets the varying needs of all students closely enough in order to raise standards and accelerate progress further so that students make at least good progress, particularly in English and mathematics, by: - giving students more opportunities to find things out for themselves and thus take more responsibility for their own progress - improving marking and written feedback so that students are fully aware of what they need to do to improve their work - extending the sharing of good and exemplary classroom practice across the school - ensuring the school’s literacy and numeracy policies are applied consistently by staff so that students can practise and reinforce their skills in English and mathematics in all subjects.

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place in May 2013

 Build upon the school’s strategies to improve the attendance of those students who do not come to school as regularly as they should.

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place in May 2013

 Further improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by: - improving the procedures to enable all leaders to make and maintain accurate judgements about the quality of teaching and learning over time - sharpening the evaluation of the quality of learning in the classroom by academic department heads.

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Evidence

The inspector met with the headteacher and other senior leaders, representatives of the governing body’s monitoring committee and a representative from the local authority. The inspector observed lessons, looked at students’ work and scrutinised documents, including the school’s progress information. The inspector concentrated on evaluating the impact of improvements in the quality of teaching, particularly in English and mathematics, attendance and the quality of senior leadership and governance.

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Context

Since the last monitoring inspection a new assistant headteacher has been appointed as director of mathematics to improve standards further in the subject across the school. The head of science is currently absent on maternity leave.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Senior leaders are better at evaluating the quality of teaching. They observe lessons frequently and supplement this evidence with a more detailed scrutiny of students’ work and analysis of achievement. As a result they have a deeper understanding of where teaching and learning are improving. They challenge any underperformance swiftly and address it using clear protocols. The school’s own data show that these measures, coupled with training and targeted support, are having a positive impact in improving the quality of teaching.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

However, senior leaders’ analysis also highlights that some underperformance remains, particularly in mathematics. Senior leaders and governors are taking appropriate actions to improve this quickly.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Teachers ask more probing questions that require students to explain their working and give reasons to back up answers. The use of ‘real life’ examples helps students better understand abstract mathematical concepts.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Senior leaders’ tracking and analysis of students’ achievement data have improved and now include more focus on the performance of groups. This allows both senior leaders and governors to evaluate the impact of their actions better and for governors to hold leaders to account. Current teachers’ assessments show that attainment in Year 11 is closing the gap with national averages for the proportion of students achieving five GCSEs A* to C including English and mathematics. Analysis presented by the school also shows that the proportion of students making the expected three levels of progress from their Key Stage 2 starting points in English and in mathematics has improved to be nearer the national average seen in 2013. However, the proportion of students making more progress than is typically expected, although improving, is still not as strong as it should be. This is particularly the case for boys.

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The quality of leadership and management at the school

Effective actions have been taken both to monitor absence and work with families to guide and encourage students to attend and learn. As a result attendance has continued to improve. The school has recently begun working with a family worker provided by the local authority and this is already showing a positive impact on the small numbers of families with which they are involved.

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Strengths in the school’s approaches to securing improvement:

 Senior leaders’ analysis of progress data has improved in depth and rigour and is used well to inform the governing body of the impact of actions and to hold teachers to account.  The governing body monitoring committee has a better understanding of what is improving because they seek appropriate information and ask searching questions of senior leaders.  Strategies to improve attendance overall and particularly for those who are persistently absent are effective in sustaining improvement.

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Weaknesses in the school’s approaches to securing improvement:

 Governors do not check frequently enough the impact of some middle leaders’ work in improving their departments; for example, necessary improvements to progress made by some boys and the proportion of students making more than expected progress, to close the gaps in attainment.

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External support

The school continues to draw effectively on the support available from the local authority to help improve standards in English. Where additional expertise is needed, particularly in mathematics, leaders have commissioned appropriately from a neighbouring authority to bring about improvement. The school also has an effective partnership with an outstanding school.

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