St Bede's Catholic Voluntary Academy

Inspection of a good school: St Bede’s Catholic Voluntary Academy Collum Avenue, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire DN16 2TF

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Outcome

St Bede’s Catholic Voluntary Academy continues to be a good school. However, inspectors have some concerns that one or more areas may be declining, as set out below.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Most pupils behave well in most lessons. This is because most teachers plan and deliver effective lessons. Most teachers follow the school’s behaviour policy, which helps prevent problems. Senior leaders support teachers by visiting lessons to check on behaviour. Pupils told us that some teachers do not always follow the behaviour policy. When this happens, some pupils can disrupt the learning of others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Some older pupils do not behave well, particularly outside lessons. They can intimidate younger pupils by calling them names. These pupils are not respectful of others or the school environment. This makes a large number of pupils feel nervous around parts of the school. Leaders need to do more to stop this bullying.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Leaders have planned a curriculum that helps pupils achieve well. Pupils can choose which subjects to study at the end of Year 8. Before then they study a broad curriculum. The majority of pupils study a foreign language in key stage 4. All pupils take a GCSE in geography or history.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff encourage pupils to contribute to society. Many young people help raise money for charity. A large number also volunteer to help in their local community.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

Leaders have planned the curriculum well. Pupils in key stage 3 cover the full national curriculum. Pupils also study drama to build good communication skills. Older pupils can choose vocational options linked to local employment needs. Staff encourage pupils to take the EBacc. This prepares them well for further study. Pupils value the careers education delivered to every year group. 3–4 March 2020

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In many subjects, teachers display high levels of expertise. They plan sequences of lessons to help pupils remember more over time. Most teachers set challenging tasks which make pupils use prior learning. Languages teachers help pupils build more advanced sentences as their vocabulary grows. Mathematics teachers set more complex problems over time. In most lessons, pupils enjoy learning and work hard. Some teachers do not check what pupils know already. They then set tasks which are too simple. They miss chances to build knowledge and do not ensure that pupils use prior learning.

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The curriculum extends beyond academic and vocational courses. In religious education and personal, social, health and citizenship education (PSHCE) lessons pupils reflect on their beliefs. They learn to treat other beliefs with respect. There are lots of trips, including visits abroad. These help pupils learn about other cultures. Staff encourage pupils to contribute to their community. Many pupils volunteer or raise money for charity. The school received a gold award last year. This was because so many pupils joined the National Citizen Service (NCS). Local employers and colleges visit the school. This helps pupils make informed choices about their futures.

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Teachers value support from senior leaders. Leaders visit lessons to check on behaviour. Leaders have reduced teachers’ workload. They collect data less often. This gives teachers more planning time. Teachers now have more control over when they set assessments. They can link assessments to learning goals better.

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Leaders act in pupils’ best interests. They encourage pupils to study a broad curriculum. They help pupils to complete their studies. When pupils experience difficulties, leaders offer lots of support. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the full curriculum. Leaders offer disadvantaged pupils coaching to help them achieve well.

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Supervision at breaktimes and between lessons is not good enough. Pupils say there are some areas where they feel nervous. They say some older pupils will bully them. Pupils told us that sometimes there are not enough staff nearby. They said some staff do not take effective action if they see poor behaviour. Inspectors saw some groups of pupils who were often late to lessons. They did not respond promptly to instructions from staff. Leaders do take effective action when pupils and staff tell them about misbehaviour. They do not shy away from taking strong action when necessary.

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In discussion with the headteacher, we agreed that behaviour, particularly outside lessons, may usefully serve as a focus for the next inspection.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Pupils, parents and staff raise any concerns with designated safeguarding leads. They know leaders treat their concerns seriously. When pupils need more help, leaders refer to the appropriate agencies. There are good links to social services and the police. 3–4 March 2020

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Pupils learn about the risks they are most likely to face outside school. They know about staying safe online or how criminal gangs may try to exploit young people.

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Staff recognise the signs that pupils might be at risk. This is because leaders have trained them well.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Some teachers do not assess pupils’ current levels of knowledge well enough. This means they miss chances to challenge pupils with tasks that draw on pupils’ prior learning. Leaders should provide training and support to help all staff assess pupils’ starting points accurately and set tasks that build in complexity as their knowledge develops.  Some parts of the school are not supervised well outside lesson times. Younger pupils can feel intimidated by some older pupils in some parts of the school. This is in contrast to lesson times when behaviour is usually very good. Leaders should improve levels of supervision and help staff develop a collective sense of responsibility to managing behaviour on corridors and around school.  Staff do not apply the school’s behaviour system consistently outside lessons. This means a minority of older pupils do not behave well outside lessons. They are often late to lessons and do not follow instructions promptly. This can disrupt the start of

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

lessons and the day-to-day life of the school. Leaders should ensure that staff apply the policy consistently at all times.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called a section 8 inspection of a good or non-exempt outstanding school. We do not give graded judgements on a section 8 inspection. However, if we find some evidence that standards may be declining, then the next inspection will be a section 5 inspection. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the section 8 inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will convert the section 8 inspection to a section 5 inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first section 8 inspection since we judged the school to be good on 18–19 May 2016.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use Ofsted Parent View information when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 3–4 March 2020

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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If you are the school and you are not happy with the inspection or the report, you can complain to Ofsted .

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ refers to those pupils who attract government pupil premium funding: pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years and pupils in care or who left care through adoption or another formal route. 3–4 March 2020

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School details

Inspection number 10121780 Type of school Secondary comprehensive

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School details

Chair of governing body Jacqueline Kelly

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School details

Date of previous inspection 18–19 May 2016, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 St Bede’s is a Catholic voluntary academy. It is a member of St Thérèse of Lisieux Catholic Multi Academy Trust, which is also made up of 15 other academies. The trust operates academies in Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire and Rutland local authorities. The trust is part of the Catholic Diocese of Nottingham.  The academy was last inspected in May 2016, when it was judged to be good.  The academy uses one off-site provider for three pupils with medical needs. The provision is run by North Lincolnshire local authority.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out under section 8 of the Education 2005.  We looked closely at English, history, mathematics and modern foreign languages. We talked to subject leaders, reviewed curriculum plans, visited lessons and talked to pupils about their learning in these subjects.  We talked to teachers about how they plan and deliver the curriculum. We also asked them about workload, training, safeguarding and behaviour around school. 3–4 March 2020

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 The lead inspector met with trust’s chief executive officer and local governors.  Inspectors met school leaders. We asked leaders about the way they have designed the curriculum, about how they manage behaviour and how they help to keep children safe from harm.  Parents, pupils and staff submitted responses to questionnaires. In total there were: 32 replies from parents, 353 from pupils and 41 from staff. We analysed these responses and adjusted inspection activities where further information was needed. This included talking to more pupils about behaviour and bullying on day two.  An inspector visited the school’s isolation facility.  The lead inspector spoke to different groups of pupils about behaviour and bullying. Some of these pupils were selected at random.  Inspectors observed behaviour in lessons, breaktimes and lunchtimes. They talked to pupils and staff about behaviour around school.

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 An inspector spoke to a representative from the local authority’s provision for pupils with medical needs.  The lead inspector spoke to the local authority’s designated officer for safeguarding.  Inspectors reviewed the academy’s extra-curricular and enrichment programmes. We talked to leaders and pupils about the activities available.  We carefully checked the academy’s safeguarding arrangements. This included scrutinising the academy’s single central record and arrangements for identifying and supporting pupils who may be at risk of harm.

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Inspection team

John McNally, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Matthew West Ofsted Inspector 3–4 March 2020

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regulates and inspects to 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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