a school not in a category of concern of Worle Community School

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 1231 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mark Tidman Principal Worle Community School Redwing Drive Mead Vale Weston-super-Mare Somerset BS22 8XX

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Community School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 9 January 2025, on behalf of His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills. The monitoring inspection was carried out under section 8(2) of the Education Act 2005 and took place because the school meets the monitoring threshold as set out in the Monitoring Inspection Handbook .

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Community School

The purpose of a monitoring inspection is not to grade the school’s key and (where applicable) provision judgements, but to identify and report on the school’s progress. It is to highlight to the school and parents any improvements that school leaders have made since the school’s previous graded inspection.

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Community School

During the inspection, I discussed with you and other senior leaders, trust executive leaders and the chair of the local governing body the actions that have been taken to improve the school since the most recent graded inspection. We discussed the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also reviewed records and documents and visited some classrooms and social spaces. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Main findings

Since the last inspection, the school has increased its leadership capacity by appointing additional senior leaders. It has recruited new staff in a number of subject areas. These changes are contributing positively to the progress that the school is making.

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Main findings

The school has been focused on improving the quality of education. It has built on the strengths identified in the previous inspection. For example, it has continued to refine the intent of the curriculum by ensuring that subjects identify precisely what pupils should learn and when. The school has been strongly focused on enhancing the quality of teaching. It has used professional development purposefully to improve teachers’ subject and pedagogical knowledge. While there is some evidence beginning to emerge of the impact of this work, these improvements need to be embedded across the curriculum. Therefore, it is too soon to fully evaluate their impact.

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Main findings

The school is determined to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. It has refined and enhanced the information that teachers receive about how to meet pupils’ needs. As a result, teachers are better informed about how to make suitable adaptations to the curriculum. The school is checking more rigorously that these adaptations are being made. However, it has further work to do to ensure that all pupils’ needs are met fully and that they learn the curriculum well.

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Main findings

The school has strengthened its programme for pupils who need help with their reading. Some pupils are benefiting from these new approaches to develop their reading accuracy and confidence. The programme now needs to be extended and evaluated for all pupils who require support with reading. This is crucial to ensure that they have a strong foundation to access the wider curriculum.

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Main findings

The school knows that it must work relentlessly to raise the attendance of pupils who miss too much school. It understands the importance of ensuring the school is a safe, welcoming environment for all pupils. It has started analysing absence trends with a high level of precision, and put in place new strategies to promote good attendance. There is some evidence that this work has started to have a positive impact. However, many of the school’s new approaches are in their infancy. Further work is required to help reduce pupils’ absence, including persistent and severe absence from school.

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Main findings

School leaders are focused on making the right improvements. With the support of trust leaders, they are checking closely that these improvements have the intended impact. The school has valued support from external partners, for example, to help it strengthen the curriculum. Local governors are supporting and challenging leaders appropriately.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees and the CEO of The Priory Learning Trust, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for North Somerset. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website. Yours sincerely

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