a school not in a category of concern of Southlands High School

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

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Paul Bousfield Headteacher Southlands High School Clover Road Chorley Lancashire PR7 2NJ

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High School

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 8 May 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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High 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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High School

During the inspection, I discussed with you, other senior leaders, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the trust, the chair of the trust and a representative of the local authority 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 visited lessons, looked at examples of pupils’ work, met with pupils and staff and reviewed a range of documentation. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Main findings

There have been several new appointments to the board of trustees and to the local governing body. In addition, the school has made new appointments to the attendance team.

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Main findings

Pupils’ quality of education is improving. Since the previous inspection, the school has created more clarity about which teaching approaches should be used to ensure that pupils know and remember what they have learned. Teachers receive high-quality training and development in how and what to teach. In addition, the implementation of a school- wide programme of coaching has improved the consistency and quality of curriculum delivery.

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Main findings

The school has been strongly focused on enhancing the quality of teaching for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). It has refined and enhanced the information that teachers receive about how to meet pupils’ needs. More teachers now understand the agreed classroom expectations for supporting pupils with SEND. Ongoing training on how best to support pupils with SEND is having an impact. Teachers are now more confident in making suitable adaptations to the delivery of the curriculum to meet individual needs. The school is checking more rigorously that these adaptations are being made so that pupils with SEND can learn the curriculum well. However, there is still some variability in how well these pupils’ needs are met.

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Main findings

Teachers are now better equipped to check how well pupils know and understand the curriculum. For instance, the school expects teachers to provide pupils with frequent opportunities to recall what they have been taught previously. Additionally, whole-school assessment approaches have sharpened teachers’ focus on checking what pupils have learned over time. Where teachers confidently embed these methods, pupils engage in meaningful reflection activities that help to further secure their learning. However, some teachers’ checks on pupils’ learning are not effective enough. This means that misconceptions are missed or go unaddressed. Consequently, some pupils miss out on opportunities to practise where they are insecure in their learning.

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Main findings

The processes for identifying those pupils who struggle to read are clearly defined. Pupils receive regular reading support sessions. Their progress is monitored closely. There are an increasing number of opportunities for pupils to read more widely across the curriculum. Pupils in Year 7 and 8 now have a weekly literacy lesson. Across subjects, leaders have judiciously selected texts to enhance the delivery of subject content. In lessons, pupils are beginning to benefit more from regular reading activities, exposure to disciplinary vocabulary and a wide range of authors and text types.

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Main findings

The school, supported by the trust, has acted with appropriate rigour and timeliness to address the areas for improvement identified at the last inspection. Trustees and members of the local governing body hold school leaders to account systematically. Trust and school leaders meet regularly to evaluate the impact of their work to bring about improvement and to determine further action. Staff value the opportunities to work collaboratively with other schools in the trust to share ideas and expertise. Pupils’ rates of attendance are improving, particularly for those pupils with SEND. With new appointments to the attendance team, the school has built capacity to better understand and address the individual circumstances surrounding pupils’ absence. The number of pupils who are persistently absent has reduced. However, the attendance of disadvantaged pupils has not followed the same trend.

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Main findings

The school values the support provided by external consultants. External support has been sought in relation to refining subject curriculums and how leaders can evaluate the quality of the teaching of the curriculum. Leaders have acted on the advice that they have received to continue to drive improvements.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of trustees, and the CEO of the Mosaic Multi Academy Trust, the Department for Education's regional director and the director of children's services for Lancashire. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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