St Anthony's School

Inspection of a school judged good for overall effectiveness before September 2024: St Anthony’s School St Anthony’s Way, Margate, Kent CT9 3RA

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Outcome

St Anthony’s School has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.

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What is it like to attend this school?

This school helps pupils to turn around their lives and re-engage with education. Consequently, staff work very hard to build positive mutual relationships with pupils. This helps pupils to settle quickly. They engage well with learning and interact considerately with their peers. Staff ensure that pupils have strategies to manage their emotions and behaviour well. The skilled pastoral team provides sensitive additional support to those who need it. Pupils have trusted adults they know will address any concerns they have. This helps them feel safe.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a range of special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school has high ambition for all and has designed a bespoke curriculum to meet their individual needs. As a result, pupils learn the skills and knowledge they need. Pupils are well prepared for their next steps.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils contribute positively to the school community and beyond. They hold a range of leadership roles in school, including house captains. Pupils are proud to hold these positions and are keen to help others. A large number of pupils also volunteer to carry out litter picking and gardening in the local area. They show pride in representing the school in these activities.

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

The school has designed a broad curriculum that meets the needs of its pupils. Staff have identified clearly the skills and knowledge that pupils need to be successful. Teachers ensure the curriculum is broken down into manageable elements. This helps pupils to build on the content they learn. As a result, they recall their prior learning accurately. Pupils’ work shows the majority apply their learning effectively. 13 and 14 May 2025

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Older pupils work towards appropriate qualifications in a number of subjects, including English, mathematics and art. These qualifications provide them with the crucial knowledge they need for their next steps. Careers education is a strength of the school. Staff ensure that pupils have clear guidance to plan their next steps in education. Pupils enjoy well-planned work experience and college visits. Such opportunities prepare them well for education and employment.

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Teachers have secure subject knowledge and explain learning clearly. They make careful checks on pupils’ understanding and plan targeted activities to help them catch up. However, occasionally the activities that teachers select in lessons sometimes lack ambition. This means that pupils do not always deepen their understanding in some areas. For example, some activities in mathematics require pupils to practise skills they are already fluent in.

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The school identifies quickly those pupils in the early stages of reading. The school uses this information to plan individualised phonics programmes matched to pupils’ needs. Expert staff deliver these effectively. This helps pupils to become confident readers. Teachers select engaging texts that are well matched to pupils’ phonics knowledge.

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Pupils respond well to the school’s rewards system. They enjoy earning rewards points for their positive behaviour and effort in lessons. This helps them to behave well. Staff plan a range of exciting activities for breaktimes. Pupils engage enthusiastically with them, and younger pupils play together positively.

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The school checks on pupils’ behaviour and absence carefully. Staff identify trends and patterns quickly. This helps them to offer families appropriate support to improve pupils’ conduct and reduce absence over time. The work to support improved attendance is ambitious and designed effectively. However, the approach is very new and has not yet had sufficient time to make an impact. As a result, attendance remains low, and too many pupils miss out on vital education.

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The school has prioritised pupils’ personal development. The well-designed curriculum for personal, social and health education is at the heart of this work. This helps pupils to develop essential skills for learning and positive attitudes to difference and diversity. The school enhances the curriculum with forest-school and beach-school activities. Pupils enjoy these opportunities to experience learning beyond the classroom.

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The dedicated staff enjoy working at the school. They feel the training and support they receive help them to support pupils successfully. Staff say the school is a supportive and caring community. Governors are well-informed and they use this knowledge to offer appropriate levels of support and challenge.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 13 and 14 May 2025

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 Sometimes, the tasks that teachers select lack sufficient ambition. As a result, the selected tasks do not always support pupils to improve their skills and knowledge deeply enough. The school should ensure that staff design activities that support pupils to deepen their knowledge and understanding of the curriculum over time.  Pupils do not attend frequently enough and persistent absence is too high. The school has developed clear processes to improve this, but these are in the earliest stages and have not yet had sufficient time to break down pupils’ barriers to attendance. This means that too many pupils are missing out on their vital education. The school must continue to embed its work to ensure that pupils attend more frequently.

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Background

Until September 2024, on a graded (section 5) inspection we gave schools an overall effectiveness grade, in addition to the key and provision judgements. Overall effectiveness grades given before September 2024 will continue to be visible on school inspection reports and on Ofsted’s website. From September 2024, graded inspections will not include an overall effectiveness grade. This school was, before September 2024, judged to be good for its overall effectiveness.

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Background

We have now inspected the school to determine whether it has taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at that previous inspection. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school’s work has improved significantly or that it may not be as strong as it was at the last inspection, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection. A graded inspection is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the second ungraded inspection since we judged the school to be good for overall effectiveness in July 2015.

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How can I feed back my views?

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

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How can I feed back my views?

The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school. 13 and 14 May 2025

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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' is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 13 and 14 May 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Chair of governing body Neil Rees-Davies

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School details

Date of previous inspection 2 July 2019, under section 8 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school caters for pupils aged 7 to 16 with social, emotional and mental health needs. All pupils who attend the school have an education, health and care plan.  The school’s headteacher and senior leadership team have changed since the previous inspection.  The school currently uses three unregistered alternative provisions. These are attended by a small number of pupils.  The school meets the requirements of the provider access legislation, which requires schools to provide pupils in Years 8 to 13 with information and engagement about approved technical education qualifications and apprenticeships.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 13 and 14 May 2025

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 This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, the inspection team met with the headteacher and other leaders. The lead inspector also met members of the local governing body.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspection team: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  The inspection team spoke to pupils in lessons. The lead inspector also met with a representative group of pupils.  Throughout the inspection, the inspection team met with groups of staff and also considered the opinions expressed through the staff survey.

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 The lead inspector met some parents at the end of the school day and had regard to the views expressed through Ofsted Parent View.

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Inspection team

Gavin Thomas, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Rosemary Keen Ofsted Inspector 13 and 14 May 2025

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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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