St Vincent's School - A Specialist School for Sensory Impairment and Other Needs

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

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David Swanston Headteacher St Vincent’s School - A Specialist School for Sensory Impairment and Other Needs Yew Tree Lane West Derby Liverpool Merseyside L12 9HN

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School - A Specialist School for Sensory Impairment and Other Needs

This letter sets out the findings from the monitoring inspection that took place on 8 July 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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School - A Specialist School for Sensory Impairment and Other Needs

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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School - A Specialist School for Sensory Impairment and Other Needs

During the inspection, I discussed with you and other senior leaders 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 carried out visits to lessons, met with other staff, talked to pupils and looked at a sample of pupils’ work. I have considered all this in coming to my judgement.

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the

school need further improvement. The school should take further action to:

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Leaders have made progress to improve the school, but some aspects of the

 continue to refine the curriculum to be more specific about what pupils will learn and to use this information to assess more precisely pupils’ recall of key knowledge.

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Main findings

Since the school’s previous inspection, a new senior leadership team has been established. The acting headteacher was appointed as substantive headteacher in January 2025. An assistant headteacher and three other senior leaders have also been appointed. There have been some changes to the membership of the governing body.

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Main findings

In most subjects, the school has started to set higher aspirations for pupils’ achievement by defining what it wants them to know and remember with greater clarity. This is helping staff to teach the curriculum more effectively. As a result, pupils are building on their previous learning in a more progressive manner. Staff are adept at helping pupils access their learning through a range of resources and different teaching approaches. However, the essential subject knowledge that pupils should gain is not set out well enough in a few subjects. Where this is the case, the delivery of curriculum content is inconsistent. In these subjects, pupils’ recall of what they have been taught is not strong enough.

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Main findings

The school has started to check on how well pupils embed and remember their learning. Teachers use day-to-day checks, alongside more formal tests, to assess pupils’ understanding of the concepts that have been taught. However, because some learning has not been set out with sufficient clarity, teachers do not have the guidance that they need to assess pupils’ knowledge carefully in some areas of the curriculum. This means that, in some subjects, the checks that staff make do not identify pupils’ next steps in learning as well as they could.

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Main findings

In reading, pupils develop their phonics knowledge well. Older pupils read confidently and with fluency as part of everyday classroom activities. They apply their skills to read unfamiliar words with ease.

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Main findings

Since the previous inspection in April 2024, governors have increased their oversight of the school. They pose more pertinent questions than they did in the past. They also ask for evidence of school improvement so that they can assure themselves that the quality of education on offer at the school is improving.

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Main findings

The school has brought about meaningful change in a relatively short space of time. It has used the support available to make positive changes to the curriculum. The support that staff have received means that they are all are on board with the school’s strategic vision and direction.

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Main findings

I am copying this letter to the chair of the board of governors, the director of education for the Archdiocese Liverpool, the Department for Education’s regional director and the director of children’s services for Liverpool. This letter will be published on the Ofsted reports website.

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