Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy

Academy

Address: Capenhurst Lane, Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 7AQ Unique reference number (URN): 149631

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

The school has been through a period of significant challenge and change. Leaders at all levels, including those responsible for governance, have worked swiftly and effectively to address the areas that fall short of what pupils deserve. They have ensured that there is greater strategic oversight of those pupils who face barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing. This means that these pupils can now access the support they need. In addition, the checks that leaders carry out on teaching mean that they have an accurate understanding of where professional learning can best be placed. Consequently, teaching and learning have improved. These green shoots of improvement are testament to leaders’ timely responses.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Those responsible for governance are fully committed to school improvement. They have the right knowledge, skills and experience to fulfil their roles. Consequently, they carry out their statutory duties appropriately.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Parents know that school leaders care about their children. Typically, parents appreciate the support that leaders ensure is in place to meet pupils’ needs, for example how the pastoral teams support better attendance and engagement in school life. Leaders work effectively with external partners, such as other schools, to develop new ideas. This helps to bring about the changes that are needed.

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Leadership and governance Expected standard

Staff appreciate leaders’ support with their workload and wellbeing. For example, staff have valued the clear leadership that has been provided during a period of upheaval. Leaders have redesigned the school calendar to prioritise staff’s professional learning. This means that there is greater consistency in the delivery of the curriculum. Leaders recognise there is still more work to do.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have designed a thoughtful personal development programme. This includes consideration of what pupils need to know to be able to make a positive contribution to life in modern Britain. For example, they have considered what pupils need to know about artificial intelligence as part of their work on staying safe online. As such, pupils develop an age- appropriate understanding of internet safety. Furthermore, leaders ensure that pupils understand the features of healthy friendships and healthy relationships.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have planned a range of extra-curricular opportunities that help pupils to develop new interests and nurture talents. For example, pupils participate in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme, attend sports clubs and take part in debates. Leaders monitor participation in clubs and visits. If they notice that any groups of pupils are not taking part, they take appropriate action to put this right. For those pupils who face barriers to participation in wider school life, leaders make appropriate adaptations. For example, they offer financial support for trips. This helps to increase engagement and overcome inequalities.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have used the religious character of the school to support the delivery of important ideas, such as tolerance, democracy and respect. As a result, pupils know the importance of

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Needs attention

treating people equally. This is also seen in their interactions with each other, which are typically respectful and polite.

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Needs attention

There are teams of well-trained staff in school who support pupils effectively with any concerns they may have. Leaders ensure that these staff provide a helpful link between home and school. Consequently, on the whole, pupils are supported effectively with their wellbeing and personal development.

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Needs attention

Leaders have planned regular opportunities for pupils to learn about the world of work. This includes a careers fair, work experience for pupils in Year 10 and visits to local businesses. As a result, pupils are clear about their future plans. Typically, they go on to appropriate education, employment or training when they leave the school.

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Post 16 provision Expected standard

Leaders have high ambitions for the students in the sixth form. They have designed a curriculum that meets students' needs. Leaders’ astute attention to detail means that students, particularly those who study A Levels, achieve better than their peers nationally.

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Post 16 provision Expected standard

Leaders have ensured that the teaching in the sixth form is typically effective. Teachers make appropriate choices in how they deliver the curriculum and check that students learn well. For example, there is a purposeful balance of practice examinations, discussion work and note-taking. Generally, this helps students to develop the knowledge that they need to succeed.

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Post 16 provision Expected standard

Leaders ensure that those students who need to retake GCSE English and/or GCSE mathematics are supported effectively. As such, many students get the grades they need. Moreover, leaders ensure that students complete work experience. This enables students to secure their understanding about their future plans.

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Post 16 provision Expected standard

Wider opportunities available include learning British Sign Language, first aid and meditation. These, along with learning about budgeting and preparing nutritious meals, mean that students are prepared well for their next steps. Leaders make sure that those students who face barriers to success are given additional support. This includes information about support services and extra opportunities to talk about future plans. As such, barriers are reduced to ensure students can thrive.

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Achievement Needs attention

For some time, pupils have not achieved as well as they should. Results in examinations at the end of key stage 4 have been below national averages. This is because leaders have previously not been precise enough in identifying where improvement is needed in teaching and pupils’ learning. As a result, pupils have not received the support they need quickly enough. Leaders have improved teachers’ knowledge of strategies to support those pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and/or those who are disadvantaged. However, these adaptations are not used consistently well enough to address gaps in pupils’ learning.

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Achievement Needs attention

Leaders have strengthened their strategic oversight of achievement. They have secured improvements in the quality of teaching. This means that current pupils are making improved progress through the curriculum.

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Achievement Needs attention

Leaders’ strategies to develop writing and mathematical knowledge are in their infancy. This means that errors in pupils’ work are not addressed quickly enough. Consequently, pupils are not as prepared as they should be for the next stage of their learning.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Too many pupils do not attend school regularly enough. This includes those pupils who are persistently absent from school. Leaders have taken appropriate action to improve how they tackle low attendance. Attendance is a clear priority in school. As such, leaders have improved how they monitor trends in absence. They use this information to target support. For example, they prioritise work with families to overcome any barriers to regular attendance at school. Leaders’ improved attention to attendance means that more pupils are now attending school than in the past. This means that they are able to learn the planned curriculum with greater consistency.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have established clear routines throughout the school day to ensure a typically calm and purposeful atmosphere. These systems support mainly positive relationships between pupils and staff. Where pupils need support with their behaviour, leaders have established effective pastoral systems to ensure barriers to positive conduct are removed. For example, pupils are confident to approach staff to share any problems that they have. They are confident they will get the help they need. Bullying is rare. It is dealt with effectively and promptly if it does take place. Pupils feel supported by the adults in the school. In lessons, pupils show mainly positive attitudes to learning. This is because they now know what is expected of them.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

While leaders have now designed an ambitious curriculum, they have not yet fully ensured its effective implementation. They have ordered the content of the curriculum in a logical way. Leaders now know which aspects of the curriculum are working well and those where improvement is needed. They provide support to teachers who need to develop their teaching skills. As such, the quality of teaching is improving.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

However, some teachers do not always check effectively what pupils know and can do. This means teachers do not know when to move learning on or when to slow it down. Consequently, some pupils are not learning as well as they should.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Adaptations to address barriers to learning for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including those who are disadvantaged, are not carried out consistently well. This means that some pupils do not get the help they need quickly enough. As a result, gaps in learning develop and some pupils do not make the progress of which they are capable. Leaders have strengthened the ways in which they support pupils to read well. This includes help for those at the earliest stages of reading. However, leaders’ work to secure writing and mathematical knowledge is underdeveloped. This means pupils do not write or use numbers as well as they should.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders have designed new systems for identifying pupils’ needs. These new approaches mean that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are getting the support that they need in a timely way. However, this is a very new way of working for the school. While the approach is the right one, it is too soon to determine its impact. Through regular meetings, leaders now check whether the support strategies are the right ones. If they are not working, leaders make the changes needed to enhance the help pupils receive.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders work effectively with other agencies. For example, they work positively with the virtual school. This typically provides those pupils who are known to social care with the help that they need. Furthermore, leaders’ work with health professionals and alternative provision generally reduces barriers to pupils’ learning and/or wellbeing. As a result of this support, pupils attend school more regularly and develop healthier lifestyles.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders’ use of funding for disadvantaged pupils has improved. They use research-informed approaches to provide the additional support these pupils need. However, in classrooms, this support is applied inconsistently. Leaders are aware of this. They are making improvements where needed.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils are warmly greeted by staff, who care about them, when they arrive at school each day. Pupils benefit from embedded routines at the start of the day that help ensure a positive start. Pupils appreciate staff who are on hand to address any concerns. They uphold the ethos that underpins the character of the school. Everyone is welcome and included in school.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils understand that the school has high expectations of their conduct. Typically, they behave in a calm and safe manner throughout the school day. Bullying is rare. Pupils know that it will be dealt with effectively and quickly if it occurs.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils develop their interests through the trips, visits and extra-curricular activities that the school offers. These include participation in the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. Post- 16 students can take part in meditation and car maintenance. The school's ‘Golden Key’ initiative builds confidence for targeted groups of pupils and helps to raise their aspirations about their future plans.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

For too long, pupils have not achieved their potential in public examinations at the end of key stage 4. This includes groups of pupils for whom barriers to learning have not been successfully reduced. Furthermore, pupils have gaps in their knowledge that are not checked well enough. This is because teaching is not consistent. However, post-16 students achieve well. They benefit from sharp tracking processes that identify and address any gaps in learning.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Too many pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. Leaders have taken appropriate action to strengthen systems to increase pupils’ attendance. This has reduced the number of pupils who are absent from school.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils have experienced significant changes to the leadership of their school. New systems have added coherence to pupils’ experiences of the school day. Information about pupils with additional needs is now identified and shared more consistently with staff. This helps pupils to get the support that they need to succeed.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to strengthen their work to ensure more pupils attend school regularly so that they can learn the curriculum as planned and benefit from the wider opportunities the school provides. Leaders should ensure that teachers have the skills that they need to be able to check what pupils know and can do consistently so that any gaps in knowledge are addressed promptly. Leaders should ensure that strategies to support pupils’ development of writing and mathematical knowledge are carried out consistently so that pupils are prepared for the next stage of their learning. Leaders should embed the strategies they use to identify barriers to pupils’ learning and/or wellbeing so that they can take appropriate actions quickly to reduce these.

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About this inspection

This school is part of Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer (CEO), Mark Mountcastle, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by John Kalnins .

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty's Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

The trust has appointed an acting headteacher, who has been in post since January 2026.

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About this inspection

During the inspection, inspectors spoke with the headteacher, senior leaders, staff and pupils. They also met with representatives from the board of directors, the local governing

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Team inspectors:

Alexandra Jane Burton, Ofsted Inspector Julie Yarwood, Ofsted Inspector Joe Barker, Ofsted Inspector Shane Richardson, Ofsted Inspector Michael Scott, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The data was used by the inspector(s) during the inspection. More recent data may have been published since the inspection took place.

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England. body, trust employees including the CEO, and a representative of the diocese.

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What does this mean?

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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What does this mean?

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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What does this mean?

This school is registered as having a Roman Catholic religious character. It is in the Diocese of Shrewsbury. The school's most recent section 48 inspection was in January 2022.

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What does this mean?

The school makes use of one registered alternative provision.

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What does this mean?

Lorraine Henderson: Headteacher National average: 1,067

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational support needs at the school. National average: 13.4%

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What does this mean?

Based on the English Indices of Deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced Provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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English and maths GCSE

Percentage of pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Attainment 8

A measure of pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Progress 8

How much progress pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils achieving grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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national average

2024/25 (final) 32.1 34.9 Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (final) 29.9 34.6 Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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Disadvantaged pupils' English and maths GCSE grade 5 or above

Percentage of disadvantaged pupils who achieved grade 5 or above in English and maths GCSE.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Attainment 8

A measure of disadvantaged pupils' point scores across 8 subjects including maths (double weighted), English (double weighted if both language and literature are taken), 3 EBacc measures and 3 GCSE or technical measures.

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Disadvantaged pupils' Progress 8

How much progress disadvantaged pupils made between the end of primary school (key stage 2) and the end of secondary school (key stage 4), compared to pupils across England who got similar results at the end of key stage 2.

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A-level average point score

The average points that students achieved per A-level entry.

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national average

2023/24 (final) 31.24 34.38 Close to average

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A-level value added

A score showing students’ progress between the end of key stage 4 and the end of their academic qualification studies.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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