Caterham High School

Overview

Caterham High School is described as a “caring community” where staff hold “high aspirations for all pupils” and encourage them to “persevere in pursuit of their ambitions.” The report highlights a positive environment where pupils behave well, feel safe, and value the support they receive from teachers who possess “good subject knowledge.”

Strengths

• Governors “hold school leaders to account effectively” and work closely with them to evaluate provision, ensuring staff feel “valued and very well-supported.”
• Leaders have developed a “broad and ambitious curriculum” that is “well-ordered,” allowing pupils to build knowledge systematically, including increased time for history, geography, and modern foreign languages.
• Teachers help pupils “remember what they have learned before” and provide feedback that helps students improve their work, with sixth-form students developing “deep knowledge and understanding.”
• The school offers a “well-sequenced programme” for personal development, covering topics such as relationships, equality, and careers, which pupils find “relevant to their lives.”

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure assessment identifies pupils who cannot read fluently and that “appropriately trained staff deliver phonics teaching” to those who need it.
• Leaders should provide training for teachers to enable them to support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in “developing their writing skills” beyond a few sentences.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with a “strong culture of safeguarding” where staff are alert to risks and report concerns immediately.