Saint Benedict, A Catholic Voluntary Academy

Overview: Saint Benedict, A Catholic Voluntary Academy continues to be a good school, with pupils feeling safe and cared for, and a strong focus on pastoral and academic care.

Strengths:

• Pupils feel safe and cared for, with a clear understanding of who to talk to if they have a problem.
• Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive a high level of support.
• The provision for pupils' personal development is impressive, including a 'Beyond the Classroom' programme and a well-developed careers programme.
• Pupils are happy in school, with most saying that bullying does not happen, and a strong focus on kindness and respect between pupils.
• Governance is a strength of the school, with those with responsibility for governance providing support, challenge, and expertise.

Areas to improve:

• Staff do not always check closely enough on pupils' progress in lessons, which can lead to misconceptions not being identified and addressed quickly.
• The quality of the provision in the sixth form is sometimes variable, leading to lower outcomes for some students.
• The 'alternative pathway' in key stage 3 is still being refined and needs to be completed as soon as possible to ensure pupils on this pathway benefit from learning ambitious curriculum content in all subjects.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.