Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy

Overview

Saint John Houghton Catholic Voluntary Academy has “taken effective action to maintain the standards identified at the previous inspection.” The report describes a school where pupils are “happy,” “proud to be part of this school community,” and benefit from “positive relationships” with staff. Leaders have worked well to maintain high standards, ensuring the curriculum remains “broad and ambitious” and inclusive for all pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils are “polite and respectful,” with classrooms described as “calm” and distractions to learning as “rare.”
• The curriculum is “sequenced well so that pupils build knowledge over time,” with plenty of opportunities to revisit topics to aid retention.
• Staff are “well informed about pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities,” enabling them to adapt learning activities effectively.
• The school prepares pupils well for future lives, providing “detailed, personalised advice about their next steps and potential careers.”
• Character development is a priority, with the school’s virtues inspiring pupils to be “active citizens” through leadership opportunities and extra-curricular activities.

Areas to improve

• The school should ensure planned teaching strategies are “implemented consistently and effectively across the curriculum,” as variation in delivery sometimes results in pupils not achieving as well as they could.
• Staff must apply behaviour routines “consistently” and deal with incidents of poor behaviour “effectively,” as current inconsistencies leave some pupils unclear about expectations.

Safeguarding

The report states that “the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.”