Shiras Devorah High School

Overview

Shiras Devorah High School is described as a "very caring community" where pupils are happy and behaviour is "exemplary". However, the report states the school "failed to meet the independent school standards" due to inconsistencies in curriculum sequencing and non-compliance with statutory guidance on personal development.

Strengths

• Pupils’ behaviour is "exemplary", with students being "highly respectful" and settling quickly to work with "no disruption".
• The curriculum in subjects like English, mathematics, and science is "broad in scope" and carefully sequenced to build knowledge step-by-step.
• Staff know pupils well, creating a safe environment where bullying is "rare" and students feel supported by form tutors.
• Systems are in place to identify special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), ensuring these pupils receive necessary support to access the full curriculum.

Areas to improve

• The curriculum is not consistently sequenced across all subjects, leading to "gaps in pupils’ knowledge" where prior learning is unclear.
• Staff do not always receive adequate training to teach outside their specialism, resulting in underdeveloped subject or pedagogical knowledge.
• The relationships and sex education (RSE) and PSHE programmes do not follow statutory guidance, failing to cover protected characteristics or all required relationship content.

Safeguarding

The report states that "the arrangements for safeguarding are effective."