Sir Thomas Boteler Church of England High School

Overview

The inspection found that the school meets the expected standard across all key areas, including achievement, attendance, behaviour, curriculum, inclusion, leadership, and personal development. Leaders have established a culture of care where pupils feel safe and are proud to be part of the ‘Boteler family’. While most pupils make steady progress, there are specific areas where leaders need to sharpen their evaluations and ensure consistency in teaching and behaviour.

Strengths

• Pupils’ behaviour is “mostly calm, respectful and positive”, with bullying addressed “promptly and effectively”.
• The curriculum is “well sequenced” and leaders have an “accurate understanding” of its quality, ensuring pupils build knowledge securely.
• Inclusion systems, such as the ‘Progress Hub’, allow leaders to identify needs “quickly and accurately” and provide targeted support for vulnerable pupils.
• Personal development is supported by a well-structured PSHE curriculum and the ‘Inspire’ programme, which offers cultural experiences and creative opportunities.
• Staff workload and wellbeing are considered in decision-making, and early career teachers receive “appropriate support through coaching and guidance”.

Areas to improve

• Leaders should support teachers to use learning activities that “deepen pupils' learning fully” and extend verbal and written vocabulary across the curriculum.
• Leaders need to “sharpen their evaluations” of improvement work to ensure greater impact, particularly for disadvantaged pupils’ attendance and achievement.
• Behaviour expectations should be applied “consistently well, particularly at social times”, to help pupils remain settled.

Safeguarding

The safeguarding standards are met, with leaders establishing an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed, ensuring pupils are made safer and feel safe.