St Aidan's High School

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection was conducted in March 2018, following a previous evaluation of 'good' in 2015. The inspection was significantly limited by industrial action, as most teachers did not cooperate with inspectors, preventing a full evaluation of the school’s capacity to improve or the quality of education provided. Consequently, the ETI states it is unable to assure parents of the quality of education being provided.

Strengths

• The school development plan is "underpinned by wide consultation, thorough analysis of performance data and robust self-evaluation."
• Staff involvement in working groups has led to "increased ownership and a greater commitment to the improvement agenda."
• The school leadership promotes strategies to "raise standards and to improve the overall quality of the learning experiences."
• Pupils who met inspectors spoke positively of their experiences and the "support and intervention strategies used by the teachers."

Areas to improve

• Emerging arrangements for reviewing progress need to be "regular and systematic" and clearly capture the impact of improvement work.
• The school must address the significant decrease in GCSE performance for pupils entitled to free school meals.
• The employing authority and governors must plan for the "sustainability of the school provision and the school budget."

Safeguarding

The report states that safeguarding arrangements "reflect broadly the guidance issued by the Department of Education" and pupils feel safe, though a full evaluation was not possible due to industrial action.