St Anne's RC Voluntary Academy

Overview

The report states that pupils have benefited from “substantial improvements” made by leaders, resulting in a school where most feel “happy and safe.” Leaders demonstrate “increasing ambition” for pupil achievement, with a rising proportion studying the English Baccalaureate suite. The overall effectiveness is judged as Good, reflecting strong leadership and a calm, orderly atmosphere.

Strengths

• Leaders have ensured subject leaders are “knowledgeable about effective curriculum design,” allowing pupils to “build their knowledge well over time.”
• Provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) has been strengthened, with staff successfully adapting curriculum delivery so these pupils “learn well alongside their peers.”
• Leaders have robust systems to identify and support pupils struggling with reading, helping them to read with “increasing accuracy and confidence.”
• Pupils have a “strong voice” in the school, consulted on issues from canteen food to PSHE content, and engage enthusiastically in enrichment opportunities.
• Staff are “very proud to work at this school” and appreciate leaders’ consideration of their workload and well-being.

Areas to improve

• Some teachers do not execute assessment strategies effectively, leading to “gaps in their learning” that are not identified or addressed swiftly.
• Some pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, do not attend school as often as they should, causing them to “miss out on vital learning.”

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with staff trained to follow the ‘4Rs’ to “recognise, respond, record and refer” concerns and working with external agencies to support vulnerable pupils.