St Bede's Catholic Voluntary Academy

Overview: St Bede's Catholic Voluntary Academy is a good school with a welcoming environment, high expectations, and a strong focus on behaviour and personal development. Pupils are polite and respectful, and the school's Christian ethos is evident in its inclusive and supportive culture.

Strengths:

• Pupils study a wide range of subjects throughout key stage 3, including two languages and drama.
• Leaders have redesigned the curriculum to give pupils more time to learn about the subjects they study.
• Teachers are knowledgeable about the subjects they teach and introduce new knowledge effectively.
• Pupils are polite and respectful, and their relationships with adults are positive.
• The school's behaviour expectations are well understood by pupils and adults, and disruption to learning is rare.

Areas to improve:

• Too many disadvantaged pupils are persistently absent, missing important learning and resulting in gaps in their knowledge.
• The information teachers receive about the needs of pupils with SEND is not precise enough, and strategies to support pupils with SEND are not used consistently.
• Some teachers do not use the information they gather effectively, and do not change their teaching to address pupils' misconceptions.

Safeguarding: The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, with safeguarding leaders well-trained and maintaining detailed records. Staff know how to report concerns about a pupil's welfare, and leaders use weekly 'open case review' meetings to check that planned actions have been completed.