St Cecilia's College

Overview

This Sustaining Improvement Inspection was conducted during industrial action, meaning only senior leadership cooperated with inspectors. Consequently, the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) states it is “unable to assure parents/carers... of the quality of education provided for the pupils.” The report notes that full evaluation of teaching, learning, and safeguarding arrangements was not possible due to this non-cooperation.

Strengths

• Pupils attain “very highly at GCSE or equivalent at grades A* -C,” with significant improvement for those entitled to free school meals and those with additional needs.
• The school has developed “more robust tracking procedures” and a “flexible approach to curriculum planning” supported by rigorous self-evaluation.
• There is effective use of ICT and “innovative approaches” to a skills-based curriculum, developed in conjunction with the local business community.
• Pupil voice is given “a high priority,” with students speaking “confidently and passionately” about leadership opportunities and their ability to express opinions.

Areas to improve

• The report identifies the need to address “variation in achievement across subjects at GCSE and GCE A level” compared to similar schools.
• The school must continue to “improve the effectiveness of planning, teaching and assessment in promoting successful outcomes.”

Safeguarding

The report states that safeguarding arrangements “reflect broadly the guidance from the Department of Education” and pupils feel safe, but the ETI was “unable to evaluate fully the outworking of the arrangements” due to the industrial action.