St Josephs Catholic High School, Workington

Overview

The report states that pupils are happy at the school and benefit from enrichment opportunities, including charity work and career visits. However, it notes that in some subjects, teachers do not design learning activities that fully meet pupils’ needs, and a minority of pupils disrupt the learning of their peers.

Strengths

• Pupils have "high levels of trust in their teachers" and feel safe, with staff being "vigilant to any incidents of bullying".
• The school provides a "suitable range of enrichment opportunities" and helps pupils make informed choices for their next steps in education or employment.
• Staff are "appreciative of leaders’ efforts to improve their workload and well-being".
• The process to identify pupils with additional needs is "secure", and the school has a "well-stocked library" with specialist staff to support reading.

Areas to improve

• The trust and governors must ensure "robust systems are in place to gather an accurate and up-to-date understanding of the quality of education" and improve the administration of safeguarding arrangements.
• The school should provide suitable training for staff to "deliver the curriculum as intended" and design activities that enable all pupils, including those with SEND, to learn successfully.
• Leaders must remove barriers preventing regular attendance, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, and ensure a minority of pupils behave appropriately.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective, though the report notes that oversight is not as secure as it should be because some staff training has not taken place and actions following incidents are not recorded thoroughly enough.