Mrs Goodhead, Principal at Christ The King College, has today written to parents of pupils sharing her delight with the outcome of the latest Ofsted inspection, which has rated the College ‘Good’ in all areas.
The school was previously inspected in July 2012, when it received the same rating of Good in all areas. Oftsed advised OnTheWight that the inclusion of a new sixth form triggered the latest inspection of the school, which is jointly overseen by the local Anglican and Roman Catholic Diocesan Boards.
Mrs Goodhead went on to tell parents in her letter that the Ofsted inspector believed the College would go onto achieve an ‘Outstanding’ rating within 12 to 18 months.
Why the school is ‘Good’
Highlights from the report include:
- Students make good progress from their different starting points
- The proportions of different groups of students making expected and above expected progress in English and mathematics by the time they are 16 are above national figures
- The vast majority of students achieve well across most subjects in Years 7 to 11, except in modern foreign languages where teaching requires improvement.
- Currently, those students eligible for the pupil premium are making more rapid progress than in previous years
- Disabled students and those who have special educational needs make good progress as a result of additional support which is carefully planned to develop each student’s literacy and numeracy skills
- Teaching is typically good across Years 7 to 11, with some examples of outstanding practice
- In the sixth form, teaching is never less than good, and is particularly strong in history and English
- Teaching in English, mathematics, history, geography and physical education is often particularly strong
- A small amount of teaching is less effective, especially in modern foreign languages
- The behaviour of students is good
- Students’ behaviour in lessons and around the college is calm and polite
- The college’s work to keep students safe and secure is good
- The Principal is an inspirational leader and is unstinting in seeking excellence in all of the college’s work
- Senior leaders judge the quality of teaching accurately
- Middle leaders have improved their skills of observing lessons, mentoring staff and tracking students’ progress
- The overwhelming majority of parents, on the Parent View questionnaire, would recommend the college to others
- Governors are knowledgeable and skilled to carry out their duties
Further improvements
The inspector highlighted in the report areas where improvements are needed.
The school could further improve the quality of teaching from Good to Outstanding, by:
- ensuring that all teachers’ marking matches that of the very best already evident in the college in order to give all students clear direction about what they need to do to improve, especially their spelling, punctuation and grammar
- making sure that leaders at all levels monitor teachers’ marking and assessment practice rigorously
- ensuring that all teachers set tasks that enable students to concentrate well and to improve their learning.
The school could take immediate steps to improve teaching, students’ achievement and leadership in modern foreign languages, through:
- putting in place a clear action plan for improvement in all aspects of the subject’s leadership, teaching and achievement, to be rigorously monitored by senior leaders
- ensuring that teachers systematically use the target language in lessons to promote better achievement, check students’ understanding in all lessons and adapt work to take account of their varying abilities, so that they learn at a faster pace.
The report
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