Cardinal Newman Catholic School A Specialist Science College

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 21 May 2024

Pupils feel valued, whatever their background, within the Catholic identity of this school. Staff know pupils well and pupils know that staff are there to help them. This helps pupils to feel happy and safe. The school prioritises the well-being and personal development of pupils. They receive high-quality guidance and care. All pupils, including students in the sixth form, learn about what good character is. They do this through the school's chosen character development programme. This teaches pupils how to 'live out the Newman way' through learning, love and faith. Pupils attend school regularly and behave well. They are polite and courteous. They move around the site showing consideration for others. Pupils access a broad, interesting range of subjects that challenge them academically. They typically achieve well. On occasions, pupils do not have the chance to extend and deepen what they learn. This can limit how well pupils learn more complex ideas. Pupils have a wide range of opportunities to contribute to the life of the school. They can attend various clubs, visits and trips, for example not only sports clubs and performing arts clubs, but also debating, poetry by heart, modelling and sculpture clubs. These help pupils to develop their interests and talents.

What the school should improve

• On occasions, some teachers do not make the most appropriate teaching choices in order to make sure that learning activities are allowing all pupils to learn as much as they can. Where this is the case, pupils do not get sufficient opportunities to develop and extend their knowledge. This then limits how well they consolidate more complex knowledge. The school needs to further develop the work to ensure that all staff are able to implement highly effective teaching strategies consistently well.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)