Clifton Community School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 26 November 2024

Pupils form strong relationships with staff at Clifton Community School. Staff care deeply about the pupils and go the extra mile to offer support where needed. The school celebrates the cultural diversity of its pupils through activities such as 'Cultural Day.' This helps pupils feel a sense of belonging at the school. Leaders have high expectations for pupils' achievement. The number of pupils accessing the English Baccalaureate suite of qualifications has increased significantly since the previous inspection. However, pupils' achievement does not match these high expectations. Published outcomes show pupils' achievement is below national averages and is declining over time. Pupils' behaviour has improved since the previous inspection. Classrooms are calm learning environments. Pupils and staff state that there are still small pockets of disruption at social times and between lessons. The school is working to address this. Bullying does occur at the school. When this happens, the school has robust processes in place to deal with it. Pupils have access to a well-planned and wide-ranging careers programme. By the end of key stage 4, pupils are well informed about their next steps in education, employment or training.

What the school should improve

• The implementation of the curriculum is inconsistent across the school. Staff use a range of strategies with varying degrees of success. Consequently, pupils do not gain the depth of knowledge they should. The school should ensure the curriculum is consistently implemented so pupils learn well across all subjects.
• Too many pupils miss out on lessons. This may be through absence from school or because pupils are completing behaviour sanctions. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge of the curriculum. The school should continue to do all it can to reduce the number of pupils missing out on lessons.
• The school does not know what impact the intended curriculum is having in some subjects. As a result, in some subjects, the impact of the intended curriculum is not always fully understood, resulting in inconsistent implementation of necessary improvements. The school should ensure leaders at all levels have a clear understanding of how to use data effectively to drive curriculum improvements and ensure these changes are made promptly.

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