Mullion School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 8 November 2023

Pupils are proud to be members of Mullion's learning community. They are positive about the opportunities available to develop their interests and talents. Curriculum planning is ambitious, broad and balanced. Expectations are typically high, so pupils try their hardest and take pride in their work. Pupils achieve very well, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are disadvantaged. Mullion School has been through a recent period of change. New leaders recognise that standards in learning and behaviour slipped and have taken rapid and effective action. As a result, the school is already improving. Pupils interact and conduct themselves positively. Lessons are generally calm and orderly. However, some low- level disruption still occurs. Most staff deal with this effectively, although some inconsistency remains. Pupils feel happy and safe at school. They learn what bullying is and know how to report concerns. A few pupils use derogatory language towards others. However, since the change in leadership, the school is aware that this happens and determined to eradicate it. A revised programme of education has been introduced and responses to incidents are now more robust. Pupils recognise that, on the rare occasions it happens, it is now dealt with properly.

What the school should improve

• Improvements to the curriculum are new and embedding. There is some variation in how these improvements are implemented, which means pupils learn better in some subjects than others. The trust should continue to strengthen the implementation of the curriculum so that pupils achieve well across all subjects.
• New expectations for how behaviour should be managed are not yet consistently applied. This means that occasionally expectations are higher in some parts of the school than in others. The trust should continue to strengthen the implementation of these policies so that low-level disruption is minimised.
• The school's careers programme is not as strong as it should be. In particular, pupils have only recently received careers advice early enough and there are too few links to local employers. Leaders should continue to improve the quality of careers advice so that pupils are well informed about their next steps.

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