Ralph Sadleir School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 23 April 2024

Pupils' experiences at Ralph Sadleir over the past two years have been affected by significant changes in leadership and staff absence. Expectations of pupils have not been commonly understood by staff or pupils. This has meant that there has been inconsistency in the quality of education. Pupils are now beginning to learn and understand; what is expected of them, how they should behave, and the importance of being respectful. This results from recent changes in leadership that have brought about a greater degree of consistency across the school. While too many pupils still do not meet expectations, things are improving. A focus on the school's new motto 'students of today, citizens of tomorrow' encapsulates these changes. Most pupils are happy and attend school regularly. They are keen to point out that they feel safe in school and that bullying is rare. Pupils trust adults to act when they raise a concern. Pupils understand the system for reporting worries. A range of extra-curricular activities are available to pupils, including sporting activities. Pupils can work towards the Ralph Sadleir award. This encourages pupil participation across a range of activities, including public speaking.

What the school should improve

• The behaviour of some pupils is not yet appropriate. Pupils are not always respectful to one another or staff. This is because the behaviour policy is not applied consistently by all staff, nor are their expectations high enough. As a result, learning is disrupted in some lessons. The school must ensure that the behaviour policy is implemented rigorously across the school to enable all pupils to achieve well.
• The delivery of subject content in some subjects is not always ambitious. As a result, there is inconsistency in the quality of work produced by pupils in lessons, and a limited depth of learning. The school should ensure that all staff are robust in their approach to planning and sequencing lessons to ensure that pupils build their knowledge successfully over time.
• Assessment in some subjects is not effective. This is because the feedback on pupils' work is limited in scope and few, if any, checks are made on whether pupils have acted on such feedback. As a result, pupils do not know how well they are achieving or how to improve. The school must ensure that robust structures are in place to provide pupils with the guidance they need to address gaps in knowledge.
• Staff have not received sufficient training to enable them to deliver the curriculum effectively. As a result, pupils do not always receive a consistent depth and quality of education. The school must implement rigorously an approach to professional development that enables staff to have consistently effective skills in adapting their teaching to meet the needs of all pupils.

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