Shuttleworth College

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 11 March 2025

This is a warm and welcoming school. Pupils value the support that they receive from staff. This helps them to feel happy and safe. Pupils in Year 7 benefit from well-considered support when they join the school. This helps them to settle into school quickly. Most pupils meet the high expectations for their behaviour. They demonstrate respect for the school's rules and to each other. They behave well at social times and in lessons. The school has raised its expectations of all pupils' achievement. Pupils are benefiting from an increasingly aspirational curriculum. This is supporting many pupils to know and remember more in many subjects. Nonetheless, in some subjects the implementation of the curriculum is weaker. This leads to gaps in pupils' knowledge, which limits how well some pupils, especially those who are disadvantaged, achieve. Some pupils benefit from a wide range of educational visits, leadership roles and clubs. For instance, some pupils have enjoyed listening to music performances, watching a pantomime and taking international trips. These opportunities help pupils to expand their understanding of the wider world and to develop their confidence and a sense of responsibility.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects the curriculum is not implemented as the school intends. Some teaching strategies or activities are not effective enough in helping pupils to learn and remember subject content securely. As a result, some pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, struggle to understand and retain some learning. The school should ensure that it supports teachers effectively to choose the most appropriate activities and approaches to help pupils to learn and remember more over time.
• In some subjects, teachers do not consistently check what pupils know or whether they are ready to move on to new learning. This limits how well some pupils progress through some curriculum areas. The school should ensure that teachers check pupils' understanding of key learning and swiftly address any misconceptions so that pupils are ready for the next stage of their learning.
• Some of the interventions the school has put in place to help pupils who find reading difficult do not support pupils develop their reading knowledge quickly enough. This means that some pupils do not catch up with their peers swiftly. The school should ensure that it monitors the impact of the reading support that these pupils receive to help pupils' outcomes improve.
• Some pupils do not attend school frequently enough. This affects how well these pupils achieve. The school should strengthen its strategies to tackle persistent non- attendance and ensure that pupils do not miss vital learning, which hampers their success.

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