St Anne's School and Sixth Form College

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 27 June 2023

St Anne's School and Sixth Form College is a caring and welcoming school, where all pupils feel valued. Excellent relationships exist between staff and pupils. The view of one pupil reflects that of many, stating: 'We're all one big community and family. We celebrate that in our school.' Pupils feel safe and trust adults to listen to them. Staff use consistent routines and thoughtful approaches to support and communicate with individual pupils. Pupils communicate effectively with staff if they have a worry or concern, which includes bullying. Pupils feel that this rarely happens, but if it does, then staff 'help fix it'. Staff have high expectations of what pupils can achieve and how they behave. Pupils benefit from a broad and relevant curriculum from the early years to the sixth form. They enjoy following the carefully adapted curriculum, which meets their individual needs. They are well prepared for their next steps in education and for adulthood. There is a calm and orderly environment throughout the school. Pupils behave well and enjoy exploring the grounds and playing in the well-resourced outdoor areas during break and lunchtimes. Pupils enjoy taking on responsibilities, such as acting as school councillors, where they have a say in what they learn and do in school. Pupils in the sixth form enjoy their roles as librarians and visiting their college and work placements.

What the school should improve

• The curriculum for children in the early years does not promote opportunities for them to develop their learning in the outside areas of provision as well as it should. This means that adults do not support children as well as they could do to develop their knowledge and skills in the different areas of learning. Leaders should ensure that the curriculum is planned effectively so that adults can support children in their learning and play in the outdoor provision.
• In a very small number of subjects, leaders are redesigning their curriculum. Leaders should continue to complete these developments to ensure that consistency of quality in all curriculum areas is maintained.
• There is variability in the extent to which some staff record the actions taken in line with the school's policy following incidents of RPI. Additionally, leaders do not have sufficient oversight of emerging patterns in the use of RPI. Leaders should ensure that all staff maintain records appropriately and should use this information to regularly review trends in the use of RPI so that appropriate action can be taken in a timely manner.

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