St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 29 October 2024

This is a warm and friendly school that welcomes all pupils into its caring community. Pupils like coming to school and attend regularly. Typically, they feel happy and safe. Covid restrictions had a negative impact on the school, particularly on staffing. Many pupils join at different points of the school year. The school recently moved from a split site to its new single site. Despite these challenges, the school is committed to an ambitious education for its pupils. However, this ambition is not being achieved. The behaviour of pupils is variable. Some pupils demonstrate negative attitudes to their learning. Too often, pupils are late to school and to lessons. The quality of education that pupils in Years 7 to 11 receive is not as strong as it should be. Pupils do not remember enough of what they learn. Outcomes in public examinations are low. The provision for students in the sixth form is stronger. Pupils benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities. Pupils in Year 9 recently visited the trenches in Belgium to learn about World War One. All pupils greatly enjoyed the school's 'culture day'. Pupils have many opportunities to undertake positions of leadership or responsibility.

What the school should improve

• In many subjects in Years 7 to 11, teaching does not deliver the school's curriculum to a high standard. As a result, pupils do not develop their knowledge and understanding securely over time. The school's published outcomes remain low. The school should ensure a consistent delivery of the curriculum that has a positive impact on pupils' understanding over time, including in published outcomes.
• In many lessons, teachers do not check what pupils know and can do. They do not identify the knowledge gaps and misconceptions that pupils have. As a result, too many pupils develop a disjointed understanding of learning and the misconceptions they have persist over time. The school should ensure that teachers are able to use strategies to check what pupils know and address any gaps in knowledge so that pupils develop a secure understanding before learning new content.
• The school does not consistently apply robust procedures to tackle lateness and internal truancy. As a result, a significant minority of pupils are routinely late to lessons and some pupils truant lessons during the school day. This results in a disrupted start to many lessons and some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge from the lessons they do not attend. The school should ensure that its policies and procedures to address poor punctuality and internal truancy lead to a sustained improvement over time.
• Staff do not consistently apply the school's behaviour policy. Some staff do not challenge pupils who break the school rules. The poor behaviour of some pupils has a detrimental impact on their own and other pupils' learning. The number of suspensions has been high. The school should ensure that staff are supported to enforce the behaviour policy routinely and consistently.

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