St John Henry Newman Catholic School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 16 June 2026

Pupils are incredibly proud to be part of 'The Newman Family'. Generally, pupils enjoy coming to school. They share a feeling that they are part of a nurturing community. Pupils like spending time with their friends and share respectful relationships with their peers and staff. Pupils know that bullying and discrimination of any kind is not tolerated. Staff act quickly and effectively if any incidents of unkindness are brought to their attention. Pupils are safe here. They know who to speak to if they have any worries, safe in the knowledge that this will be dealt with promptly by staff. Staff care deeply for pupils. Pupils appreciate the help they have at hand should they need it. Generally, classrooms are settled and tranquil spaces, where pupils can focus fully on learning. However, some pupils do not display positive attitudes to their learning. Furthermore, some pupils do not attend school regularly enough. Over time, pupils have not achieved as well as they should in national examinations at the end of key stage 4 and key stage 5. They do not develop their knowledge consistently well across all subjects, including personal, social, health and economic education. Teachers do not routinely check on pupils’ understanding. This means that, for some pupils, gaps in their knowledge are widening over time. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities have their needs identified. However, the support for these pupils is inconsistent. Pupils value the wide range of opportunities they have to grow their interests and talents outside of the classroom. They appreciate the recognition and badges they receive for going above and beyond. Many pupils attend the enrichment on offer, such as sporting clubs, tranquil reading club, astronomy club and fantasy games club. This helps pupils to develop their confidence and resilience.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should establish rigorous systems to monitor the impact of their actions and use this information to drive improvements across all areas.
• Leaders should ensure that pupils, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive timely and effective support to enable them to learn successfully.
• Leaders should ensure that teachers swiftly identify and address gaps in pupils' knowledge.
• Leaders should continue to refine the personal development programme, especially for students in the sixth form, so that pupils are well prepared for life in modern Britain.
• Governors should strengthen their systems for checking on the quality of the provision, so that they have the information required to offer effective challenge across all areas of the school.

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