St John Wall Catholic School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 20 June 2023

Pupils blossom at this unique and caring school. Staff and pupils live and breathe the school values. Leaders expect pupils to work hard and strive academically. Pupils rise to this challenge. Everyone is welcome and staff and pupils care for and look out for each other. Pupils summed this up, telling inspectors that the school is 'like a family' and that 'everyone just gets along'. All staff expect pupils to be attentive, compassionate and curious. Pupils reflect these expectations in their behaviour and attitudes. Staff teach pupils how to behave and model the trust and mutual respect that all are expected to show. Classrooms are places where teachers teach, and pupils learn. If pupils struggle to maintain the standards expected, staff support them with empathy and care. This means that pupils can put right what has gone wrong. Nobody tolerates unkindness, discrimination or bullying of any form. Instead, difference is valued, nurtured and celebrated. This fosters a happy, safe and harmonious school culture. If pupils do raise a concern about bullying, staff act swiftly and effectively to resolve any issues. The range of clubs, trips and visits broaden pupils' horizons and ready them for life beyond school. These range from trips to the seaside to cultural heritage days.

What the school should improve

• Leaders have not yet ensured that the suite of qualifications that forms the EBacc sits at the heart of the school curriculum. This means that many pupils do not study either geography or history and a modern foreign language beyond the end of Year 8. Leaders should ensure that they enact their plans so that all pupils continue to study both a humanity subject and a modern foreign language in Year 9, so that a greater proportion of pupils then go on to study a combination of subjects at key stage 4 that make up the EBacc.
• In a small number of subjects, leaders have not ensured that the curriculum precisely sets out the prior knowledge that pupils need to draw on, and the new knowledge that they need to learn. This means that, in a few instances, it is unclear what previous learning pupils should be building on to help with their new learning and what key knowledge needs to be secured. Leaders should ensure that all teachers know how each part of the curriculum fits with what has already been learned, so that pupils can secure a good depth of knowledge in each subject.

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