The Academy of St Francis of Assisi

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 24 April 2024

Pupils are proud to belong to this vibrant school community where diversity is cherished. For example, during a recent culture day, pupils celebrated their different cultural heritages with pride. Many pupils join the school at different times during the academic year. Some speak little English when they arrive. They are warmly welcomed. This helps most pupils to feel happy in school. Pupils strive to uphold the school's values. Recently, the school has strengthened its approach to managing unacceptable conduct. Pupils' behaviour is improving as a result. However, a small group of pupils continue to cause some disruption. The school wants the best for pupils. Work is ongoing to design a curriculum that will enable pupils to meet these expectations. However, in several subjects, the curriculum is at an early stage of development. Currently, some pupils do not build a secure body of knowledge in each subject. They do not achieve as well as they should. Pupils value the wide range of trips and visits that are on offer. They spoke enthusiastically about what they had learned from trips linked to different subjects, such as a recent university visit to enhance their learning about computing.

What the school should improve

• In several subjects, the essential knowledge that pupils should learn has not been clearly identified. This makes it difficult for staff to teach some of the intended curriculum. It also hinders pupils' achievement. The school should provide clarity around what should be taught within each subject and ensure that these curriculums are delivered as intended.
• Some staff do not use assessment strategies effectively in order to check what pupils know and how well they remember what they have previously learned. This hinders staff in designing appropriate learning activities and results in some pupils having residual gaps in their knowledge. The school should ensure that staff use assessment strategies effectively, so that they can accurately identify, and then address, gaps in pupils' learning when they need to revisit previous learning.
• Some staff do not use the information that they are given about the additional needs of pupils with SEND in order to adapt the delivery of the curriculum well. This means that some pupils with SEND do not learn as well as they should. The school should support staff to meet the needs of these pupils more effectively.
• Some pupils who struggle to read, particularly those in key stage 4, do not receive the help that they need to improve. This hampers how well they access the curriculum. The school should ensure that appropriate support is in place to help these pupils to read well so that they learn all that they should.

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