The Archbishop's School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 22 November 2023

The school is passionate in wanting all pupils to achieve well, including the many who join having not achieved well in the past, or who join after Year 7. It does a good job from the point pupils start, including making arrangements to meet individual needs. As a result, pupils achieve well and learn to attend regularly. Pupils feel safe and well cared for. Most enjoy learning and behave well. The school has grown since the last inspection. It has become a more diverse community and is warmly welcoming to pupils from all backgrounds. The school now includes a large number of pupils from refugee families, some of whom attend for a limited time before families move on. Most pupils settle quickly in lessons and treat others respectfully, both there and around the site. Sixth-form students are good role models for younger pupils in the way they behave. The school provides effective support for pupils who find attending regularly difficult. They and their families typically receive close attention so that they know that attending school is vitally important. Pupils feel their safety is a priority for the school and know who to turn to if they have concerns.

What the school should improve

• The sixth-form curriculum does not meet all students' needs fully. Too many take courses for which they have insufficient prior learning, struggle to understand the course content and then do not achieve well. The school should review the range of courses offered and revise guidance for pupils in Year 11.
• The school's work is improving attendance, but it does not analyse actions taken closely enough to find what makes the most difference. This means some resource goes where it has less impact. The school should check more closely the difference made by the different strategies used, so as to identify the best and discard the least effective.
• Teachers' work in checking that new knowledge is embedded in pupils' long-term memory is not always fully effective. As a result, achievement is not as rapid as it could be. The school should ensure that teachers always assess pupils' learning consistently well in order to adapt the next steps in their teaching.

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