The Clere School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 15 January 2025

Too many pupils feel unsafe at school. Many told inspectors that they do not report bullying as they do not have confidence in the school's ability to deal with their concerns. When reported, allegations of bullying are often not recorded accurately. This means that the school does not monitor or follow up reported cases rigorously enough. The school does not have high enough expectations of pupils' attendance. More than half of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and pupils who are in receipt of free school meals are persistently absent from school. Pupils who attend well told inspectors that their learning is often disrupted by constant recapping for pupils who have high absence or by the poor behaviour of a small minority of pupils. The school's expectations for pupils' academic achievement are high. However, the improvements that the school is making have not had sufficient impact to improve achievement. The combination of changes in leadership and high levels of staff absence means that, until recently, frequent incidents of poor behaviour across the school had not been addressed consistently. This is not the case now. In most lessons, pupils' learning is focused and undisturbed by disruption. Achievement is improving, albeit gradually.

What the school should improve

• The school has not acted swiftly enough to rectify the deficiencies in the school or make the necessary improvements to ensure that good standards are maintained. The school's own policies and improvement priorities are not applied rigorously or consistently enough to secure rapid and sustainable improvements. The school must focus its actions on those aspects that are most in need of improvement and rapidly rectify the shortcomings identified by this inspection.
• The school has not ensured that pupils have confidence in how the school addresses bullying. As a result, pupils often do not report incidents of bullying for fear that the school will not take effective action. The school must ensure that bullying concerns are taken seriously and dealt with effectively, so that pupils regain confidence in the school's anti-bullying policy.
• Many pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, are often absent from school. The number of pupils who are persistently absent remains worryingly high, particularly for pupils with SEND. The rate of suspensions is high and not reducing. Too many pupils, therefore, miss vital learning and are at risk of falling even further behind. The school must ensure that it takes robust action so that attendance improves rapidly, persistent absence decreases and the rate of suspensions reduces.
• The teaching of the curriculum is too variable. Furthermore, teachers' checks on pupils' learning do not enable them to know how well pupils learn the curriculum. Often gaps in knowledge or misconceptions go unaddressed. The school should ensure that teachers accurately identify gaps and misconceptions in pupils' knowledge and then seek to tackle these in their subsequent teaching.
• The achievement of disadvantaged pupils, particularly those who receive free school meals, remains low. Staff do not adapt their teaching to meet the needs of pupils with SEND effectively enough. This means that disadvantaged pupils are not supported to build knowledge and skills consistently well and do not attain the qualifications that they need to progress to their next stages of education, training or employment. The school should ensure that pupils consistently achieve high standards, and that teachers know how to meet the needs of pupils with SEND effectively.

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