The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have a clear vision for the school and are focused on improvement. Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, built upon a Catholic ethos, is at the heart of school life. Recruitment and retention of staff is a key priority for you and the governors. Effective strategies, valued by staff, are in place to support their well-being. The school is currently undergoing a building project as a result of expansion in pupil numbers. Leaders are competently managing any disruption to ensure minimum impact on staff and pupils. You and other leaders have addressed the priorities from the last inspection. School leaders have an accurate understanding of the strengths of the school and are focused on developing the weaker areas. Outcomes for pupils are improving, particularly in the sixth form. On the day of the inspection, behaviour and conduct of pupils was very good. Pupils say that they enjoy school and value the wide range of opportunities they are given. Parents and carers and staff are supportive of your leadership. You are determined to make further improvements in teaching and learning so that all groups of learners make strong progress. Safeguarding is effective. Leaders provide staff with regular training on safeguarding procedures. As a result, staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of current safeguarding policies and guidance. Staff are very clear about what they should do if they have concerns about a pupil, for example if they are thought to be at risk of radicalisation. Staff are well aware of the potential risks facing young people in the wider community, such as gang affiliation and knife crime. As a result, regular information is shared with pupils on how they can keep themselves safe. Vulnerable pupils are given additional support through mentors and projects such as ‘boxing for life’. Pupils spoken to by inspectors were clear that they had a person to go to if they had a problem, and it would be dealt with. One said, ‘Form tutors are like parents to us in this school.’ Pupils said that homophobia and racism are not tolerated, and will be firmly addressed by staff. Through the curriculum and ‘drop down’ days, pupils are taught how to be safe. They are clear about how to keep safe online and when travelling between the two school sites. A small number of administrative matters, about safeguarding checks, which needed clarification were resolved on the day of the inspection. Inspection findings At the start of the inspection, four areas of focus were agreed. The first of these was the progress of disadvantaged pupils. This was because in 2017 progress and examination results in GCSE subjects were below those of other pupils. Inspectors visited classrooms, looked at pupils’ work, spoke to staff and analysed data. Teachers regularly monitor pupils and record assessment information. Therefore, leaders can easily identify pupils who need additional support to make better progress. Pupil premium funding received by the school is effectively targeted to help individuals in a variety of ways, including mentoring, literacy and numeracy development. As a result, in almost all classes visited by inspectors disadvantaged pupils were seen to be making progress in line with their target grades. For example, in a Year 7 French class pupils’ work showed progress from writing simple sentences to constructing complex sentences using connectives. In classes where disadvantaged pupils were effectively challenged to develop their understanding and skills, progress was strongest. However, in a few classes visited the progress of disadvantaged pupils was limited because teachers’ expectations were not high enough. The second area of focus for the inspection was the progress of pupils who have special educational needs (SEN), as identified by the school as needing additional support. This was because in 2017 progress and GCSE examination results for SEN pupils were below those of other pupils. Inspectors visited classrooms, looked at pupils’ work, and spoke to teachers. Leaders provide teachers with information about pupils who have SEN. However, this information does not always identify the specific learning needs of an individual. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) holds weekly SEN ‘surgeries’ to provide support for parents and staff, which are well regarded. Teachers have received training on dyslexia and autistic spectrum disorder.