Monkseaton Coastal School

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding.
• Inclusion is central to leaders' work and they are ambitious for pupils with SEND and other barriers to learning.
• Leaders accurately identify and monitor the support pupils need, adjusting it when necessary and seeking specialist help.
• Pupils who are looked after or known to social care are well supported, and funding for disadvantaged pupils is used thoughtfully.
• The personal development programme is thoughtful and reflects local community needs, including water safety and PSHE.
• Pupils learn about healthy relationships, online and community safety, and respect for differences, stereotyping and other religions.
• The careers curriculum is thorough and helps pupils learn about the world of work and future options.
• Pupils value the wide range of tailored pastoral and wellbeing support, including small-group sessions.
• There is a wide range of extracurricular clubs, and leaders ensure pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils can participate.
• Pupils behave well, treat each other and staff with respect, and disruptions to learning are rare.
• Pupils feel safe, know bullying and discriminatory behaviour are not tolerated, and trust staff to deal with serious behaviour.
• The curriculum is broad, ambitious and well sequenced, with some subjects building knowledge and skills over time.
• Teachers break learning into small, precise steps in lessons.
• Leaders provide suitable phonics and catch-up support for pupils needing help in early reading, writing and maths.
• Staff feel well supported by leaders, value professional development, and feel leaders are thoughtful about workload and wellbeing.
• Leaders form effective relationships with parents, who are positive about the school and value pastoral care.
• Governors are committed to the school and share leaders' commitment to inclusion.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils do not achieve as well as they should.
• Teachers do not have a clear picture of what pupils know, so gaps are not addressed quickly enough.
• Some pupils are not well prepared for their next stage in learning.
• Pupils' mathematics attainment at the end of Year 6 remains below national average, including for disadvantaged pupils.
• The disadvantaged pupils' performance gap in mathematics is large.
• Leaders' work to improve assessment and outcomes has not yet had enough impact.
• Some pupils do not attend school often enough; overall and persistent absence are above national averages.
• Leaders' actions to improve attendance have not brought improvement quickly enough.
• Teachers do not deliver and check pupils' learning consistently across all subjects and year groups, including for pupils with SEND or other barriers.
• In some subjects, teachers do not help pupils review prior learning or build on it, and do not identify gaps in knowledge.
• Leaders have not precisely identified the underlying causes of weaknesses, so improvement actions have not been quick enough.
• Leaders' plans have not had sufficient impact on attendance and attainment over time.
• Governors have not taken a sufficiently rigorous approach to assuring themselves of school performance.
• Governors have not always effectively challenged leaders to improve important aspects of the school.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools