Notre Dame Catholic Girls' School

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe.
• Personal development and wellbeing are a relative strength, with a broad and meaningful programme.
• High-quality careers advice and employer encounters help pupils make informed next-step decisions.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, trips, charitable events and extracurricular activities.
• The 'Reading for Meaning' club supports pupils who speak English as an additional language.
• Pupils have trusted adults and access to counsellor, Chaplain and learning mentors for wellbeing support.
• Disadvantaged pupils typically achieve well and outperform their peers nationally.
• Pupils are polite, respectful and courteous, and lessons are calm and orderly.
• Suspensions are rare and proportionate, and bullying or discriminatory behaviour is uncommon.
• Early phonics teaching is highly effective for pupils at the earliest stages of reading.
• The curriculum is broad and appropriate, and leaders understand where improvement is needed.
• Teachers have secure subject knowledge and teach effectively in some subjects.
• Leaders are open and supportive, consider staff workload and wellbeing, and provide valued professional learning.
• Governors fulfil statutory roles and provide support and challenge, with trust support through a school improvement partner.
• Destinations after 16 are strong, with 97% of pupils staying in education or employment.
• Support for disadvantaged pupils and pupils who speak English as an additional language is more precise.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement varies across the curriculum, with some subjects below national averages.
• Gaps in pupils' learning remain because teaching and assessment are inconsistent.
• Pupils with SEND achieve variably, depending too much on teaching quality and attendance.
• Poor attendance among pupils with SEND has created unaddressed knowledge gaps.
• Some pupils who struggle with reading, writing and numeracy are not identified, tracked or helped quickly enough.
• Attendance for pupils with SEND has declined over the past three years.
• Leaders' recent attendance actions are too new to show impact for persistently absent pupils.
• Agreed pedagogical approaches are not consistently embedded across all subjects.
• Some teachers do not consistently check what pupils know or close knowledge gaps.
• Some teachers do not adapt teaching effectively to remove barriers for pupils with additional needs.
• Pupils' needs are not always identified quickly or accurately enough.
• Systems for planning, implementing and reviewing SEND support are not securely embedded.
• Staff training has had variable impact, and some teachers lack expertise to adapt teaching.
• Weaknesses in attendance and inclusion have persisted over time.
• Younger pupils have less detailed knowledge of fundamental British values and diversity.
• Governors and trustees know more work is needed to improve outcomes and experiences.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools