A high school which converted to an academy in 2022 has been praised for its special educational needs work but has been told to bolster its efforts to improve pupil attendance.

St Augustine’s Roman Catholic High School in Billington converted to become an academy and joined Romero Catholic Academy Trust in December 2022.

When its predecessor school, of the same name, was last inspected by Ofsted in 2013, it was judged to be ‘outstanding’ overall.

The Elker Lane school was inspected in early December, following a period of exemption due to its outstanding grade, and was therefore judged by Ofsted to be a ‘new school’.

Inspectors rated the institution ‘good’ overall and found that it had a strong sense of community and that pupils were proud to take on roles of responsibility in supporting mental health and charity work.

Lancashire Telegraph: The buildings for school expansion and SEND unit in progress at St Augustine's The buildings for school expansion and SEND unit in progress at St Augustine's (Image: St Augustine's)

The Ofsted report, published at the end of January, described pupils as polite and respectful with most meeting the school’s very high expectation for them, both in terms of behaviour and their academic standards. 

St Augustine’s has recently been selected by Lancashire to host a new Special Educational Needs Unit from next year, and Ofsted reported that pupils with additional needs achieve well, developing independence and resilience.

Inspectors also praised the support available for pupils with additional needs, with expert staff helping the small number of pupils who require this specialist help.

Inspectors were complimentary about the curriculum, describing it as broad and balanced with pupils able to choose subjects that align with ambitious post 16 destinations.

In addition to this, Ofsted found the school has an excellent track record of working with external partners, and careers guidance and business links are real strengths of the school.

The quality of teaching was also praised with teachers using their strong subject knowledge to explain concepts clearly.

The report however did identify some variety in the approaches to assessment, which means that some pupils do not make as much progress as others.

The school’s approach to personal development was highlighted as a strength, helping pupils learn about healthy lifestyles and about life in modern Britain.

Lancashire Telegraph: The buildings for school expansion and SEND unit in progress at St Augustine's The buildings for school expansion and SEND unit in progress at St Augustine's (Image: St Augustine's)

A recent report by the Children’s Commissioner, Dame Rachel D’Souza, stated that more than one in five children in England are frequently missing school, a sign attendance is still struggling to get back to pre-pandemic levels.

Attendance was flagged by inspectors as an area for improvement for St Augustine’s with a small number of pupils not attending school as often as they should, and the school was urged to bolster its efforts to improve attendance.

Headteacher, Michael Wright, said: “We were pleased with the comments that Ofsted made about the school, which recognised the positive attitudes of our pupils and the hard work undertaken by staff and governors to provide an excellent environment in which children thrive.

“The report identifies lots of strength at St Augustine’s which helps to explain the popularity of the school with families; the school is currently undergoing a large building project to accommodate the extra demand for places as well as providing a specialist unit for SEND pupils.

“We were satisfied with the inspection team who consistently awarded good grades under the new inspection framework (EIF) as part of the section 5 inspection.

“The school retains its overall judgement as an outstanding Catholic school under section 48 of the Education Act.”