A “caring, calm and harmonious” Sunderland school has been rated Good by Ofsted.
St Anthony’s Girls’ Catholic Academy, which is part of Bishop Chadwick Catholic Education Trust, was inspected by Ofsted in January over two days.
Eleanor Belfield, lead inspector, said in her report: “Leaders have ensured that the mercy ethos of this Catholic school is an important aspect of this caring and welcoming school. The uniqueness of every pupil is celebrated and nurtured.
“This is a calm and harmonious school where pupils receive a good quality of education and are increasingly well-prepared for their next steps.”
The report added that new school leaders are “taking the right actions to make further improvements” and have “united staff” in their commitment for ambition and excellence in the Thornhill Terrace school.
The school holds a number of awards and accreditations including the ‘world class schools quality mark’ and the gold award for the ‘school games mark’.
Ofsted inspectors carried out deep dives in English, maths, science, history, and design and technology; and spoke to leaders about the PSHE curriculum and reading.
The inspectors found that staff “build strong relationships with pupils” and pupils say they are “well-supported” and are “safe and looked after by caring adults who have their best interests at heart”. Pupils are “rightly proud” of the many ways that they contribute to both the school and wider community. This includes having leadership roles in school, for example, transition buddies and peer mentors. Pupils are also highly respectful to staff and each other.
Students in the sixth form “value the expertise of their teachers” who are skilled at bringing subjects to life for pupils. The report added that this raises pupils’ aspirations with many pupils excited for their next steps.
Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) access the “same ambitious curriculum” and teachers “plan effective sequences of teaching that all pupils can access”.
Leaders are also committed to developing highly literate pupils who have a love of reading. There are “plentiful” opportunities for pupils to learn and use subject-specific and technical language. Younger pupils’ reading abilities are “swiftly identified” and, as a result of effective support, quickly learn to read fluently.
“I am delighted on behalf of the whole school community that this report reflects our school community so well,” said Fran Craik, executive headteacher of St Anthony’s.
“We aspire for every girl to be the best version of herself, and provide a caring, warm and ambitious environment for all our students to flourish.
“St Anthony’s has a long tradition of providing excellence in all girls’ education in Sunderland, one which we are all very proud to continue.”
The school was rated Outstanding at its last inspection. This reflected the school’s overall effectiveness under the inspection framework in use at the time.
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