St Joseph’s RC High School (St Joseph’s) is a Roman Catholic voluntary-aided comprehensive school under the trusteeship of the Salford Diocese with a current Planned Admission Number (PAN) of 1050.
The number on the roll is 1045. The proportion of pupils eligible for the Pupil Premium (PP) is approximately 22%. The current number of young people on the roll eligible for the PP grant is 234 with the number of young people in Local Authority Care currently standing at 8 pupils. The number of English as an Additional Language (EAL) and International New Arrivals (INA) learners remains small at 16% but is growing. 79% of the school population are White British.
The number of disabled pupils and those who have an Education, Health and Care Plan (ECHP) of Special Educational Needs (SEN) is 20. The number receiving SEN support is 90. St Joseph’s is receiving an increasing number of pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
St Joseph’s was inspected by Ofsted on 6 and 7 December 2022 and graded as ‘Good’ in every area except Behaviour and Attitudes where the school was said to require improvement. The Ofsted report highlighted that:
- “Pupils with SEND tackle the same key curriculum knowledge as other pupils. Leaders are effective in identifying pupils with SEND. They make staff clear of the different requirements of these pupils. Often, staff take the time to get to know pupils with SEND well. They help these pupils to succeed”.
- “Senior Leaders and Governors lead this school with determination. They provide an ambitious and inclusive curriculum for pupils. Leaders have delivered much-needed improvements to subject curriculums and the way they are delivered and to the personal development curriculum. Overall, pupils, including those that are disadvantaged and pupils with SEND, achieve well”.
A Catholic School Inspectorate report on 22 March 2023 emphasised that “the school’s distinctive Catholic mission helps create a happy and inclusive environment in which each individual pupil is highly valued by committed staff”.
St Joseph’s holds the Dyslexia Friendly Award and the recent report on this Award particularly commented on “the inclusive, aspirational and welcoming environment across the school”.
St Joseph’s is a highly reflective and self-aware school with a clear determination to seek the best possible outcomes for each individual young person. The sense of everyone belonging to a strong, inclusive community runs through everything that the school does and the statement “Once a Joey, always a Joey” is used by all members of the school community to encapsulate the sense of belonging that is developed within St Joseph’s. “Everybody is valued, nurtured and respected” is a key element of the school’s mission and during my visit to the school that statement was shown to underpin everything that the school does.
The leadership of the school drives the highly inclusive ethos. The Chair and Vice-Chair of Governors summarised the school’s inclusive nature by clearly articulating that “inclusion comes first” and that the inclusive community nature is rooted in the school’s Catholic identity, where priority is given to the most vulnerable in our society.
The Headteacher is inspirational and empathetic and articulated a clear vision for St Joseph’s to be a school where there is no need to separately categorise young people as ‘SEND’ because meeting the needs of each individual young person will be so embedded in everything that the school does. This is a truly inspirational inclusive vision for education and is clearly shared by the staff team.
The staff team is close-knit and supportive and this was in evidence throughout my visit with numerous references to the school being “more like a family” with “welcoming and inclusive values” and “excellent relationships between staff and pupils”.
Significant intelligent thought has been put into developing highly inclusive policies around learning and teaching, alongside provision for SEND. The ‘Think ME’ approach to meeting individual needs, alongside the ‘Treat as if…’ policy for undiagnosed or unrecognised SEND, coupled with extensive work on the curriculum linked to detailed progression scales, means that the school is making excellent inclusive provision for teaching and learning.
Support for families is very good indeed and this is clear from the front page of the school website where “Please let us help you” for families struggling with the cost of living is front and centre of the school homepage. Likewise, the provision of a Community Shop is a key part of the school’s pastoral care.
Inclusion is fully embedded in the School Improvement Plan, running as a strand through all the school’s activities. The policies and documentation provided by the school as part of the assessment process make it absolutely clear that inclusion is at the heart of everything that St Joseph’s does.
The school is seeking to continually improve its provision, with trauma-informed practice being a high priority for the coming year alongside the development of restorative approaches alongside the significant development of a Character Curriculum for St Joseph’s. An ethos of nurture and care for each individual, coupled with high aspirations for each pupil and a deep involvement in the local community, meant that it was a pleasure and a privilege to spend two days visiting St Joseph’s.
St Joseph’s RC High School (St Joseph’s) is a Roman Catholic voluntary-aided comprehensive school under the trusteeship of the Salford Diocese
