A SECONDARY school has been rated by Ofsted inspectors for the first time since converting to an academy.

St Bernard’s Catholic High School, based in Rating Lane, was visited by Ofsted for a two-day inspection on September 27 and 28.

The Barrow school, which has 685 pupils aged 11 to 16 on roll, was rated ‘good’ in all areas.

St Bernard’s converted to become an academy school in September 2021 and is part of the Mater Christi Multi-Academy Trust.

When its predecessor school, St Bernard’s Catholic High School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be ‘good’ overall.

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According to the Ofsted report published online, St Bernard’s is a ‘positive learning community’ which values kindness, hard work and resilience.

“Pupils appreciate the strong relationships that they forge with staff,” the report states.

“Pupils feel valued as individuals. They are happy. Pupils enjoy coming to school to learn and they said that they feel safe. Pupils respect each other’s differences. Pupils told inspectors that if bullying does happen, teachers and other adults respond quickly to resolve any issues.”

Praise was also handed to leaders’ organisation of the curriculums and the way it should be taught.

In areas to improve, inspectors noted that the proportion of pupils following the full EBacc curriculum is low.

Inspectors said this limits the range of qualifications that pupils can acquire to set them up well for their future lives.

Leaders should ensure that the changes to the key stage 3 curriculum are maximised to encourage more pupils to follow the full suite of qualifications at key stage 4, the report states.

Ofsted inspectors also said leaders should finalise their curriculum thinking so that teachers know what should be taught and when this should happen.

In a statement shared online, Mr Croft, headteacher of St Bernard’s, said: “Since our last inspection, we have battled Covid-19 and many strategic changes to our school, including the structure of our school, our commitment to reading and literacy, curriculum development and the personal development of our young people.

“We always make strategic changes through the lens of what is best for the needs of our young people. It was pleasing to have Ofsted validate and praise the outcome of these decisions.

“Our work as a school is never complete, our work at developing teaching and learning in all subject areas remains at the forefront of our thinking and energies. Moving forward, we have to consider how we meet the Government’s target of 90 per cent of young people studying languages at GCSE by 2025.”