St Ursula's Convent School Greenwich downgraded by Ofsted

St Ursula’s Convent School, based in Crooms Hill, was last inspected on January 30 and 31, and rated as 'requires improvement'.

The school had previously been rated as 'outstanding' after an inspection back in 2015.

Ofsted reported that while the curriculum is “ambitious”, the “turbulence in leadership” has led to “limited oversight” of provisions for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

While most of these pupils follow the same curriculum as their peers, inspectors found that they do not consistently have “sufficient support” to access learning and accomplish as much as they can.

Inspectors found that some pupils have experienced a “challenging period” at school and can feel “unsettled”.

Some pupils told inspectors that they do not trust adults at the school to help them effectively if they were to need help.

However, Ofsted did report that bullying does not happen often.

Behaviour at the school was reported to be “generally orderly” with pupils being “polite and courteous”.

During the less structured times of the day though, Ofsted did find that the school is not as calm.

St Ursula’s Convent School has introduced a new behaviour policy, setting high expectations for its pupils, but inspectors found that it is “not embedded in practice”.

Ofsted reported that the school has “thought carefully about the knowledge that pupils should learn and the order in which this should be sequenced”.

This helps pupils to have a more secure understanding of the important parts of their learning before moving onto more complicated work.

The subject knowledge of teachers is described as “secure”.

They were found to identify and address things children don’t know and can adjust their planning to fix that.

The school identifies pupils with SEND, Ofsted reported, but recent changes in staffing have led to information about pupils’ needs being shared inconsistently with teachers.

For example, Ofsted found that sometimes activities and resources are not adapted appropriately for pupils with SEND.

Inspectors reported that the school does have opportunities for pupils to take on leadership roles, such as becoming prefects.

But, pupils told Ofsted that while they value this, they do not see that “sufficient action” is taken by the school when responding to their recommendations or discussions.

A spokesperson for St Ursula’s Convent School said: “Delivering high-quality education with an ambitious curriculum for St Ursula’s pupils is our priority.

“While we are disappointed in the Ofsted judgment, it is in the context of significant change at the school over recent years.

“We now have stable senior leadership teams, who are embedding new and ambitious policies – as Ofsted rightly recognised.

“These will take time to make an impact, but when they do, I am confident the school will be back to where it needs to be. 

“Over the next 18 months, the school will work tirelessly to make the necessary improvements to the school and show Ofsted how much our pupils are thriving.”