Ofsted Report January 19th 2011

Mount Carmel College has been rated as ‘good’ in the latest Government Ofsted Inspection Report and can be downloaded in a PDF format in full here

Ofsted Website Link Report here

Main Findings

Mount Carmel RC Technology College for Girls provides its students with a good quality of education. Because of its small size, students are treated and known as individuals, and support is targeted well to ensure that all groups of students make good progress. Attainment is broadly average but the college has set itself ambitious targets for raising attainment over the next two years. The strong ethos of the college ensures that students are very well nurtured to develop into caring and confident individuals, who have a strong sense of moral purpose and are well equipped for their future lives.

Students are happy and very much enjoy coming to the college, and they make a good contribution to the college and the wider community. Teachers, staff and members of the governing body show great commitment in encouraging the students to achieve their potential and this, coupled with students' good behaviour and positive attitudes, results in positive student outcomes. Some of the college's specialist subjects contribute towards its good achievement, including Design and Technology and Information and Communication Technology, and attainment in the weaker subjects is improving. Opportunities provided through working in strong partnership with other organisations enhance the provision.

The good curriculum offers students clear qualification pathways and is matched closely to their individual needs. Good teaching ensures that students make progress, but within this picture the use of assessment is not as good as other features of teaching. Sometimes teachers do not make the best use of assessment information on individual students, for example when planning lessons, marking or the use of targets, to maximise their progress.

The leaders of the college have succeeded in sharing their vision with staff at all levels. They demonstrate a good awareness of its strengths and areas for development, and are committed to raising standards. The principal and his team hold middle leaders to account for their performance and are held in high regard by staff and students. Self-evaluation procedures have become embedded, are linked directly with school improvement priorities and reflect an accurate picture of the college's current position. Middle leaders however, do not always use the information gathered from lesson observations to best effect. Nevertheless, the effective measures to maintain and drive forward college improvement, as well as the deployment of key staff to positions which, play to strengths and give the college a good capacity for further sustained improvement.