Inspection Summary Report - St Mary’s Grammar School
St Mary’s Grammar School
DE Ref No 342-0080
Inspection Summary Report - March 2026
- St Mary’s Grammar School, now approaching its 100th year, is highly successful in realising its vision, ‘Gloria Deo Soli (Glory to God alone), through nurturing a community of faith, excellence and service, guided by Catholic values.’
- Pupil participation not only informs learning experiences and broader decision-making, it enables the pupils to design, deliver and evaluate purposeful learning programmes and initiatives for themselves and others.
- The school’s self-evaluation processes are robust; action plans are evaluated rigorously and the progress made against targets informs future planning.
- Planning, teaching and assessment for successful learning were mostly effective; teachers create a supportive and encouraging learning environment where the pupils’ contributions and efforts are valued.
- The pupils are happy, motivated learners who engage enthusiastically in active learning, including paired and group work, explain and justify their ideas confidently and respond maturely to the views of others.
- The curriculum is progressive, flexible and matched well to the needs of pupils; it is enhanced greatly by the extensive co- and extra-curricular provision.
- The well-considered careers programme across the school prepares and supports the pupils well in making choices about progression to the next stage of their learning.
- The school development plan sets out actions to address the variation in the extent to which new and emerging technologies are used to enhance provision across the curriculum.
- The preventative curriculum is progressive, learner‑informed and highly responsive to contemporary issues; it is underpinned by the highly strategic approach to supporting the pupils’ health and wellbeing.
- The special educational needs provision reflects and supports very well the pupils’ diverse backgrounds and starting points with high expectations for their welfare and realising their full potential.
- ‘Success, Monitor and Grow’ is the school’s effective model to enable staff and pupils to track progress against personal and whole school targets.
- The outcomes attained by the pupils in public examinations are key strengths of the school:
- in 2025, almost all (98.7%) of the pupils in year 12 attained seven or more
GCSE (or equivalent) qualifications at grades A* to C, including English and
mathematics, with most (83.7%) attaining seven or more at grades A* to B,
including English and mathematics; and
- over the same period, most of the pupils in year 14 (87.6%) attained three or
more GCE A level (or equivalent) qualifications at grades A* to C.
- The collegial approach to staff professional learning (SPL) includes in-depth discussion and regular dissemination of learning and teaching strategies that work well.
- The well-established and highly effective network of internal and external partnerships enriches the pupils’ learning experiences, supports SPL and helps the school achieve its vision.
- At the time of the inspection, the evidence provided by the school demonstrates that the arrangements for child and adult protection align to the current statutory guidance.
Next steps
St Mary’s Grammar School is highly successful in realising its vision, ‘through nurturing a community of faith, excellence and service, guided by Catholic values.’ The pupils thrive in an ethos and culture of high aspiration and belonging in which they are challenged, supported and inspired to realise their wider personal and academic potential. As identified by the school in the SDP, the next step for St Mary’s Grammar School is to take forward the area for action, which is: to make greater use of new and emerging technologies to enhance provision across the curriculum.
Inspectors identified an aspect of highly effective practice from which others may learn. The aspect of practice which should be shared more widely is the extent to which the pupils:
- inform learning experiences and the school's broader decision-making processes, including how they design, deliver and evaluate purposeful learning programmes and initiatives for themselves and others.
The District Inspector will monitor the school’s progress in addressing the area for action, as part of ETI’s routine monitoring processes.