Ofsted
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26 April 2019
Matthew Quinn
Interim Executive Principal
Christ The King College
Wellington Road
Newport
Isle of Wight
PO30 5QT
Dear Mr Quinn
Serious weaknesses first monitoring inspection of Christ The King College
Following my visit to your college on 27 March 2019, I write on behalf of Her
Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to confirm the
outcome and inspection findings. Thank you for the help you gave during the
inspection and for the time you made available to discuss the actions that have
been taken since the college’s most recent section 5 inspection.
The inspection was the first monitoring inspection since the college was judged to
have serious weaknesses in June 2018. It was carried out under section 8 of the
Education Act 2005.
Evidence
During this inspection, I met with you, the head of school, members of your senior
team and governors. I also met the school improvement manager from the local
authority. Meetings were held with a group of staff and two representative groups
of pupils from Years 7 to 11. The local authority’s statement of action and the
college’s improvement plan were evaluated. I reviewed the college’s arrangements
for safeguarding, records of behaviour and attendance, and documents related to
the work of governance. I visited a range of lessons to observe pupils learning in
different subjects.
Context
At the time of the last inspection, you had recently joined the college as interim
executive principal. You currently spend a varying proportion of your week at the
college. The head of school took up her post in September 2018 and is responsible

 for the day-to-day running of the college. Two members of the senior leadership
team are currently absent. You have commissioned support from consultant senior
leaders and headteachers from colleges on the mainland and the Havant federation
of colleges. Their role has been to support leadership of safeguarding, the
management of pupils’ behaviour and the college’s assessment systems. The local
authority is providing high-priority support for the college. As at the time of the last
inspection, the college is operating on two sites. One site is due to close and the
new site will be open to all pupils in September 2019.
The quality of leadership and management at the college
You and the head of school have provided much-needed secure and confident
leadership following the last inspection. You have accepted the inspection
judgement and have made a positive start on improving the significant weaknesses
identified in the inspection report. You have sensibly prioritised improving
safeguarding arrangements and the management of pupils’ behaviour. The head of
school leads and manages the college with spirit, determination and compassion.
She has made sure that she gets to know all the pupils and staff quickly. They see
her out and about, consistently modelling high expectations and carrying out her
duties with meticulous attention to detail. You have wisely drawn on your proven
leadership experience to commission experienced leaders to help existing staff to
look outwards and evaluate the college’s work more accurately. The college is
benefiting from the close objective scrutiny of the local authority. As leaders you are
united in a common purpose to cultivate higher aspirations for staff and pupils and
thereby raise standards.
Staff and governors know what the college’s weaknesses are and have put together
suitable plans to bring about improvement. These plans, together with the local
authority’s statement of action, are honestly reviewed to check the rates of
progress. Your commentary on the plans demonstrates a realistic and accurate view
of the college’s performance and the pace of improvement. You know that there is
much work to do to get the college’s performance to a good standard. Governors
have acted on the uncompromising findings from the review of governance. In
response, they are making necessary improvements to their skills and knowledge of
the college’s work. However, although governors are on the right track with their
development, they are not challenging leaders’ work stringently enough.
Safeguarding arrangements in the college have improved. Leadership capacity in
this area has been increased, with additional staff trained at a suitably high level. A
more efficient system of raising concerns about pupils’ safety and welfare has been
established and is currently making a difference to the quality of information. You
know that there is more to do to create wholehearted commitment to pupils’ safety
and welfare in the college. Not all staff possess a sufficiently clear understanding of
the link between pupils’ behaviour and their welfare. Staff are certainly more alert
to signs that pupils are at risk, and they report their concerns more diligently than
at the time of the last inspection. However, staff do not always record their
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 concerns in sufficiently precise detail. Some members of the college safeguarding
team are new to their role and do not yet have the necessary skills to enable them
to work productively with other professionals who protect children. However, you
and your head of school have ensured that safeguarding arrangements are
monitored carefully so that safeguarding can be strengthened further.
You have taken effective action to improve the security of the college site,
particularly during the current building programme. For example, pupils’ access to
the college has been formalised. Pupils now use one entrance, which is safely
secured during the day while contractors come and go in the surrounding area.
Specially trained staff have been deployed to supervise the road crossing between
the two sites. This systematic supervision helps pupils to feel more secure and
valued. It typifies a more thoughtful and insightful approach to identifying risk than
was evident at the time of the last inspection.
The management of pupils’ behaviour has improved. The commissioned consultant
headteacher has worked closely with leaders to establish a sensible and efficient
system of choices, consequences and rewards. Pupils told me that they understand
and can see the sense of the new system. They are clearly supportive of what staff
are trying to achieve. Pupils’ perception is that the consequence system will be
fairer and will help to reduce the amount of disruption to learning. Staff too
commented that they feel freer to teach in the way they think best, rather than
frequently having to deal with poor behaviour. Pupils are intrigued by the new
reward system, but it is at an early stage and they are unsure of what it will look
like in the future. Nevertheless, there are still inconsistencies in the application of
the new system. Although pupils believe that, overall, behaviour has improved, they
report continuing instances of disruptive behaviour in some subject areas and
classes.
The new system of recording consequences and rewards enables prompt follow-up
and good communication with parents. Leaders have been able to analyse
behaviour records and have identified persistent offenders who are preventing other
pupils from learning. A firm line is being taken with some pupils whose behaviour is
proving hard to alter. The newly formed governors’ disciplinary committee works
purposefully with parents and staff to encourage positive changes in pupils’
attitudes and conduct. Exclusion rates increased for a time while pupils became
used to the raised expectations but are now settling down as pupils accept firmer
discipline. The college has also restored close links with other schools to help
manage pupils’ behaviour in a reciprocal way. In this way, leaders are focusing on
finding the right provision for pupils and are forestalling the risk of permanent
exclusion and disruption to education.
Pupils have been given responsibility for developing a positive, anti-bullying culture.
Some pupils have been especially trained to support the college’s work in this area.
However, leaders have not made enough use of their behaviour tracking system to
identify and tackle pupils’ use of racist or homophobic language. Leaders
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 acknowledge that there is still too much casual rudeness, swearing and derogatory
talk among some pupils. Leaders rightly want to establish the ‘Christ the King way’
to foster positive relationships and respectful language throughout the college.
It is too early for the improvements to the quality of teaching, learning and
assessment to be making sufficient impact. The legacy of unacceptable behaviour
and ineffective leadership in the college had a negative impact on pupils’ results in
2018, which were below average and do not reflect pupils’ true potential or ability.
You are concentrating on prioritising teachers’ understanding of pupils’ prior
knowledge and attainment. Teachers are beginning to plan for the different abilities
and needs in their groups. However, this work is currently underdeveloped. You are
overhauling the college’s assessment and target-setting system, which looks likely
to help pupils to aim higher. Some teaching is deepening pupils’ thinking but is not
yet fully established. Pupils do not always get off to a prompt start with their work,
and they often wait unnecessarily for teachers to tell them what to do next. During
this monitoring inspection, we agreed that pupils need to acquire better learning
habits, commit to their lessons and take responsibility for contributing in lessons.
The local authority’s review of the college’s use of pupil premium funding rightly
identified weaknesses in provision for disadvantaged pupils. Leaders know that they
need to develop staff’s depth of understanding of what it means to be
disadvantaged and how consistently good teaching will enable pupils to achieve
well.
Following the monitoring inspection, the following judgements were made:
Leaders and managers are taking effective action towards the removal of the
serious weaknesses designation.
The college’s improvement plan is fit for purpose.
The local authority’s statement of action is fit for purpose.
I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the directors of
education for the Catholic and Church of England Dioceses of Portsmouth, the
regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for the Isle of
Wight. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.
Yours sincerely
Janet Pearce
Her Majesty’s Inspector

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