The Salesian Academy of St John Bosco Review 2026: A Catholic 11 to 16 academy in Bootle, rebuilding confidence and raising expectations

The clearest thread running through this school is its Salesian identity, anchored in four stated values, Respect, Understanding, Affection and Humour, with a practical focus on how pupils are treated day to day and how they are expected to treat others. That faith lens matters because the school is also in a period where trust and consistency are central priorities: the most recent graded Ofsted inspection took place before the current academy opened, and it judged the predecessor school to be Inadequate.

Leadership stability is a stated aim. Mrs Sue Bourgade has been headteacher since April 2023, following a long period of staffing turbulence referenced in the 2022 inspection report for the predecessor school. Alongside this, the school has planning approval for a new building on its current site, with a planned move in September 2026, which is positioned as an investment that should not disrupt existing teaching spaces.

For families, the decision is often about trajectory. This is a Catholic secondary with a detailed pastoral and chaplaincy offer, a broad curriculum menu, and an increasingly structured enrichment programme. It is also a school where published GCSE performance indicators sit below England averages, so parents should test the improvement story carefully through open events, conversations with staff, and a clear view of academic support.

The school frames its identity through the Salesian tradition of St John Bosco, and it is unusually explicit about what that means in practice: pupils should experience a settled environment with high standards of politeness, behaviour and appearance, and relationships should communicate care rather than fear. The school’s mission page connects this to prayer, worship and celebration of the Eucharist, and it also explains the RUAH values as the shared language pupils and staff are expected to use.

Faith is not confined to assemblies. Chaplaincy is described as a daily presence, with Fr J Ruzniak SDB in school every day and a space that pupils can use informally for a conversation or quiet reflection. The same chaplaincy space is also presented as social and relational, including break and lunchtime board games and a culture of staff being accessible. That blend, spiritual support plus an ordinary, human space to talk, is often what parents mean when they ask whether a school feels safe.

A useful lens here is to separate “culture statements” from “culture mechanisms”. The statements are clear: belonging, respect, and a Catholic community in partnership with home and parish. The mechanisms are more concrete: peer chaplaincy appears as a structured role for pupils in Key Stages 3 and 4, weekly Mass is part of the offer, and there is a recurring pattern of faith-linked enrichment, including Bosco group activity and wider Salesian events.

This is also a school that places visible weight on inclusion. The school participates in the Rainbow Flag Award, described as a quality assurance framework focused on safe and supportive environments for LGBT pupils, using a whole-school self-assessment approach. For Catholic families, that can read as a practical commitment to dignity and respect. For families who are less observant or who are choosing for reasons other than faith, it signals that the school is trying to create a coherent pastoral identity that can hold difference without constant conflict.

History matters, but it is used mainly to reinforce identity rather than nostalgia. The school’s own account traces its current site to the opening of the Salesian College of St John Bosco in 1966 and the later 1987 amalgamation with St Augustine’s Girls School. This matters for parents because it explains why “Salesian” is not branding, it is a long-standing institutional DNA.

There is no avoiding the headline: published GCSE performance indicators are currently weak compared with England averages. Progress 8 is -1.0, which indicates that students, on average, make substantially less progress than similar students nationally from their starting points. Average Attainment 8 is 31.1, and average EBacc APS is 2.34.

Ranked 3759th in England and 1st in Bootle for GCSE outcomes (FindMySchool ranking based on official data), performance sits below England average, placing it in the bottom 40% of schools in England for these measures.

The context, and what families should do with it, is more nuanced. First, these outcomes reflect cohorts taught through a period of disruption and staffing instability described in the 2022 inspection report for the predecessor school, including curriculum inconsistency and weak assessment practice. Second, the school is now explicitly presenting improvement structures: Year 11 after-school intervention is framed as a designed programme rather than ad hoc catch-up, and subject-specific intervention appears to be routine, with mathematics and history, plus other subjects, listed as timetabled after-school support in the enrichment schedule.

The practical question for parents is whether academic support is moving from “reactive help” to “predictable systems”. Look for evidence of this in how the school explains curriculum sequencing, how it assesses knowledge over time, and whether staff can describe what improvement looks like in your child’s specific subjects. The 2022 inspection report was particularly critical of pupils learning disconnected facts in some subjects, and of teachers not checking misconceptions early enough. Improvement that sticks tends to be visible in everyday classroom routines, not only in revision sessions close to exams.

One positive sign in the published inspection evidence is reading. The 2022 report describes raised emphasis on reading, with prompt identification of pupils who have fallen behind and effective support to improve fluency and confidence. If that work has continued, it is likely to matter across the curriculum, because subject vocabulary and reading stamina are foundational for Key Stage 4 access.

The curriculum offer is broad in shape and includes both academic and applied routes. The school lists subjects such as Computing and Creative iMedia, Enterprise, Child Development, Performing Arts, and Technology alongside the more familiar secondary core. That combination matters in an 11 to 16 school because it can give students who struggle with purely exam-heavy pathways a clearer sense of purpose, while still requiring high expectations and consistent teaching.

The improvement challenge described in the 2022 inspection report was not “a lack of intent”, it was inconsistency, curriculum clarity, and assessment practice. What parents should ask now is: are subject curriculums sequenced so that Year 7 to Year 9 knowledge feeds into GCSE demands; are staff trained to use the same core checking-for-understanding routines; and is SEND support embedded in ordinary lessons rather than being a separate add-on?

The school’s current SEND information report gives a more detailed picture of planned practice than many mainstream secondaries publish. It names key staff, describes cyclical review of the SEND register, and sets out how needs are identified, including screening tools and consultation with external services. It also reports that 25.7% of pupils on roll are identified as having SEND, across communication and interaction, cognition and learning, social, emotional and mental health, and physical or sensory needs.

There is a clear implication for teaching: if a quarter of the school is identified as having SEND, the quality of adaptive teaching is not a niche issue, it is a core competency. The school states that lessons are adapted through the work set, questions asked, support given, and outcomes expected, and that evidence-based interventions are used through a graduated approach with regular review. For parents, the test is whether this is visible in classrooms and homework expectations, and whether teachers can explain how your child’s strategies are applied consistently across subjects.

With no sixth form, the post-16 story is primarily about transition to local colleges, training routes, and apprenticeships, plus the confidence and guidance pupils receive to choose well. The 2022 inspection report describes careers guidance as helpful, including opportunities to visit universities, and the current enrichment offer includes a dedicated Careers Club and a weekly careers drop-in structure.

For many families, the most important thing here is that guidance is neither generic nor late. In a school working to raise attainment, strong post-16 planning can protect pupils from drifting into unsuitable courses and can improve attendance and motivation in Year 10 and Year 11. The enrichment schedule also signals a practical approach to employability and aspiration: journalism activity, computing club, and structured subject intervention sit alongside sport and chaplaincy roles.

If your child is aiming for a competitive sixth form or a highly technical college course, ask directly about entry requirements and the school’s approach to references, predicted grades, and interview preparation. If your child is more likely to thrive in a vocational route, ask about employer encounters, work-related learning, and how the school helps pupils match courses to real labour-market options locally.

This is a state-funded Catholic academy, so there are no tuition fees. The school is part of the Pope Francis Catholic Multi Academy Trust, and admissions are coordinated through Sefton Local Authority. The published admissions number is 120 for Year 7 entry.

The deadline pattern is clear and aligns to the national timetable. Applications for Year 7 places close on 31 October each year for the following September, and Sefton’s published timetable confirms 31 October 2025 as the closing date for secondary applications for September 2026 entry. The school also publishes a supplementary faith form for families who want their application considered against the academy’s faith criteria.

Demand is material. In the most recent published cycle there were 208 applications for 120 offers, which is around 1.73 applications per place. That pressure is not in the “impossible to access” category, but it does mean families should not assume admission is automatic. If you are weighing multiple local options, the FindMySchoolMap Search is a practical way to keep track of distances, travel time, and alternative routes before you commit emotionally to a single school.

Open events and tours are positioned as a normal part of the process, and the school also references an open evening in late September on its admissions page. Dates can shift year to year, so treat that as a typical seasonal marker and check the school’s published calendar for the current cycle.

Pastoral support is framed through three overlapping structures: chaplaincy, year and tutor systems, and targeted support for pupils with additional needs. The chaplaincy model is unusually detailed for a mainstream secondary: daily presence, informal accessibility, weekly Mass opportunities, and a retreat programme that includes visits to a Salesian residential retreat centre.

From a wellbeing perspective, the “informal access” element is important. Pupils are more likely to disclose worries early if there is a predictable adult presence and a safe space that does not feel like an appointment system. The school also links chaplaincy to a broader service culture, describing faith in action and community engagement as part of pupil development.

A further wellbeing dimension is inclusion and identity safety. The Rainbow Flag Award participation is presented as a framework for safe and supportive environments for LGBT pupils, which matters because it gives structure to what can otherwise be a vague promise.

Safeguarding is a threshold issue for any family considering a school that is rebuilding outcomes. The 2022 graded inspection for the predecessor school stated that safeguarding arrangements were effective and that pupils felt safe and could speak to adults with concerns. Parents should still test today’s practice through policies, behaviour systems, and the clarity of reporting routes, but it is a meaningful baseline.

The enrichment programme is more specific than many schools publish. Rather than a generic “clubs list”, it shows a timetable rhythm across Weeks A and B, which helps parents understand what is realistic for pupils alongside homework and any intervention.

Several clubs are explicitly named. Book Club and Chess Club are part of the lunchtime offer, and Computing Club appears as an after-school activity. Cookery Club also features as a structured after-school provision, alongside Choir, Yoga and Meditation, Journalism Club, and a Bosco Green Alliance. These choices matter because they cover both academic confidence (chess, computing, journalism), wellbeing (yoga and meditation), creativity (choir), and practical life skills (cookery).

Sport is present in a way that suggests both participation and identity-building. The enrichment schedule references football across year groups, girls football, netball, badminton, basketball, and Everton Kicks sessions. For some pupils, sport is where attendance and belonging stabilise first, especially during difficult academic phases.

Faith-linked enrichment is integrated rather than separate. The Bosco group is positioned as a space for leadership and service, and peer chaplaincy is timetabled. A practical implication is that pupils who enjoy responsibility, mentoring, or visible contribution can find a role that makes school feel purposeful.

Academic intervention sits alongside this, not instead of it. The published extracurricular intent statements emphasise Year 11 after-school intervention as a programme designed to provide targeted support and confidence-building as pupils prepare for exams. In the weekly schedule, intervention after school is shown for specific subjects, including mathematics and history, and for other areas across the week. For families, the key is whether intervention is personalised and sustained, and whether it is targeted early enough to change outcomes rather than simply reduce damage at the end.

The school publishes a structured day model for 2025 to 2026 with five main teaching periods beginning at 8:40, plus staggered break and lunch arrangements by year group. After-school time is used for enrichment, sport, and Year 11 intervention, which is important for parents planning transport and routines.

Breakfast and after-school childcare style wraparound provision is not presented as a core feature on the published school day materials, which is common for secondary schools. Families who need supervised provision outside the published timetable should ask directly what is available beyond clubs and intervention, and how consistent that availability is across the year.

• Recent inspection context. The most recent graded Ofsted inspection related to the predecessor school in September 2022, with an overall judgement of Inadequate and key weaknesses in curriculum clarity, assessment practice, and SEND support. The current academy does not yet have a published Ofsted report under its new status, so families are evaluating improvement in progress as well as outcomes.

• Academic indicators are currently low. Progress 8 of -1.0 and Attainment 8 of 31.1 are well below typical England figures, and EBacc APS is also low. A strong enrichment offer can support confidence, but families should ask for a clear academic improvement plan and evidence of consistent classroom routines.

• High SEND prevalence raises the bar for adaptive teaching. The school reports 25.7% of pupils identified as having SEND. That makes consistency across subjects essential, and parents should test how pupil strategies are communicated and applied in daily lessons.

• Post-16 transition at 16. With no sixth form, pupils will move on after Year 11. For some students this is a positive fresh start, but it does mean families should engage early with careers guidance, course choices, and travel logistics.

This is a Catholic secondary that is trying to put identity, pastoral stability, and structured support at the centre of its improvement work. The chaplaincy model is unusually developed, the enrichment timetable is concrete and varied, and the school is open about the role of values in daily practice. Leadership has been more stable since April 2023, and a planned new building move in September 2026 signals investment and intent.

The challenge is that academic outcomes and progress measures are currently weak, and the most recent graded Ofsted judgement for the predecessor school was Inadequate. Families considering this option should treat the decision as a judgement about trajectory and fit, not just a snapshot. Best suited to families who want a Catholic ethos with strong chaplaincy and pastoral structures, and who are prepared to engage actively with the school’s academic support and improvement programme.