OFSTED
Our most recent Ofsted visit came at an exciting time for the school. As the new headteacher, I had spent the first few weeks working alongside our dedicated leadership team to evaluate our strengths and identify areas for growth. This groundwork enabled Ofsted to support us in analysing what the school does well and where it can develop further.
In most areas, Ofsted found the school to be performing at a ‘good’ standard. They commended our commitment to promoting good behaviour, noting, “From the early years, pupils learn to behave well… No one is left out of games… Pupils said they feel happy, safe, and cared for in school.”
The report also highlighted the strong sense of community and respect for diversity at our school: “They feel lucky to be part of a diverse and vibrant community… diversity is promoted and respected.” Inspectors were particularly impressed with the school’s approach to personal development, stating, “Pupils benefit from a well-planned and sequenced personal, social, and health education curriculum.” They also noted, “There is a concerted effort to ensure that pupils benefit from new and exciting opportunities.”
Ofsted celebrated the fact that our school serves as “a strong community hub. The welfare team supports pupils and their families expertly. They work tirelessly to ensure that pupils are safe, well cared for, and in school.”
Ofsted also worked with school leaders to assess the quality of our curriculum. In most subjects, they found that the school has “high expectations. Staff are keen for pupils to achieve well. The quality of the curriculum has improved.” They observed that “Children get off to a good start in the early years. Nursery children are well cared for and are prepared well for their next learning steps.”
The inspectors found that “The curriculum matches the expectations of the national curriculum. Most subjects are planned effectively.” They appreciated our structured “writing journey,” noting that “pupils develop the knowledge needed to write with confidence and skill.” With high-quality teaching across the curriculum, the Ofsted report states, “Pupils said they appreciate their teachers. Many of them described their teachers as ‘superheroes’ who have their best interests at heart.”
There were some areas within the quality of education that Ofsted identified as requiring further improvement. The main focus was on the consistency in teaching phonics and early reading. Our school serves a diverse community, with pupils joining us at various times throughout the year, often from different educational backgrounds. Ofsted agreed with the new leadership that improvements were needed in how we resource, plan, and deliver early reading. In the first few weeks, we had already identified this need and put in place additional monitoring, training, and resources. Although we had only been back in school for three weeks at the time of inspection, Ofsted recognised that the leadership team “have taken recent action to address these issues with urgency. There are signs of improvement.”
In summary, we are pleased with many aspects of the report, and as a new leadership team, we are eager to make our school an even better place for all our pupils. Ofsted noted that “Experienced new leaders have had a positive impact in a short amount of time. There is real optimism about the changes taking place.”
Read the full report by clicking the link below:
Ofsted Parent View Website
Ofsted Parent View gives you the chance to tell Ofsted what you think of your child’s school and see what others have to say. Click the link below to go direct to their website:
https://parentview.ofsted.gov.uk/