Ofsted Monitoring Inspection

I am pleased to share with you the report from our recent Ofsted monitoring visit that took place on
Wednesday 11th October 2023.

Our school was visited by Mrs Sue Morris King (Senior His Majesty’s Inspector). She spent the day at the school visiting lessons, speaking to staff and students both formally and informally. She met with our senior leadership team and Trust leads as well as observing social time, at the start and end of the day and scrutinising documents.

Strong improvements in behaviour
She was very pleased with the work being undertaken thus far to raise standards across the school and
describes leaders taking “the right action, in the right order, and at the right pace”. Staff and students spoke positively about the changes and the impact “of clear boundaries that have been set for students’ behaviour”. She saw an improved consistency in the application of the school’s systems and processes. She described the behaviour throughout the school as “much improved” including the ways students move across the school “keeping to the left and respecting each other’s personal space”. Lessons were described as “calm and students were cooperating with staff”. She saw staff dealing more consistently with low level disruption. Moving forward, we will be continuing to implement our high expectation of behaviour across the school, to ensure students are able to focus on their learning.

Increased communications with parents/carers
I was able to share with her the recent parent survey. Thank you to all parents and carers who completed this, your feedback has been invaluable throughout the initial part of our improvement journey and has been useful in evaluating parental support and feeling. In the visit, Mrs Morris King commented on the increasing positivity from parents through improved communication and collaboration between school and families.

Curriculum improvement is on the right track
Mrs Morris King also praised the “clear direction” around assessment and curriculum sequencing describing the work as “valuable”. Whilst this will continue to be of the highest priority as there is still important work to be done in these areas, we know we are on the right track. Furthermore, the inspector was very happy with Governance and Trust support including the lead practitioners who spend time in the school most weeks working alongside teachers and leaders.

She was extremely complimentary about our students who were eager and enthusiastic to share with her the changes made over the last year. They spoke positively about the changes made and were able to explain the impact the new routines and higher expectations are having on their learning experiences at the school. Students described “things becoming more standardised” and they now know what to expect. They can get on with their learning and feel good behaviour is recognised more than it was in the past.

Continuing on this upward trajectory
These visits will continue to be undertaken to monitor our progress as a school, and to highlight the
successful changes being made. While we are pleased to see the positive steps we have taken so far outlined in this report, our staff have a clear and unequivocal commitment to continuing to drive improvement to ensure our school is delivering the highest standard of education, for which our community can be proud of. I expect a further visit sometime after Easter, and I look forward to welcoming Mrs Morris King back into our school to see first-hand the positive impact of the next phase of our improvement journey. I hope you can find the time to read the report – which can be accessed online here Ofsted Monitoring Inspection Report.

Please do not hesitate to contact me or my senior team if you have any questions. Thank you, as always for your ongoing support and cooperation – it is always appreciated.

Yours sincerely
Mrs V Dean
Principal