Headteacher Jill Robinson, Governors, staff and pupils of Woolston Community High School are delighted by the glowing recognition of the school’s work from the Ofsted inspection carried out on 16 and 17 September 2010 which graded the school ‘Good’ and highlighted ‘many outstanding features’. This is the best Ofsted report in the school’s history and represents a significant improvement over the last report published in March 2008 when the school was judged to be satisfactory.
Out of a total of 24 judgements in the report 12 were graded outstanding and 12 good. The result is ‘enabling students to make good and sometimes outstanding progress from their broadly average starting points…. all-in-all they are very well prepared for the future.’
Outstanding leadership of the school that ensured ‘students needs were put first’ was described by the inspector as ‘excellent’ and ‘highly effective’ and had resulted in improved student achievement.
An aspect of the school’s work that was highlighted for praise on a number of occasions was the outstanding care, guidance and support offered to pupils by the school. The inspector Mark Williams noted that pupils are ‘known as individuals’ and ‘express high levels of confidence in the school’. They were ‘keen to tell him how safe they felt’ and how they ‘relished opportunities to take responsibility in the school and wider community’.
Woolston Community High School pupils are delighted by the inspection report and they received fulsome praise from the inspector who he described as ‘polite and well-mannered’. He praised their ‘very strong and well-developed attitudes and attributes’ and their ‘positive and mature views of others’. In the letter to students the inspectors thanked them for the ‘thoughtful and confident way in which you answered our questions’
In his recommendations Mr Williams has asked the school to increase further the level of challenge in lessons and opportunities for pupils to collaborate in their learning.
Headteacher Jill Robinson welcomed the report by saying “I am over whelmed and delighted with the report in fact ‘I’m over the moon’ It recognizes the core purpose of all we do at Woolston Community High School to make sure that all pupils be the best that they can be. Thank you to all parents and the Woolston community for working alongside the school so that all pupils do achieve and do very well and as the report states are polite, confident and articulate young people. I am very proud of all that we have achieved together as a school and as a community.
A full copy of the report in Adobe PDF format can be viewed below this article.
What the inspectors said about the pupils
- students display many outstanding attributes and attitudes in their personal development
- students to make good and sometimes outstanding progress from their broadly average starting points
- students contribute outstandingly well to the community….they are very well prepared for the future
- students enjoy school and all whom inspectors spoke with appreciated the high quality of support and attention given to them
- students were polite and well-mannered
- their enjoyment and commitment to school is clear
- students were keen to tell inspectors how safe they were
- students relish the opportunities to take responsibility in the school and in the wider community
- students have very strong and well-developed attitudes and attributes…that have impacted positively on students’ achievement
- their development of workplace and other skills is outstanding.
- students are known as individuals and express high levels of confidence in the school.
- students’ positive and mature views of others and their wish to celebrate diversity.
What the inspectors said about the work of the school
- the school has many outstanding features, not least in the care, guidance and support given to its students
- benefits from excellent leadership, which has ensured the school has improved significantly in the last five years
- very strong leadership and care
- well-targeted academic and pastoral support
- strongest aspect of the school’s provision is the care, guidance and support given to its students
- a good range of extra-curricular activities are offered by the school and taken up enthusiastically by the students
- the school’s safeguarding procedures are robust, reviewed regularly and contribute strongly to students’ feeling of being very safe.
- the school works very effectively with parents and carers to help them support their children’s education and future prospects
- leaders and the governing body are highly effective in their work….The results of their determination include improved students’ achievement, many outstanding personal outcomes, improved provision since the previous inspection, a stimulating working environment, and high staff morale
- the school’s engagement with parents and carers and the effectiveness of partnerships in promoting learning and well-being are both outstanding
- equally outstanding is the effectiveness of the school’s safeguarding procedures, which is demonstrated in the way in which students report they feel very safe.
- what is outstanding…is the effectiveness with which the school promotes community cohesion
What Ofsted said about the views of parents
- Parents and carers are positive about the school and appreciative of its efforts. They are right to be so.