‘Outstanding’ school loses its top rating

A Bath secondary school says it is pleased with its new Ofsted rating despite dropping from “outstanding” to “good”.

Oldfield School, in Kelston Road, is now ranked “good” for its quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision.

Ofsted praised the school for its safeguarding, its sixth form, its creative leaders and its “courteous, respectful and ambitious” pupils.

But the report also said absence remains a “stubborn issue”. It reads: “Leaders work proactively to promote regular attendance. Leaders do everything possible, but pupils’ absence remains a stubborn issue, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.”

But despite the drop in its rating, which was last looked at eight years ago, headteacher Steven Mackay said pupils at the school had made “good progress”.

“I am very pleased with the outcomes from the inspection and that the good progress made by our students has been recognised,” he said.

“It is clear that we were supported in achieving this by the excellent relationships that the inspection team saw in our school, the good behaviour of the students and the commitment of staff.

“The emphasis from Ofsted is now very focused on the quality of education in the curriculum and the impact that this has on student outcomes.

“The inspectors have commented on the high quality of subject leadership and the level of expertise shown by teachers.

“They have also highlighted that staff share an ambitious and clear vision to support students to achieve their potential.

“I very much see our school as a community and I am particularly pleased that the one of the many strengths that was recognised was how the wide range of clubs, activities and student leadership contribute to this.”

The report states the school has changed “considerably” since it was inspected in September 2012.

This is in part because Oldfield now admits both girls and boys and it has grown, now educating 1,250 pupils.

Looking at areas for improvement, Ofsted said there was “variability” in how teachers plan the order in which pupils learn important knowledge and skills, checks on how well pupils have remembered what they have learned in the longer term were “inconsistent”, and the sixth-form curriculum is in its “infancy”.

Schools are usually inspected within five years but “outstanding” schools are exempt from routine inspections.

See the full report at https://bit. ly/2hviyuv