On the rise Delight after school secures improved Ofsted ratings
THE headteacher of one of Gloucestershire’s biggest secondary schools says he is “delighted” after it turned around its performance.
In 2017, education watchdog Ofsted told Cleeve School it ‘required improvement.’
Although some aspects of the school, in Two Hedges Road, Bishop’s Cleeve, were said to be good, inspectors ruled that the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils needed to be better.
Now it seems the school has managed to up its game, with Ofsted classing it as ‘good’ overall and giving the same classification for the quality of teaching, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and sixth form provision.
The watchdog’s latest verdict came after its inspectors visited the 1,497pupil school on October 9 and 10.
In their report, they said: “Pupils are courteous and considerate in school and they feel safe and cared for. Over the course of the last few years, pupils have begun to behave much better and the school is now calm and orderly.
“Pupils feel able to learn and their lessons are not interrupted by any poor behaviour. Bullying is very rare and teachers deal with it well. Teachers provide ‘big questions’ in class and these engage pupils in lively discussions. The knowledge that pupils need to make progress is well organised and as a result they are learning and remembering more.”
They added: “The sixth form is a strength of the school. There are high expectations of students, who value the support of the staff. Students achieve well.”
Alwyn Richards, the school’s principal, said: “We are delighted with this Ofsted visit and outcome. It comes as a result of some tremendous hard work from governors, staff, students, parents and many external partners.
“That the report celebrates so many different areas and strengths of the school, from our curriculum, to teaching and learning, to students’ behaviour and attitudes to our extra-curricular and enrichment offer, is hugely gratifying.
“Our very best ambassadors, of course, are our fantastic students… I am continuously so proud of every single one of them.”
Mr Richards said the inspectors stated separately that it was “unprecedented” so many parents/guardians had chosen to comment so favourably via the Ofsted parent survey.