The Friary School was visited by an OFSTED Inspection team on Wednesday 15th November for a 1 day inspection of our provision. The school was judged as ‘Good’ in March 2014 and so the feedback from this ‘new format’ inspection came in the form of a letter to the Headteacher. The letter covers all main aspects of the school and includes recommendations for future improvements.
As a school, we were very much looking forward to the visit after our very strong Summer results had placed us in the Top 4 in Staffordshire and above many other local schools classified from their older inspections as being ‘Outstanding’. The inspection passed off very successfully and we were very pleased that the areas we have sought to improve on were judged as accurate and being addressed in an effective manner.
The report was very positive about the school with feedback ranging from “abundant energy and enthusiasm” to “a culture of high aspiration”, an “unwavering commitment to helping all pupils” to “pupils are very well behaved in lessons”, and the curriculum “meets the needs of pupils well” to widespread recognition of the school’s “upward momentum”.
The key target was straight-forward in that we have to keep on building on the rapid improvements we have made as they “should deliver even greater benefits over the next two years.”
Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “We are delighted that the experienced OFSTED team has been so positive about the school and acknowledged that the overhaul we undertook has ‘marked a turning point of the school’. This is very much a reflection of the commitment of the students, staff, governors and parents who have bought into new approaches and ideas. Even so, we are not prepared to sit back on any laurels, nor coast along. We have a lot to bed in, curriculum challenges this year, and there is so much more we fully intend to work on and advance further. In terms of our direction, nothing changes – we continue to work to get better every single day.”
The inspection letter goes live on the OFSTED website next week but an advance copy is available here.
