Blog

Dear Parent/Carer

Thank you for all the support you gave the school during the two day Ofsted Inspection in May. I am sorry that there has been a delay in the report coming out to the school community and this has been beyond the control of the school. The published report has now been received from Ofsted to the school and this letter summarises its findings.

Ofsted Inspectors observed learning across a range of year groups and subjects as part of their cycle of school Inspections and recognised the many strengths of the school whilst pointing out some aspects that required improvement.

The inspectors were able to see high-quality teaching and improved collaboration and sharing of practice from within the school and with other schools. Girls are particularly making good progress, especially in English. The specialist provision for pupils with special needs was described as “first-class” and this is particularly pleasing in response to our last inspection in 2017. I wrote to you before to acknowledge that as a school of faith this was an area of the school in which we had a moral obligation to improve, and I am pleased that Ofsted recognised this has occurred. I am also pleased to report that the Sixth Form is making good progress and it is led well. Ofsted acknowledged that results in the school are improving but not for all groups, particularly boys and disadvantaged students. Greater consistency in teaching will reap an even higher performance for the school. Governance has also improved in the school, with more monitoring of pupil premium catch up funding recommended.

The Inspectors were concerned with aspects of the leadership of behaviour in the school, in particular that which directly links with the challenge for boys’ engagement in lessons. Therefore, Ofsted recommends more consistency in planning challenging teaching. There are improvements required in attendance for some groups and respect to be given to all children regardless of their differences. We are looking forward to implementing changes to our Personal, Social, Health Education programme whilst enhancing our “Sex and Relationships Education” programme that we deliver in our faith school.

We will continue to work in collaboration with our local outstanding schools, and would like to thank all of our parents who completed the Ofsted questionnaire expressing their support and pride in the school. Our students are wonderful ambassadors and deserve the highest praise.

The report can be viewed on www.ofsted.gov.uk from 19 June 2019 and from the school website.

If you would like a hard copy of the report, or need any further information please contact Farzana Azad at the school or email fazad@holyfamilyschool.uk.

Yours sincerely

Mr M Hings
Headteacher