Staff and pupils at Larks Hill J & I School are celebrating the outcomes from their latest visit from Ofsted.
The school continues to be ‘Good’ following their last inspection in 2015. The lead inspector heaped praise on the staff and pupils after his one-day visit at the end of June 2019. He spoke with parents, staff and pupils as well as reviewing performance data and the results of online parents view surveys.
The report is bursting with positive comments and observations, below are just some of the highlights from the report:
Classrooms buzz with excitement and activity. The school’s ethos of developing pupils’ skills by cooperating and supporting each other permeates the school.
Your vision that every child should be the ‘very best version of themselves’ is modelled through your high expectations of what they can achieve.
You have worked with trust leaders to ensure a relentless focus on improving the quality of teaching, learning and assessment.
Pupils enjoy the wide variety of sporting activities on offer. They talk with excitement about competing in the ‘inter-house cup’, which they all have a role in.
Leaders ensure careful monitoring of pupils’ progress, which focuses on each individual pupil.
Pupils show their pride and enthusiasm in their science and record their work with high standards of presentation throughout.
Pupils are confident to contribute to class discussions and debates. Some pupils participate in public speaking events organised by the school.
Since the previous inspection, leaders have ensured that expectations of pupils’ presentation are consistent across the curriculum. As a result, most pupils produce their very best work in all subjects.
Ian Shuttleworth, Head of School, who joined the school in June 2018, said “”I am absolutely over the moon with the findings of our recent Ofsted inspection. The number of school improvements and success stories that have been recognised and acknowledged is testimony to all the hard work of the children and the staff. The support we have received from the Trust executive team has also proved to be invaluable. On a day to day basis, we will all continue to strive to be the very best version of ourselves.”
Julian Appleyard OBE, CEO of the Trust added “This is great achievement for everyone at the school which is proving that excellence should, and indeed does, come as standard. Additionally, the new Key Stage 2 SAT results were published after the inspection took place. The school has improved from 62.1% in 2018 to 86.7% – an increase of 25% in one year. The school is now the 4th highest attaining school in the Wakefield local authority out of 101 schools, moving up 43 places.
Who knows what the school may have been awarded if these results were known at the time of the inspection!”