In a statement released this week, Writhlington School has said it is

disappointed by the recent Ofsted grading of three, categorised as ‘requiring improvement’.

The report, which was released on Monday this week, follows a visit by Ofsted to Writhlington School in January of this year. One of the major factors in this judgement, the school says, was the disappointing GCSE exam results last year.

Headteacher, Mark Everett, commented: “There is no doubt that the Ofsted grading is a disappointing outcome, and whilst we agree with aspects of this judgement, we have already had a robust improvement plan in place for a number of months following last year’s GCSE results and do not feel that this judgement is a true

reflection of our school today.

“We are pleased that the report does draw attention to the improvements that have already been implemented and we expect to see the impact of this in future

results and a very swift return to ‘Good’.”

The inspection came at a time following the publication of school performance tables, which had shown that Writhlington had dropped below the national average.

A spokesperson for the school said: “The method for measuring the achievements of our students changed last year from a 5 A*–C GCSE measure (for which we had results around the national average), to a score which measures progress across eight subjects. This has presented challenges for a number of schools, including Writhlington.

“Over the past three years, Writhlington has moved from an applied course curriculum to a more traditional GCSE-based curriculum to ensure that it meets the demands of the new league tables. The Ofsted Report acknowledges and supports this positive change to the curriculum and has taken into account the turbulence this has created in outcomes. The measure is affected by what is referred to as ‘Add Back’ students – these are students that have left the school and joined other local providers, but for

whom Writhlington is still accountable for their results.”

Mark Everett added: “The areas for improvement are clear from the report. We will take on board the comments and work closely with our Governors to ensure that every child reaches their full potential.

“The positive comments from the report show that our ‘Leaders and teachers have created a positive learning environment which makes a strong contribution to pupils’ confidence and enjoyment of school’.

“Safeguarding is also considered a strength of the school, along with improving attendance and our Governing Body has ‘a good breadth of expertise and experience’. Pupils are safe and well cared for. Pupils and parents report that the school looks after them well.

“We are very proud of our pupils who Ofsted said ‘behave well around the school are polite and courteous towards adults and each other’.”

The report, which can be viewed on the school’s website, noted that the quality of teaching varied too much between different year groups and subjects and said that whilst standards are rising, the achievement of disadvantaged pupils and of the most able was not improving as quickly as other pupils. It also said that teachers’

expectations of the quality of pupils’ work was too low, limiting aspirations and progress and that some pupils with special educational needs’ progress was not being monitored closely. The report looks at the setting of academic targets and said that Senior leaders have had an ‘over-generous’ view of the school’s performance, but added that changes to leadership teams at all levels should see an

improvement, which has not yet had time to have an impact. Governers were also pulled up in the report as not evaluating outcomes throughly enough to challenge senior leaders ‘robustly.’

In its strengths, inspectors said that Writhlington School has created a positive learning environment in most classes, with good use of its excellent facilities. It noted that governors are committed to the school and to further improvement, commenting on the good behaviour of pupils and the comprehensive range of extra-curricular activities and opportunities that it offers.