St Ursula's Convent School Greenwich, SE London

Most schools publish topline results on their website on results day e.g Thomas Tallis, John Roan, Eltham Hill, Prendergast etc etc but nothing for St Ursula’s. I’ve since found something that says a number of pupils got a mixture of grade 7-9, so not great results really. https://www.stursulas.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Press-Release-22-08-2024-1.pdf

The DfE won't issue the progress measures for some time yet - and then it's subject to a strict embargo where the school is forbidden to release them until a specified date. They're also running later this year (possibly at least in part due to taking the data processing in house from an external contractor). So you can't infer anything from this, as it's nothing to do with schools.

Does anybody know this year’s GCSE results for the school? It’s all very quiet which doesn’t bode well.

Please do not be fooled by the reviews from years ago. Reviews do not compare to being there. Many people (students and teachers) have left or are planning to leave. There is a severe bullying issue, continuous teacher strikes and very very little support for neither students nor teachers.

I did an in year application year 7 for my daughter who was attending Woolwich Polytechnic school for girls. Only reason I wanted to move her was because St ursulas was on my doorstep. This was my biggest regret ever. There was no waiting list and she got offered a place immediately. This would not have happened a few years ago, my eldest daughter did not stand a chance getting a space and was number 86 on the waiting list. After I accepted the space I did some research and was disappointed to see the latest ofsted but still have the school a go.
My daughter started in May 2024 and I have now taken her out and she returned to her old school yesterday. St Ursulas is failing big time. There were 6 planned strike days in May, luckily they were cancelled. There are hardly any teachers and most lessons covered by a supply teacher who have no control over the class. My daughter did not get one piece of homework in the 2 months she was there. Receptionist in the main office is an arrogant lady who hasn’t got a care in the world. Many girls are leaving and many are planning to leave. I don’t know how once such a brilliant school has deteriorated dramatically. I could not risk my child’s happiness and education leaving her at this school. Only positive thing I can say is that they are taking in children of different faiths now.

Looks like things are sorted out now. What do you guys reckon?

@ByTidySwan I'm so sorry to hear that. What a shame - it was a great school for decades.

Our daughter goes to this school and I couldn't be more disappointed in how the school has performed. Constant teacher strikes during 2023/24 - now pushing 20 days of strikes. The recent Ofsted rating of Requires Improvement is very apt, and fundamentally the senior leadership are responsible for low morale among teaching staff. I wouldn't recommend this school while the current senior leadership are in situ. The trajectory is still currently downwards and isn't about to improve unfortunately.

Not sure why I typed DS!

@runningandjumping Don't have a DS there, but I’m aware that schools should have an improvement plan that focuses very sharply on what it needs to improve. There will be an existing one but it will need much greater emphasis on the issues requiring improvement. You cannot drop all your other balls though! With RI, it’s highly likely the governors will retain confidence in SLT as Head not been there that long. Schools can share an executive summary of the improvement plan and I think it’s good practice to do so. It gains parental understanding of what SLT is trying to do and hopefully buy into it.

An improvement plan should be detailed and say exactly how the improvement will be measured. SLT must be able to prove improvement has taken place! They are not drawn up overnight. They should have the assistance of a school improvement partner and clearly expertise in Sen is needed within school. These issues are never quick fixes.

Ofsted might arrive for a monitoring visit to match progress against the plan. However SLT and the governors should be relentlessly doing this anyway via school data. I would expect to see a clear start made on implementing the plan next term .

Hello, the nuns haven't taught for 10 years or more at the school. In fact the convent associated with the school on crooms hill has recently closed and the sisters have relocated. There is still a catholic ethos at the school and collective worship is a strong feature. There are regular all school masses at our ladye star of the sea next door, and the priest is well known to the school community.

@Smc4 Out of interest, are there any nuns still teaching at the school or involved with it?

Yes the education can be very good as born out by the gcse results. Many of my Elder daughters friends have gone on to then get great a levels and degrees. However you have to remember it's a state school in SE London and all such schools will have a range of kids from a range of backgrounds. I hear of bad behaviour but then I hear this from friends with kids in other local schools too. This was not much different in 2015 when my eldest first arrived at what was then a genuinely outstanding phenomenal school (as ofsted put it) and I was shocked at the behaviour of some kids!!
I think my girls have learnt really important lessons from being in such a school and are quite savvy. You'd hope this was well managed by behaviour policies, think this needs more work right now. But generally as a society I think there's far less respect for authority since Brexit/covid and this plays out in the classrooms all over the country I'm sure. Who'd be a teacher eh?!
My youngest is on track for a great set of gcse results next year despite these issues so I'm not moving her or even thinking about it. She has found some great friendships.
When you see other local schools ofsteds you have to remember they are part of large academy chains (I'm looking at you Leigh academy!) and have a lot of resources at their disposal. I don't think that gets them better gcse results (st Ursula streets ahead!) but it does gives them a better form of admin and a more cohesive admin. In short, yes there are some great teachers at st ursula, and I wouldn't be surprised if in 2 years ofsted visit and give it outstanding again. But they reallly MuST find and hite a long term senco !!

Hello long time parent at st ursula here. The recent parent view score was in large part highly negative due to ongoing dispute around one teacher and NEU strikes that honestly is due to resolve imminently but has been a massive disappointment to all. (To say very least) The ofsted rating was no surprise to many who were frustrated by the strikes and by difficulty hiring a senco. Despite the challenges faced at the school I can honestly say that there are some excellent teachers at the school and do look at the league tables. Despite the challenges with embedding new leadership team over last 3 years, the school is always top 3 for gcse results in the borough and value add score is excellent. I'd feel nervous seeing the ofsted too. But as a parent of a happy settled girl doing well there, I'd say that any school can be right or wrong for your child depending on so many factors other than ofsted. I'd go with the feeling you had when you visited. It's a quirky small girls school, where most kids do very well. I'd possibly consider a different school if my child had sen but then that could change if a new senco appointed. Happy to answer any other questions.

Yes. It’s the old “satisfactory”. It does do some things well but the low level disruption and the fact the behaviour policy is not embedded will impact on that. It’s far from being the worst RI I have read but it’s RI in leadership and to improve quickly, I would have liked to have seen that as Good. But I accept that maybe I’m too negative!

@TizerorFizz
I don't think my interpretation is upbeat - the school does some things well.

I acknowledged what they have to improve on and that fits with the OfSTED criteria:
"A school judged as requires improvement at its last inspection is a school that is not yet good but overall provides an acceptable standard of education."

@Shetlands Thats quite an upbeat interpretation. Reading the report carefully, leaders have not embedded the behaviour policy and the report says that there is some low level disruption in lessons and at non structured times of day, it is not calm. Therefore leadership has some work to do. Thats discounting the send issues.

The governors have clearly let things slip and have now had training to fulfil their obligations: so hopefully they now know the time of day. It also comes across as a school that doesn’t listen to pupils or parents. You only need a vocal minority (who Ofsted agreed with) to sow seeds of mistrust but often these are accurate views. With ongoing staff difficulties, it will be interesting to see how quickly this is resolved. It feels like a top down leadership style and not a collaborative one. Some staff and pupils will be ok with this but others feel excluded. Depends what you want from a school community and whether RI for leadership gives you confidence in ability to improve.

My perspective of the OfSTED report (as a retired headteacher) is that most things seem fine ie the curriculum is ambitious, the teachers have secure subject knowledge and most pupils behave well.

The recent 'turbulence' in leadership has resulted in problems in their SEND provision.

The new behaviour policy has high expectations but isn't yet fully embedded.

It looks to me that the SEND provision is the main issue that caused the 'requires improvement' and the new leadership hasn't had time to improve it.

That's just my view looking at the report from the outside - there's likely to be better information from parents but be mindful that opinions might be polarised due their own child's situation.

What I meant was how quickly my DS's school went from Requires Improvement to Outstanding. It was under two years. It went into RI just before he started. A lot of parents were very concerned and I understand some parents pulled their DC out.
In under two years it was then graded Outstanding and become one of the most sought-after schools in the area.

This was a few years ago now though and I think under the new Ofsted grading system, it's much harder to be judged 'Outstanding'.