My older 2 children are at secondary school. Before our eldest went there we were hearing rumours about how good this school had become. When we were deciding where to send them all our friends who were involved in teaching were telling us that this was the school they?d choose if they were in our position. During the first term that DS1 was there they had an Ofsted inspection and the report rated the school as outstanding. The teaching was praised, as was the passion and commitment of the teachers, the behaviour and enthusiasm of the pupils, the caring ethos of the school, the communications with parents. And all our experience since has borne that our. DS1 has gone from being uninterested, mediocre academically, and unmotivated, to being keen and enthusiastic about most subjects, quite willing to talk to us about what he is doing and how he's getting on. DD who was good at primary is flying now.
However when the first inspection was made GCSE results were not good ? 37% grades A-C including maths and English. In fact it was termed a National Challenge school. The intake contains a high percentage of children with SEN, and children who are at level 3 in Yr 6 SATs. Attendance levels were poor. The school is one of the most deprived wards in the county and many of the pupils come from homes were school is seen as a necessary evil. And the outstanding grading was given with this in mind.
Inspite of this the school has been oversubscribed for the last 2 years. Inspite of the fact that there is a 'good' school available on the other side of town that gets better results.
Since that date attendance had improved dramatically and last year the A* to C level was 47%.
And Ofsted moved the goalposts.
Ofsted came again 2 weeks ago and despite the improvements, inspite of the fact that they still praise all the same things they praised last time, the school was graded as satisfactory. Because the GCSE A*-C level is just below the national average.
It makes no odds to us. Our children will stay there and continue to flourish. Our youngest will start there in 3 years time. But it?s such a kick in the teeth for staff that don?t deserve it. And it makes you wonder what the purpose of the report is. The GCSE results are already available for all to see. Isn?t an Ofsted report meant to flesh that out, provide a deeper and more meaningful picture? This just says 'this school is mediocre' and it isn't. It's fantastic! Isn't it wonderful that a school takes a mixed bunch of children and improves all their prospects (in many cases dramatically) and gives them all greater life chances? Isn't that more valuable than a school that cherry picks the best pupils and polishes them up a bit? Yet our school was competing with selective schools, schools from nice middle class, leafy suburbs, and is found wanting.
Something is wrong with that IMO 
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