It’s been a busy few months with exams, a school prom, sports day and many end of year activities. In the mix of all this, we’ve also been fully inspected by Ofsted. We’ve maintained our ‘Good’ grading and are extremely happy with the strength of the report.
Inspectors commented on the ‘strong leadership’, the ‘respectful’ adult and student relationships, the extra curricular activities and referenced the pupils’ ‘pride’ about our ‘tight knit community’ and the ‘inclusive’ nature of the school.
As you’ll know, we’ve gone to great lengths to build links with the wider community in Leyburn and surrounding areas and this was acknowledged by our Ofsted visitors who noted our ‘curriculum follows and extends beyond the academic’.
The report also referenced the large proportion of parents who spoke positively about the school’s pastoral care – thank you to all parents and carers who continually champion all we’re doing at the school.
This is Julia Polley’s second inspection since being at the school and she said: “I am very pleased with the grading. I’ve spent the last six-and-a-half years of managing change and I’m determined to take the school to the next level over the next five years. I’m extremely proud of students, staff, governors and all who contribute to our school community.”
We’ve been on a significant journey with our sixth form, the Business and Innovation Centre, and we’re proud all students who have studied at the Business and Innovation Centre over the past four years have successfully gone on to industry and higher education destinations.
However with government’s withdrawal of BTECs, it is difficult for the school to offer a vocational curriculum with the sufficient breadth required. This was noted by Ofsted and the Post-16 offering was graded as ‘Requires Improvement’ under ‘special circumstances’, which means the overall grading of the school is not affected.
We’ve taken the decision to suspended the sixth form for one year, while we explore our options. We are committed to our current Year 12s and will provide them with all they need to successfully complete their course next year.
Overall we’re very happy with the inspection and couldn’t do it without all of you – this is a shared success for the entire school community.
