Dear Parents and Carers,
After our very rigorous and much anticipated Ofsted inspection I am delighted to inform you that the school was judged as GOOD. We have now received the official report which you can read here. If you require a hard copy, please ask the office and they can print out a copy of the report.
The report acknowledges our strong drive to ensure that every child makes good progress and succeeds academically whilst also experiencing a wide range of enrichment activities that make such a strong contribution to their personal development.
We were very pleased that this was acknowledged as a strength as we believe that young children deserve and need to experience diverse learning opportunities that excite and motivate them. As a result we have always maintained a commitment to ensuring that we provide these within the curriculum and through extracurricular activities particularly in relation to sport and music.
Positive recognition was also given to our shared vision of creating a community of lifelong learners and the way in which staff are keen to improve their own effectiveness by sharing best practice in the school and collaborating with colleagues in other schools. As a result, the quality of teaching was seen to be improving and leading to even better outcomes for pupils.
The inspector recognised that the changes we have made to the teaching of reading, writing and maths are the right ones and are already resulting in improvements in all of these areas.
The report also praises the way in which we keep pupils safe and the strong culture of vigilance in the school, with every member of staff being well aware of potential risks and leaders being experienced and well trained to take appropriate actions when concerns arise.
It was great to see the strong emphasis we have placed on e-safety and social media being recognised as a strength and most importantly that it was clear to Ofsted that as a result, pupils understand how to stay safe.
Thank you to those parents and carers who were able to respond to Ofsted’s online survey despite the technical glitches they experienced and for the support you all continue to show the school.
Despite being very pleased with the inspection result, staff and Governors are not complacent and will continue to work hard and strive for excellence by working with you to ensure that the pupils of Earlsmead have the very best educational experience possible.
Yours sincerely,
Hina Shah
Headteacher.