The Coleshill School shares positive Ofsted news with families

The headteacher of ATLP’s The Coleshill School has written to parents, pupils and staff in lockdown to share some positive news – after Ofsted inspectors gave the school a ‘good’ rating.

Headteacher Ian Smith-Childs wrote of his pride after Ofsted chiefs shared their final inspection report, following a visit on March 3 and 4.

In the report, inspectors confirmed that ‘The Coleshill School continues to be a good school’.

The report is incredibly positive about the whole school community and I am thrilled that the inspection team appreciated our values and the good standard of education that we provide for our students,” Mr Smith-Childs wrote.

A member of the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership, the Coleshill School has almost doubled in size since 2014, with 1200 pupils enrolled last year.

The Ofsted report highlights that ‘The school places as much emphasis on pupils’ personal development as on their academic success.’

Inspectors were particularly impressed by the range of opportunities that are on offer for students beyond the classroom and how many students get involved in them – noting that ‘pupils, students and parents value this aspect of school life’.

The report recognized strengths in teaching and curriculum, noting that ‘Pupils’ learning is effective and organized well in almost all subjects’. Inspectors also praised teachers’ ‘strong subject knowledge’.

Inspectors were impressed with the work being done to develop the curriculum in Year 7 and were pleased to see the planned expansion of the Year 9 curriculum. They did note the need for curriculum work to develop further and include links between subjects to help embed knowledge.

The behaviour of Coleshill students was praised, and inspectors were pleased to see that ‘Pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to learning.’

Ofsted was also impressed with the way in which the students have coped with the current construction work to build the new 12-classroom Wilson Block, and the restrictions this has placed on social space.

This is real testament to our students and also to our staff who work so hard to support them,” Mr Smith-Childs wrote.

Named after highly-respected former headteacher Tom Wilson, the new building is due to open this year, to provide additional capacity for the growing size of the school, particularly fitting as school is in its 500^th anniversary year.

The report also noted that ‘Governance is strong’ and inspectors were clear that ‘the school has benefitted from its membership of The Arthur Terry Learning Partnership’.

Mr Smith-Childs wrote:

I would like to thank governors and the staff who have supported us from ATLP, as they have had a big part to play in the school being recognized with such a positive inspection report. We will be working on ensuring that our curriculum work continues to develop to ensure our curriculum ‘builds a deep and lasting understanding of key subject knowledge for pupils of all abilities, and especially the most able’. As ever, I am incredibly proud and humbled to be leading your school. I am surrounded by incredible staff and inspirational students.”

Ofsted will not be publishing the report on their website until schools open after the lockdown, however, parents can read the full report by visiting the Coleshill School’s website.