Newsletter February (OFSTED) 2011

KINGS NORTON

HIGH TIMES

FEBRUARY 2011

LOOKING FOR A GOOD SCHOOL? YOU’VE FOUND IT! (Ofsted Jan 2011) Inspection

We hadn’t had a full inspection since June 2008 so it was no surprise on Monday 24th January to get ‘the phone-call’ the one that we all sort of dread yet feel excited by at the same time. As I said to the children in assembly, it was a test of everything we do here at Kings Norton High, but that meant it was our chance to shine – to show what our best looks like. And that was exactly what your children and all of the staff did – their best. It was a bit like preparing for week-end visitors when you have to make up clean beds and bring out the best crockery. We had two days to gather documents, get questionnaires out and tidy up our displays, then two days of being inspected. Once again, the inspectors were blown away by the confidence, politeness, smartness and academic progress of your wonderful children. They did you, and us, proud. You may remember that in 2008 we had 26 judgements made about the school. Of those, one was inadequate, 9 were ‘satisfactory’ and 16 were ‘good’. So overall we had a judgement of ‘satisfactory’ with many good features. This time there were 27 judgements, of which 2 were satisfactory, 24 were ‘good’ and one was ‘outstanding’. This gave us an overall judgement of ‘good’ and that places us in the top 50% of schools nationally!

The road to ‘outstanding’ does not start here – we are already on it!

Denise Burns Headteacher

OFSTED SPECIAL EDITION

READ THE FULL 2011 OFSTED REPORT ON OUR WEBSITE:

WWW.KINGSNORTONHIGH.BHAM.SCH.UK

The school is very inclusive in its philosophy; it strives to

make students feel supported and, in this, it is extremely

successful. Extensive multi-agency work takes place to

support learning, behaviour and attendance, all of

which are impacting positively on improved

achievement and well-being.

This is an inclusive school



This is an inclusive school where care, guidance and

where care, guidance and

where care, guidance and

where care, guidance and support are outstanding.

support are outstanding.



There are increasin

g opportunities

There are increasin

g opportunities

There are increasin

g opportunities

There are increasin

g opportunities

to meet the needs of gifted and




talented students with a more




focused academic route of GCSE




study.study.study.study.

A significant contribution to

the school’s success is the improvement in teaching, which is

consistently good.

The school demonstrates a clear commitment to

ensuring equality of opportunity, which has resulted in

the significant improvement in the performance of all

groups. It takes a proactive approach to the tackling

of discrimination and the promotion of equal

opportunities through its pastoral systems and its care

and support of all its students. It has a clear ethos

which ensures that students from different

backgrounds work well together and understand each

other’s cultures.

There is a strong sense of There is a strong sense of There is a strong sense of There is a strong sense of purpose in the school and purpose in the school and purpose in the school and purpose in the school and morale is very high. The morale is very high. The morale is very high. The morale is very high. The school ’ s significantly improved

school ’ s significantly improved

school ’ s significantly improved

school ’ s significantly improved performance is evidence of the

performance is evidence of the

performance is evidence of the

performance is evidence of the success of leadership and success of leadership and success of leadership and

success of leadership and

Attainment shows a

strong

trend of improvement

s .....

The school’s compre

hensive

tracking data indicate

that this

rise is set to continue

.

The proportion of The proportion of The proportion of The proportion of Students who gain Students who gain Students who gain Students who gain two GCSE A* to C two GCSE A* to C two GCSE A* to C two GCSE A* to C grades in science has grades in science has grades in science has grades in science has been significantly been significantly been significantly been significantly above average for the above average for the above average for the above average for the last two years.last two years.last two years.last two years.

28 January 2011 Dear Students Inspection of Kings Norton High School, Birmingham, B38 9DE Thank you for making the inspection team so welcome at your school. We all enjoyed talking with you and you helped us to find out about your school. We think your school is a good one. It provides you with a good quality of education. The

headteacher and staff work well as a team and have achieved significant improvement in attendance, behaviour and GCSE examination results. Yours is a rapidly improving school. Here are some good things we found out about it. • You enjoy school, feel safe and behave well. • The quality of care, guidance and support you receive is outstanding and the school supports you very well, individually. • The curriculum provides courses which are well suited to your needs. • There are many good partnerships with external agencies, which have benefited you and supported your personal development. • The teaching is good and helps you achieve more GCSE qualifications. • You make good progress in lessons and by the time you leave school.

We have asked the school to make the following improvements: * To help you achieve better in English and mathematics. * To improve the rate of attendance of those of you who do not attend regularly enough and, especially, help the few who are persistently absent to come to school. We wish you all the very best in your studies and every success in the future. Yours sincerely Davinder Dosanjh Her Majesty’s Inspector

WELL DONE TO EVERYONE, AND WE CELEBRATED WITH DOUGHNUTS ALL ROUND

O’kay, we know it’s not healthy but once every couple of years ............ !

Newsletter February (OFSTED) 2011

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