However, latest report says the school requires improvement in several areas

The first Ofsted Inspection carried out at Chiswick School since the appointment of a new principal has been published.The report praises the Head Teacher for getting off to a good start but reiterates a previous Inspection finding that the school still needs improvement in several areas.

The overall grading for the school remains 'Requires Improvement'. Areas singled out included pupil outcomes, effective leadership and management, and quality of teaching, learning and assessment. The report did make some positive comments, rated the 16-19 Year Group as 'Good' and described the school as a 'harmonious community'.

Head Teacher Philip Masterson, who had only been in the job for a few weeks when the inspection was carried out, told chiswickw4.com today that there were many positive comments in the report and they were "poised for progress" All the signs were there that they were making improvements in the areas where they were needed.

Ofsted praised his "effective leadership" which the report found was was "already shifting the culture of the school at a rapid pace." The inspection was carried out on 3 October, only a few weeks after Mr Masterson officially took over as Head Teacher in September.

The school has had a difficult time in the past couple of years, following the findings of a previous Ofsted report in November 2016 which saw the school drop from its Good to a Requires Improvement rating. The report badly affected morale in the school and long-serving head teacher Tony Ryan stood down in January 2017. An interim head Jill Coughlan has been in place until September when Mr. Masterson took over.

The latest Ofsted report rated 16-19 Year study as Good. It praised the school for being a "harmonious community" noting that the Sixth Form work was consistently good. The school’s work to keep pupils safe was effective. Governors were now effective in using information about pupils’ progress to challenge leaders about the relative performance of different groups.

Philip Masterson

However the report concluded that there was still much work to be done. Areas cited for Improvement were: Effectiveness of leadership and management; Quality of teaching, learning and assessment ; Personal development, behaviour and welfare ; Outcomes for pupils.

The outcomes and attainments for the most able, and the most deprived pupils, still needed attention. Many new teachers had joined the school and were still finding their feet. Teachers needed to consistently plan activities which closely matched the abilities and prior attainment of pupils, particularly the most able.

Referring to the new Head Teacher, it said; "He and his reorganised leadership team have undertaken a thorough and perceptive analysis of what needs to be done to raise standards. This evaluation underpins action planning which is rightly focused on getting the quality of teaching, learning and assessment to good.

"This vision for the future of the school is supported by staff, parents and pupils. However,
the full impact of these plans is yet to be seen across all areas of the school."

The report noted that several new leaders have recently been appointed to oversee key areas of the school’s work, for example staff professional development.

"They are in the process of developing their skills in their leadership roles. They have not yet had sufficient time to be able to evaluate the full impact of their work."

Mr. Masterson told chiswickw4.com that they looked forward to the next two years, which was a more realistic timeframe in which to achieve success in their key priority areas.

"I want to reassure people that we know what we are doing. The potential in Chiswick School is huge. We have 25 new staff this year and there is a new feel to the senior leadership team.

"I do take a lot of encouragement from comments that have been made in the report and it's just too early at this stage for hard evidence. Everything we are doing is about having a positive impact across the school and that has already started "

The Chair of the Board of Governors Nicholas Lee said in a letter to parents ;"The School has made good progress in many of the areas identified in the 2015 Ofsted inspection and outcomes have improved. This progress is clearly recognised in the recent Ofsted report, however, the improvement to date is not yet sufficient for the School to be regarded as Good and therefore we continue to be rated as Requires Improvement.

"Over the last two years, the School has suffered a degree of disruption which has had an impact on the rate of improvement over this period. However, we have started the 2017/18 school year with a new permanent headteacher, Philip Masterson, and a reorganised and refocused senior leadership team– this is fundamental to driving school improvement. We are a month into term and the senior team is already making very significant progress – this is clearly acknowledged by the Ofsted inspectors and specifically set out in their report. I would strongly urge you to read the Ofsted report in full to obtain a proper view of the School as there is some very positive commentary in the body of the report.

"Understandably, Ofsted can only look at the results of what we have achieved to date and, unfortunately, it is just too early for Ofsted to be able to evidence the impact of what we now have in place. Whilst the outcome of the inspection was disappointing, I am confident, as is Ofsted, that we now have the right building blocks in place to achieve rapid and sustainable improvement. I can assure you that work is well underway to ensure we are rated Good or Outstanding at our next Ofsted inspection and that we remain fully committed to providing the best possible education for all our pupils."

The previous head teacher Tony Ryan oversaw the conversion of the school into an academy. In November 2015, when the school was downgraded by Ofsted from its previous ‘Good’ to Requires Improvement, Mr Ryan described the report as ‘very harsh’.

The school is currently planning to extend its intake for 2018 and 2019 for Year Sevens when it will become a nine-form entry school.

October 30, 2017