Eastbourne secondary school ‘very proud’ of Ofsted rating

Schools are judged on five categories – the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision.

Ratton School in Park Avenue was inspected on June 21-22 and the outcome was another ‘good’ rating. The atmosphere of the school is praised. The report says: “Relationships between teachers and pupils are strong and supportive. Leaders have exceedingly high expectations and there is a strong culture of care.”

On the subject of bullying, the report says the school deal with it ‘quickly’ as students can speak to a ‘trusted adult’ if they have any issues.

Ratton has an ‘extensive programme’ of extra-curricular activities including sport, drama, art, since and languages. Students also have the opportunity to go on trips abroad.

On the topic of curriculum, the report says it is ‘ambitious and meets the needs of all pupils’. It also says students are ‘actively supported in their choice of careers’ and the school is developing links with post-16 providers.

The school is praised for making sure disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are ‘actively engaged’. There is room for improvement when it comes to languages though. The report says work is needed to highlight career opportunities but ‘the school is working hard to improve the uptake’.

Teachers are said to have a ‘strong subject knowledge’ with assessments used to give students feedback. Despite this, the report says some teachers need to make sure students are remembering what they’re learnt recently. Without this, ‘pupils sometimes do not achieve as highly as they could’.

The report also says: “Leaders need to align curriculum topics to that pupils can make the right connections at the right time to deepen their understanding.”

The report says teachers are positive about school leadership, workload, and staff support. The focus of ‘school improvement’ is being initiated by the headteacher and executive headteacher, the report says. School relationships with the governors and trustees are also praised. However, the report says ‘a small minority’ of parents are ‘unhappy with the school’. Issues include child welfare, wellbeing, mental health, and overall engagement with parents and carers.

Headteacher Gavin Peevers said: “This is a fantastic testament to all the effort, creativity and teamwork of both staff and students in challenging circumstances during the last two years.

“I am particularly pleased that the inspection team recognised the ‘exceedingly high expectations’, the wide range of fantastic work that happens in our school community across the curriculum, student welfare and pastoral provision that undoubtedly results in our students ‘showing a pride in their school and their achievements’.”

Paul Murphy, executive headteacher, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff, students, governors and families who work tirelessly on making Ratton the school it is.”

Carole Bradbrook, chair of governors, said: “I am very proud of the inspection outcome and the work that has gone into securing this judgement of ‘good’.

Student leader Lea Ducat said: “The student leadership team have been working hard to help the school this year and will continue to do so. Well done everyone!”

More Ofsted reports from Eastbourne