Headteacher Update
November 2023
This week we have welcomed colleagues from the Pele Trust into school to carry out a 2 day Peer Review. This process is fundamental to improving provision and outcomes for all schools in the Trust and whilst we will receive the benefit of their insights, it is also inevitable that reviewers will pick up elements of our practice to take back into their own schools. Indeed, senior leaders from both Ponteland High School and The Duchess Community High School commented on several aspects of our provision that they will be using to reflect on their own practice.
The outcome of the review has been extremely positive with many highlights about our provision and whilst the process was by no means an OFSTED style inspection, it is worth noting that out of a team of 6, there was a retired His Majesty’s Inspector, an OFSTED Lead Inspector and OFSTED Inspector who have all had extensive experience in evaluating provision in many schools in the North East. This does mean that as a community we can have faith in the outcomes of the review in terms of our current provision.
During the visit, the team visited 36 lessons, met middle and senior leaders and spoke to 50 students in meetings and many more whilst they were out and about in corridors at break and lunchtimes. There are many highlights to report including:
- Teachers have good subject knowledge and the curriculum is strong.
- Students were fully engaged in their learning in all lessons visited and low level disruption was not seen.
- Teachers and support staff support children well to make progress in lessons through good practice such as modelling, retrieval and scaffolding.
- Relationships in the school are strong and based upon politeness and mutual respect. This is the case in lessons and during social times.
- Students value the support and advice they are given in areas such as mental health, bullying, online safety, sexual harassment, careers and community.
- Personal development of students is a strength and students value the quality of careers provision as well as the wider Fit for Life curriculum.
- Support for students with SEND is strong and teachers adapt their practice when needed so that all students can access the curriculum.
The feedback very much reflected the school that we know and that the Local Authority, students and parents talk to us about. There are obviously some areas of focus for us as we would expect, but they are very much in line with our own self evaluation and will allow us to fine tune the actions we are taking every day.
I will share further details when I receive the report in the next week.
In other news, I am delighted to say that we are in the top 10% in the country for completion rates of SPARX homework for reading and maths. This is a huge achievement and it demonstrates the commitment that the vast majority of our students have to their learning and progress. The SPARX homework is always due to be complete on Tuesday, so it is easy for students to remember, but please feel free to give them a nudge as there are a number who do routinely forget!
Finally, we have introduced ClassCharts this term in order to more effectively monitor rewards and any incidents where behaviour does not meet our standards. Now that it has been up and running for 9 weeks, we have ironed out any issues and will be ready to launch to parents in January. The link below provides a brief overview of the system:
ClassCharts Parent Information
More information will follow in the coming weeks, including login information.
I hope you all have a relaxing weekend.
Best wishes
Jonathan