ISI Inspection Report Highlights, 2024
We are delighted to share the results of our recent ISI (Independent Schools Inspectorate) inspection, which took place in March 2024 under a new framework introduced in September 2023. This framework shifts away from grading and instead evaluates whether schools meet specific standards. We are thrilled to report that we have successfully met all five standards:
- Leadership;
- Quality of education;
- Recreation and training;
- Pupils’ physical and mental health and emotional wellbeing;
- Pupils’ social and economic education and contribution to society;
- Safeguarding, which runs as a thread through all the others.
The full report provides a comprehensive overview of our achievements and areas of focus. We encourage you to read the complete findings on pages 6 to 12 to fully appreciate the breadth of the inspection’s observations.
Key Highlights
- Classroom Environment: The inspectors praised our teachers for creating a “purposeful yet relaxed” classroom environment. Pupils are encouraged to support each other compassionately, take risks in their learning, and develop new skills and understanding.
- Academic Resilience: Our pupils demonstrate significant academic resilience, with a supportive atmosphere allowing them to take risks and make progress.
- Support for SEND Pupils: The report highlights our commitment to supporting pupils with SEND, ensuring their success both in and out of the classroom.
- Early Years and Diversity: In the Early Years, teachers create a warm, trusting environment that fosters confidence. The report also commends our pupils for their appreciation of diversity and strong sense of belonging.
- Co-Curricular Offerings: The Kinza enrichment programme, among other co-curricular activities, was noted for aligning with our school’s aims and providing diverse opportunities for academic challenge and collaboration.
Areas for Improvement
The report makes just two recommendations on how we should aim to improve. The first is to “ensure that the dates of recruitment checks are correctly recorded”, following some “minor administrative errors in recording the date of checks”. These were quickly addressed, as the inspection team acknowledged, and we have a robust additional checking system in place.
The other recommendation is about our reporting structures, which we were already reviewing before the inspectors came to call. It is an area that had come up in feedback from parents and pupils and the recommendation is “To develop the school’s system of academic reporting to parents so that parents and pupils have a greater understanding of pupils’ progress and achievement”.
The Prep and Senior schools have both refined and redesigned the reporting schedules to ensure timely and meaningful reporting to parents, with due consideration of staff wellbeing. We are introducing this system this term and senior school parents will receive a summary of the reporting structure for the year ahead. We would have done this work anyway, and we hope that it will be a very positive development for the school.
Acknowledgements and Next Steps
We extend our heartfelt thanks to our dedicated staff and exceptional pupils, whose efforts were instrumental in achieving this positive evaluation. Our pupils’ pride in their school and their sense of belonging were particularly noteworthy, as reflected in recent survey results.
The full report may be downloaded from the website of the Independent Schools Inspectorate, www.isi.net.
2019 Educational Quality Inspection Report