The Executive Headteacher at Broadlands Primary School in Hereford, Simon Robertson, has expressed his pride after receiving news on the outcome of a recent monitoring inspection, which was carried out remotely by Ofsted.
While the grading given to a school cannot change as a result of a monitoring inspection, the report sent to Broadlands following the virtual visit concluded that the school has been taking effective action to provide education for its children in the current circumstances, despite the many challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Ofsted reports states that the school’s leaders have thought carefully about the best way to deliver its home learning package and that consultation with staff and parents has meant that their views could be taken onboard.
Specific mention has been made of the additional support offered to students with special educational needs.
Speaking about the Ofsted report, Mr Robertson said:
“The past 12 months have been difficult for everyone and in schools it has been no different. We have faced up to unique challenges and I am incredibly proud of how staff at the three schools in our federation – Broadlands Primary, Withington Primary and Aylestone – have responded to all of them.
“The recent monitoring inspection at Broadlands has only served to increase how positive I feel about the school and I genuinely believe that if the grading could have changedafter this monitoring inspection, Broadlands would now be graded as good.
“On reading the report, I was particularly pleased to see that inspectors recognised that the school’s leaders and staff ‘rightly pride themselves on the efforts they are making to engage pupils in their learning’. They could also see the high levels of monitoring being done to ensure that our students are continuing to get the best education they can.
“This means that individual students are still able to work at the levels that they need to and are challenged by the remote work they are being provided with.
“As well as looking after our students, senior figures in the federation have also been very much aware that ourteachers need extra support too. The report acknowledges the federation has worked collaboratively to reduce the workload for its teachers and that Governors have been ‘prioritising the well-being of leaders and staff’ and that they are ‘mindful of putting too much pressure on them’ during these unprecedented times.
“One of the highlights of the report for me is the comment that staff have said that the pandemic has brought our three schools closer together. This is something I have felt too,and it just makes me even more proud of the work being done by everyone at our schools.”
