Inspectors have praised the quality of education provided by the College Junior School concluding that the independent, boarding and day school “provides a broad, balanced and high quality educational experience for its pupils. It has many strong features, some of which are outstanding”. 

The report goes on to highlight the College Junior School’s major strengths in each section. The term ‘outstanding’ is the highest category of judgement possible:

• “The overall quality of pupils’ personal development is outstanding.”

• “Teaching overall is very effective with a significant proportion being outstanding.”

• “The quality of pastoral care is outstanding.”

• “Throughout the school pupils read and write fluently and intelligently at a level that is often particularly good for their age.”

• “As a result of teachers’ high expectations, pupils’ attitudes to work and study are exceptionally good in all sections of the school.”

• “The homely and supportive ethos of the boarding arrangements safeguards and promotes pupils’ welfare. It is of high quality with many outstanding features and makes a very positive contribution to the pupils’ educational experience.”

• “ … Pupils achieve good academic results while being happy, confident and having a positive attitude to work.

The inspectors also judged as ‘outstanding’ the success in sport and mathematics nationally, the College’s facilities and the school’s links with the wider community.

Head of the Junior School John Greathead said: “We are a school that is committed to providing an environment in which every pupil feels valued, encouraged and challenged as an individual. Staff work very hard to create high standards of academic development, pastoral support and exciting opportunities for all our pupils and I am absolutely delighted that these qualities are recognised and emphasised so strongly in the report.

One of the great strengths of the ISI inspection system is that, in addition to celebrating successes and achievements, it highlights ways in which a school can improve further. Among the few areas the inspectors highlighted for further improvement are that we should continue to develop the roles and responsibilities of senior managers and subject leaders and ensure greater consistency in the format of our schemes of work. The staff and I had already begun to work on some of these areas and we will continue to do so to make our school even better.”

To see the full ISI report, please click here