Letter regarding recent Ofsted Visit - Smithdon High School ...

Smithdon High School
Mr J M Goodchild, MA, B Ed(Hons), Cert Ed
Headmaster
Downs Road, Hunstanton
Norfolk PE36 5HY
Telephone: 01485 534541 Fax : 01485 535251
e-mail: office@smithdon.norfolk.sch.uk
website: www.smithdon.norfolk.sch.uk
JG/ML
19 June 2012
Dear Parent or Guardian
I am pleased to inform you that Ofsted visited the school on 29 and 30 May 2012 and have now released a
report on their findings.
The school continues to make satisfactory progress, which is excellent news. We are clearly building on the
progress previously made and which Ofsted reported on, as well as the record GCSE results achieved last
summer. The visit was very useful and while the findings contained no surprises, the Ofsted team underlined
the accuracy of the Senior Leadership’s view of the school, the strong development of the Governing Body
and the extent of the improvements we have made since their last visit.
As a school we are fully aware that continued progress in a number of areas is essential. As parents you
should be in no doubt that we will continue to demand progress at an accelerating rate, providing the good
education which is every child’s right.
I will be pleased to meet with parents at 6.30pm on Tuesday 26 June to discuss this latest report, which is
available in full on the school website www.smithdon.norfolk.sch.uk.
In summary the report noted the following:
Progress has been satisfactory since the last Ofsted visit.
The recruitment of staff and staff absence continue to pose real challenges, as recruitment does
across the whole of North West Norfolk.
Our current GCSE target brings us close to the National average, which is higher than the level
achieved by all the local High Schools last summer.
Good work was seen in relation to exam preparation in a number of subjects, but we should not overemphasise
this aspect of our work.
Key Stage 3 Assessment and use of data is not always accurate and we acknowledge the need to
improve in this area.
We need to improve our teaching of Literacy across the whole curriculum. There is a new emphasis
on this by Ofsted; we support this focus and have a number of initiatives in place.
The revised management of the Sixth Form is having a positive impact.
Teaching has improved, with a higher proportion of lessons being judged ‘good’. Where standards
are not high enough, action is already being taken. Ofsted makes much of the need to model
outstanding teaching, which creates a real problem for the school as their database lists the two
closest schools to us which exhibit outstanding teaching as located in Hertfordshire and North
Lincolnshire. It is right that we should aim to be a school exhibiting outstanding teaching and we will
consider how we access exemplary practice very carefully.

I am delighted that the Ofsted team fully recognised our excellent progress with respect to student
behaviour:
“Inspectors saw behaviour in lessons that was always satisfactory and quite often good …”
Leadership at senior level remains strong in challenging circumstances and at middle leadership
level, the changes we have made have been very effective.
The Governing Body, criticised during the last full inspection, has undergone a transformation, with
effectiveness and innovation being current characteristics.
There is no doubt that Ofsted has ‘raised the bar’ considerably with respect to their judgements of schools. As
a result nearly all the schools recently inspected in our area have been placed in a category requiring
improvement. I am greatly encouraged by the progress that we have made in challenging circumstances, the
determination of the staff to accelerate our improvement, the morale of the whole staff and the reaction of our
students.
I look forward to meeting you on Tuesday 26 June at 6.30pm, when I will have the opportunity to discuss the
latest report with you in more detail.
Yours sincerely
Mr J M Goodchild
Headteacher
SMITHDON HIGH SCHOOL OPEN TO ALL
Smithdon High School will open for all members of the community to view our school at work, with every
opportunity to visit teaching areas, laboratories and workshops and to see first-hand our outstanding ICT
facilities.
No appointment is necessary. We will be pleased to meet potential parents, students, grandparents and
members of the community on the following dates:
Monday 25 June, 9.00am to 10.30am
Tuesday 26 June, 9.00am to 10.30am
Friday 29 June, 9.00am to 10.30am
“Inspectors saw behaviour in lessons that was always satisfactory and quite often good.” (Ofsted June
2012)