Ofsted: Officially 'Good'!

Overton Grange School continues to be rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted following its latest inspection.


“Lessons are hard enough, but not so much it scares you.”

STAFF and students are starting their Easter break with a genuine ‘spring’ in their step after the Government’s education watchdog praised Sutton’s Overton Grange School’s continuing improvement. Ofsted, inspected the school last month (March 19th, 2019).

In a report sent to headteachers, Ofsted judged that the Stanley Road school has maintained the ‘good’ quality of provision recorded by inspectors during the previous inspection in 2016.

The report stated: ‘Staff, pupils and parents who responded to the Ofsted surveys (over 600 respondents) are proud of the school and its traditions.’ It stated: ‘Staff and parents who responded to the Ofsted survey were overwhelmingly positive about pupils’ behaviour.’

It says; ‘The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education at the school since the last inspection. The school has responded to the areas of improvement identified in the previous inspection report. This is evident in the improvement in pupils’ progress in their GCSE outcomes in 2018 when compared to 2017.’

The official letter made special mention of the school’s ‘effective safeguarding’, the pupils’ good behaviour, their progress, improvement in pupil attendance, and the quality of the school’s governance.

With reference to Overton Grange’s Sixth Form, Ofsted judged that; ‘Teachers planned effectively to provide appropriate tasks which accurately matched students’ ability. As a result students were supported in becoming more independent learners and they made strong progress.’

The report highlighted a quote from one 6th form student saying: “Lessons are hard enough, but not so much it scares you.”

The school’s headteacher, Keith Stride said; “I am pleased to see how this report presents us, we have continued to improve in all areas and I think this is reflected in Ofsted’s findings. "

“Ofsted gave us half a day’s notice of their intention to visit, and although the short-notice phone call is enough to make your heart stop – what this process reaffirms to us is that we are on the right track to becoming one of the best schools in Sutton. ”

Inspectors met with the headteachers, senior leaders, subject leaders, governors and pupils to discuss the school’s progress since the previous inspection. They visited lessons, observed teaching and looked at pupils’ work in several subjects.

Read the report here

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