HEADTEACHER Denis Oliver has stressed the ‘overwhelmingly positive comments’ in the latest Ofsted report for his school despite disappointment at it not being judged to be outstanding.

Mr Oliver leads Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, which received a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted following an inspection on February 11 and 12.

The inspection was the school’s first for 13 years, as a change in the law in 2011 made outstanding schools exempt from routine inspection.

The previous ‘outstanding’ judgement reflected the school’s overall effectiveness in 2007 under the inspection framework at that time, and the new judgement of ‘good’ reflects the current framework.

The report said: “Pupils and students are delightful. They are courteous, respectful and full of praise for the quality of education the school provides.

“The pupils and students we spoke to said their teachers are ambitious for them.

“Outcomes for pupils are strong. By the end of key stage 4 pupils attain well across a wide range of subjects.”

The report said the key stage 3 curriculum was being reviewed and strengthened, and in some subjects curriculum leaders were refining what they wanted pupils to know and remember.

It said: “The curriculum aims in these subjects are not as challenging as they should be. Consequently some pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

“Leaders must support and challenge curriculum leaders to implement highly effective curriculum plans across key stage 3.”

The report said overall parents felt the school communicated effectively with them.

It added: “However a significant number of the 533 parents who responded to Parent View feel the school does not explain sufficiently well the content of the curriculum.”

Mr Oliver said: “The educational landscape has shifted massively over the past few years in many areas, but none more so than in the area of the requirements of the curriculum and the national examination systems at GCSE and A level.

“The new Ofsted framework and guidance on the curriculum for Key Stage 3, ages 11 to 14, has changed to be much more focused on knowledge retention, in preparation for the new, linear style, final examinations later in school life.

“We welcome this report as it broadly reflects our own self-evaluation.

“Prior to the inspection we were already well under way with restructuring our key stage 3 curriculum.

“The Ofsted report adds impetus to this process, and is effectively a mandate for accelerating the rate of curriculum development. “Although the visit was intense and challenging it was a real opportunity to celebrate life at our school.

“While we are naturally disappointed not to have been judged outstanding under the new framework the overwhelmingly positive comments used in the report are an excellent reflection of the strong position we are in as a school.

“However we have to realise, that like the other schools, building a new curriculum, the framework on which all of our teaching and learning is based, takes time to implement and embed.

“I would like to say a massive thank you to all the students, parents, staff and governors, who between them make our school the wonderful learning environment it clearly is.”