OfSTED Inspection of Bramhall High School

17 May 2018

Bramhall High School were delighted to receive their formal OfSTED report following their monitoring inspection, carried out by Anne Seneviratne, a highly regarded HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspector.)

The report clearly identifies that Bramhall High School is in a very strong position at the time of this inspection. The HMI focused on the work of all leaders with responsibilities here at Bramhall and it is clear leadership has further improved from our ‘good’ grading since the last inspection (March 2017) with Anne reporting:

‘At the last inspection, the effectiveness of leadership and management was judged to be good. The leadership of the school has been strengthened even further in the last 12 months. As headteacher you continue to lead the school very effectively. Governors and the local authority have complete confidence in your leadership with Governors continuing to provide effective support and challenge. You have galvanised the whole school community. It is clear that you have the support of staff, pupils and parents, who value what you are doing to improve the school. You are ably supported by a strong leadership team who work in a coherent and purposeful manner and their actions have a positive impact on pupils’ progress.’

Over the last 12 months they have put plans in place to ensure that Bramhall High School is ‘officially’ recognised as the ‘Good and Outstanding ’ school that it is. Once again these clear and focused improvements were recognised by the HMI who went on to report that:

‘The quality of teaching and learning across the school has improved in the last year therefore more pupils are now benefiting from good teaching. Thorough quality-assurance procedures mean that senior leaders have an accurate understanding of what is typically happening in classrooms on a daily basis.’ ‘Staff clearly have the highest expectations of what students can achieve’

This is an area they have prioritised to ensure that their academic results continue to improve to provide an outstanding platform for the students to progress from as they move on to the next phase of their education. The HMI also recognised that their results have improved year on year reflecting the high-quality learning experience that our students have.

Bramhall High

At Bramhall they have significantly invested in encouraging our students to develop their wider reading skills in order to support their studies but to also foster a lifelong love of reading for pleasure. Once again the positive impact of this has been endorsed in the report stating:

There is a more focused approach to the leadership of literacy across the school. The two priorities this year have been reading and marking for literacy. The reading programme in key stage 3 has improved pupils’ engagement with reading for pleasure. It has also made a significant difference to the reading ages of all students and our disadvantaged pupils.

Bramhall High School

As we all recognise positive attendance habits are key to both academic outcomes and future success for students and this has also been praised by Ms Seneviratne who recorded in her report that:

In the last year, ensuring that all pupils attend school regularly has been a high priority. Leadership of this area is focused and effective and consequently, pupils’ attendance has improved. Overall absence and persistent absence rates are below national averages.

As a team at Bramhall, of families and practitioners, they are delighted that all the positive aspects of our work have been publically endorsed at this level. They now anticipate securing an excellent grading at the next inspection.

Bramhall High School