Ofsted
A message from The Headteacher - Mr Rod Bell
The Corsham School Ofsted Report 14th & 15th January 2025
Following our recent ungraded Section 8 inspection on 14th and 15th January 2025, we are delighted to share with you the fantastic news that The Corsham School has successfully ‘maintained the high standards identified in our previous Ofsted inspection,’ (September 2019).
Ofsted has confirmed that our school continues to provide a high-quality education, ensuring a supportive and enriching environment for all our students.
This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of our staff, students, and the wider school community. We are incredibly proud that the inspectors recognised the many strengths of our school, including, but not limited to:
High Expectations and Student Support: Inspectors highlighted the high expectations we have for all our students and the excellent support we provide, particularly for those with special educational needs and disadvantaged backgrounds. It was noted that pupils prosper because of these high expectations and the exceptional support they receive.
Personal Development Opportunities: The report praised our extensive extracurricular provision, from the school production of Hamlet to the success of our Lit Soc and our wide range of sporting activities. Inspectors were really impressed by the wide range of opportunities for pupils to develop their talents and personal interests and this view was supported by the responses form the pupil and parent view surveys.
Quality of Teaching and Curriculum: Ofsted noted the well-sequenced curriculum that prepares students effectively for their next steps, including further education and employment. It was acknowledged that we offer a wide range of subjects/courses throughout Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 which prepare students well for their next steps. The inspection team were impressed by the quality of teaching they observed, specifically referencing how teachers adapt learning for those that need it and fostering a positive school culture.
Positive School Culture: Inspectors were impressed by our students’ enthusiasm for learning, their positive behaviour, and the welcoming, inclusive atmosphere within the school. They could see (and had reported to them via their pupil surveys responses) that pupils enjoyed coming to school and were proud of their school. The Inspection team specifically commented that they had not previously seen an Ofsted pupil survey response rate as high as our students had achieved and that most responses were overwhelmingly positive about the educational experience pupils receive.
Parent Partnerships: We would also like to extend our gratitude to all parents and carers who took the time to complete the Ofsted Parent View survey. Your feedback is invaluable as we continue to refine and enhance our provision to ensure the best possible outcomes for our students.
You can read the full Ofsted report attached at the bottom of this page.
Next Steps
Our leadership team have already carefully reviewed the feedback from Ofsted, and we continue working on our school improvement plans as we strive to continuously improve the school experience for our pupils. In particular, we will:
- Continue to provide outstanding academic and personal development opportunities to enrich every student’s school experience and ensure all our areas of identified strengths are maintained and enhanced further.
- Further refine our support for students at the early stages of reading to ensure they gain confidence more quickly.
- Strengthen our strategies to help students, especially those with SEND, to better understand how to build upon their learning, particularly in subjects where this needs further development.
We are really pleased that Ofsted’s findings closely align with our own internal evaluation of the school’s strengths and areas for improvement. The inspection has reinforced our understanding of what we do well and the areas where we are already focusing our development efforts. This validation gives us great confidence in our ongoing plans and initiatives to enhance further the school experience for all students.
Thank you for your ongoing support and partnership in making The Corsham School a thriving learning community. If you have any questions or would like to discuss any aspect of the report in more detail, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
September 2019
A message from The Headteacher - Mr Rod Bell
It's Official - The Corsham School is a ‘Good’ School where “pupils learn well in a secure, friendly and supportive setting.” Ofsted 2019
Since I arrived at The Corsham School just over two and a half years ago, I have been delighted with the progress we have made in our commitment to continually improve all aspects of the quality of educational experience for our pupils in pursuit of our vision ‘To Provide educational excellence at the heart of a vibrant community which equips students to thrive in a highly competitive world.’
The staff work tirelessly to continually improve the many aspects of the quality of education that our pupils experience, having paid particular attention to all the improvements identified by Ofsted in their March 2017 Report, and it has been particularly gratifying leading these improvements and seeing the mind-set of our pupils change so that they, like the staff, now all have higher aspirations and expectations of themselves with the belief that they can be hugely successful in their future in whatever they put their mind to. This focus on supporting all pupils to be the very best they can be an all aspects of their personal and academic life, along with a school culture of being proud of one’s successes, is becoming embedded here.
“Leaders have high expectations for pupils. They want all pupils to do their best and they make this message very clear.” Ofsted 2019
The new look September 2019 Report, which follows our 11-12th September two day Ofsted inspection of the school under as a new and revised Ofsted Education Inspection Framework that came into play on 1st September, has now been published. Over the two days, five Inspectors visited the school where they surveyed all pupils, staff and parents for their views on the school, observed lessons and lunchtime/break time activities, held meetings with school leaders, staff, pupils and governors, with the feedback that informed their final overwhelmingly positive judgements about our school.
Under the new Inspection Framework, the final published written report is shorter and less detailed as it was under the previous Inspection Framework and it also doesn’t include summary findings under each of the Inspection Category Gradings. Instead, under the new framework, the report is a much more succinct general written summary with the full and more detailed feedback of the Inspection findings, which would have been part of the report under the previous framework, verbally fed back to Governors and the Senior Leadership Team after the conclusion of the Inspection.
The judgements within this report are ones that The Corsham School deserves to be rightly proud of, reflecting very well on its pupils and staff and I hope you are as proud as every one of us that are part of this wonderful school. I encourage you it read it when you get a chance. (The full report is attached at the top of the page.)
The Corsham School has been judged as an overall ‘Good’ school and achieved ‘Good’ ratings for all five of the new inspection framework categories:
September 2019:
| Overall effectiveness: | Good |
|---|---|
| The Quality of Education: | Good |
| Behaviour and Attitudes: | Good |
| Personal Development: | Good |
| Leadership and Management: | Good |
| Sixth Form Provision: | Good |
It is particularly pleasing that all of the strengths of the school identified in the March 2017 Report have been maintained and/or strengthened further and there are no longer any categories identified as ‘Requires Improvement’. It is extremely satisfying to know that the changes we are bringing about to improve the quality of education for our pupils have the seal of approval from Ofsted.
In addition to the pleasing overall ‘Good’ judgements, some of the many highlights from the Ofsted Inspection feedback/report include:
- “Leaders have high expectations for pupils. They want all pupils to do their best and they make this message very clear.”
- “Leaders want pupils to excel beyond their lessons.”
- “Leaders want as many pupils as possible to succeed in the English Baccalaureate.”
- “The trustees of the multi-academy trust (MAT) have a clear vision for the school.”
- “Teaching takes place in well-equipped rooms with specialist teachers.”
- “Staff know pupils well and make sure that they feel comfortable and cared for.”
- “Pupils achieve well in their GCSEs and A levels.”
- “Each year, pupils are gaining better results.”
- “When pupils, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) need extra help, staff provide this efficiently.”
- “Pupils behave well in and out of lessons.”
- “Pupils’ good behaviour makes a strong contribution to their ability to learn.”
- “Pupils are respectful of each other.”
- “Pupils learn well in a secure, friendly and supportive setting.”
- “Pupils show tolerance to others and know that bullying is not allowed. When it does happen, staff deal with it swiftly.”
- “Pupils learn a rich and broad curriculum from Year 7 onward.”
- “Pupils develop knowledge well in the core subjects of English, mathematics and science.”
- “Pupils are given good advice about which GCSE subjects to choose.”
- “Pupils go on to their new destinations with confidence when they leave.”
- “Pupils feel safe and are safe.”
- “The arrangements for safeguarding are effective” where “staff are vigilant in looking for any signs that a pupil may be vulnerable...informing the safeguarding leaders…who respond quickly and efficiently.”
It was extremely heart-warming to receive the many overwhelmingly positive good luck emails Parents and Carers sent to me and my staff during the inspection. The unwavering support of Parents and Carers is an essential ingredient of pupil and school success and something we are particularly grateful for. Ofsted were very complimentary about their analysis of the Parent Survey, with some of the pleasing headline results below:
- 97% of Parents surveyed agree/strongly agree with ‘My child is happy at this school.’
- 98% of Parents surveyed agree/strongly agree with ‘My child feels safe at this school.’
- 93% of Parents surveyed agree/strongly agree that ‘The school has high expectations of my child.’
- 95% of Parents surveyed agree/strongly agree with ‘My child does well at this school.’
- 98% of Parents surveyed agree/strongly agree that ‘There is a good range of subjects available to my child at this school.’
- 94% of Parents surveyed agree/strongly agree with ‘My child can take part in clubs and activities at this school.’
- 96% of Parents surveyed ‘Would recommend this school to another parent.’
We are already working on addressing the small number of areas the Ofsted report identified for improvement and we will continue to build on the many strengths they identified which reflect so well on the sustained hard work of our staff and students.
Parents and Carers in Corsham and the surrounding villages can again see the impact of the positive changes and continuous improvement taking place here at The Corsham School.
Rod Bell - Headteacher
Ofsted Parent View, gives parents the opportunity to tell Ofsted what they think about us and how we are doing. Please click on the link here.