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While an Ofsted inspection of La Mare de Carteret High School has indicated the quality of education requires improvement, it has commended a positive culture generated by both its teachers and students.
The school was inspected on the 15 and 16 March and was found to be a “happy and welcoming school”. Bullying is rare and dealt with swiftly, while staff morale was found to be high.
“As a result, most pupils enjoy school and are positive about their futures,” the report states. However, it also said the quality of education pupils receive is not “consistently of a high quality”.
It said: “Expectations of what pupils can achieve through the curriculum are not consistently high enough. Consequently, pupils’ understanding is not deepened over time. Furthermore, some pupils do not take pride in the quality of their work. Leaders should raise the expectations of what pupils can achieve.”
The report findings are below:
The Principal of LMDC, Verona Tomlin, said she was pleased that Ofsted recognised the positives experiences students receive.
“While there are undoubtedly areas where we can, and will, improve, I was heartened that the inspection report reinforces our belief that we are on the right track,” she said.
The grading by Ofsted has given the Director of Education, Nick Hynes, a chance to expand on the grade ‘Requires Improvement’, arguing that it is often seen as purely a negative grade.
“The way the Ofsted framework works is that in order to achieve a “good” or “excellent” rating then the school needs to consistently achieve the required level across the board," he said.
“The gradings are broad and by definition, if a school does not reach the threshold for a good rating in a category then it requires improvement. Requires improvement also means that the school is on the right track, otherwise it would be ‘inadequate’.”
LMDC will be closing in 2025 and its uncertain present and future was noted by the President of Education, Sport and Culture when remarking on the Ofsted grades.
“As is widely known amongst the community, La Mare de Carteret High School has gone through many years of uncertainty,” said Deputy Andrea Dudley-Owen.
“It now has a clear direction of travel for the coming years and this inspection report highlights the many successes of the school, which are a credit to Verona, her team, students and the wider school community.”
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