Teachers ‘ecstatic’ after sixth form provision rated ‘outstanding’ at Northamptonshire school

The Chenderit secondary school in Middleton Cheney has been awarded a ‘good’ overall rating by Ofsted after its latest inspection.

The school was visited by inspectors in September and was subsequently rated good in the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management categories.

Their sixth form provision was rated outstanding, leading to an overall rating of ‘good’ in a report published earlier this month.

Headteacher Jane Cartwright said: “We are thrilled with Ofsted’s judgements about our school and sixth form.”

She added: “Our students were very involved in our inspection, meeting with all the inspectors and talking about what it is like to be a student at Chenderit School. Staff and students impressed the inspection team, and our sixth form students - in particular - were exuberant about sixth form life.”

The glowing Ofsted report said that the school’s leaders have high expectations for every pupil’s behaviour and attainment and they are ambitious about what they want pupils to learn.

Inspectors described classrooms as “calm” with “well established” lesson routines led by teachers with “good subject knowledge.”

The education watchdog had high praise for Chenderit school’s sixth form provision, where it said older students develop excellent subject knowledge and benefit from highly personalised support and guidance.

Assistant headteacher and head of sixth form Billy Belstone said: “We are all ecstatic that our sixth form has been recognised in this way.

“We pride ourselves on being a tight-knit community and I am incredibly proud of our teachers and students who work alongside one another to make our Sixth Form the special and unique place that it is.”

He added: “These comments, on the back of our excellent A-Level results in the summer, show what an exceptional place our sixth form is, and I am excited to continue leading the team to ensure our students have an outstanding sixth form experience.”

To boost their grade to outstanding, Ofsted said that leaders need to ensure that teachers are delivering lessons to pupils in a manner that matches the ambition of their curriculum plans so that pupils consistently build their understanding well over time.

Inspectors said that leaders must also ensure that vulnerable pupils receive the support they need to attend school as well as they should.

Read the full Ofsted report here.