ofsted for BM and Ricky

Eleven Plus (11+) in South West Hertfordshire

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asldoc
Posts: 47
Joined: Tue May 28, 2013 11:04 pm

ofsted for BM and Ricky

Post by asldoc »

I was surprised when having a nose around this morning that both Bushey Mead and Rickmansworth score only a good (2) overall in their Ofsted reports. Is anyone else surprised by this and does it make sense in terms of people's personal experiences?
KS10
Posts: 2516
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 12:39 am

Re: ofsted for BM and Ricky

Post by KS10 »

A good is nothing to be ashamed of. It just means that the school didn't tick all the boxes that Ofsted considers to be important. We have an outstanding comprehensive nearby that I don't consider to be the slightest bit outstanding. Plus, it is more difficult to get an outstanding now.
future
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 11:31 am

Re: ofsted for BM and Ricky

Post by future »

I was also looking at the Ofsted reports yesterday and was a little surprised and concerned with the Ricky report. Especially as the report was conducted as recently as last month. The bit that concerned me were the 3 points that stop it from being outstanding in the summary. How much importance should one place on an Ofsted report?
decaff
Posts: 236
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 1:10 pm

Re: ofsted for BM and Ricky

Post by decaff »

My dear son is year 7 at Ricky. I was very pleased with Good Ofsted for school. As many will know the school has gone through huge changes and upheavals recently and the school is currently led by the deputy head from WBGS. He has done an outstanding job. The new head previously head at BM will start in January 2014. Also the rules surrounding Ofsted have changed and my teacher friends inform me it is now much much harder to achieve an Outstanding grade. My DS previous primary school had received Outstanding reports on a number of occasions but when inspected in the summer it was marked as good. As far as I was aware nothing had changed. Perhaps the teachers on this forum can let us know how the rules have changed but I think it now focuses primarily on teaching and leadership as opposed to other factors such as facilities, extra curricular activities etc.
I can't comment on BM but I think Ricky is an excellent school.
future
Posts: 168
Joined: Sat Jul 20, 2013 11:31 am

Re: ofsted for BM and Ricky

Post by future »

Decaff - thank you. Always good to get reassurance from a parent whose DC is already at the school. Really liked the school, pupils and teachers on Open Day
hamscd
Posts: 36
Joined: Thu Mar 07, 2013 1:22 pm

Re: ofsted for BM and Ricky

Post by hamscd »

I understand that no school will get outstanding if it fails its poorer children i.e children receiving free school meal and so it will be very difficult for any school to get outstanding.
Mgnmum
Posts: 245
Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2012 6:34 pm

Re: ofsted for BM and Ricky

Post by Mgnmum »

Decaff, we must have had kids at same primary!
I heard that basically they decide before they arrive what the ofsted results will be and it is virtually impossible to change. At primary level it is all about added value and therefor if you are in a relatively affluent area with low levels of English as a 2nd language it is very difficult to get high added value. Also they no longer are interested in level 4 being the expected attainment in year 6 ( the stated expected) but how many get level 5 or 6 and the school did not get outstanding this year because of the lower than they expected for the area levels in english. Pretty harsh to to inspect a school the last full week of term when the head was just leaving.

As far as Ricky is concerned, I think a good is in fact excellent. The school has been in turmoil without a head for a year and with stand ins from WGSB adn WGSG, appointed to oversee things this term until new head in January. To get a good during this time I think is great. ( i am not biased as my dd has started at WGSG this year)
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