"Outstanding" accolade for Charters School

Charters School in Sunningdale has maintained its ranking as an outstanding school following its latest Ofsted report.

Inspectors spent two days at the school in Charters Road early last month and once again awarded a grade 1 – "outstanding" rating – equalling its success at its last Ofsted inspection in 2006.

Described as a school "rightly prized by the local community", Charters earned high praise from inspectors in many areas including:
•    students described as "fantastic ambassadors" who are proud of their school, excelling in their academic achievement and personal development
•    exceptional leadership opportunities for all pupils to prepare them for higher education and the world of work
•    the school's two specialisms – in sports and science – which have significantly improved all aspects of school life and personal development
•    high numbers of pupils taking part in the "exceptional" extra-curricular programme.

Inspectors recorded that attainment is consistently high "and significantly above that seen in other schools nationally", while the quality of teaching is good, and "outstanding" in some lessons, with dedicated teachers committed to helping every pupil fulfil their potential.

In addition, the school's two co-headteachers and their senior leadership team are "very highly regarded" and valued by the school community.

Also highlighted for praise is the wide-ranging curriculum which "is an outstanding aspect of the school's provision" with courses ranging from GCSE, BTEC and Young Apprenticeship programmes to the gifted and talented programme which includes Latin and Mandarin Chinese.

Although most aspects of care, guidance and support for students are also outstanding, inspectors have asked the school to:
•    improve its safeguarding procedures to ensure that it can continue to keep everyone safe and to ensure that all staff receive appropriate child protection training. The school has already put measures in place to improve these aspects of child protection procedures
•    improve the quality of teaching and learning even further by providing more opportunities for pupils to develop their skills as independent learners.

Cllr Eileen Quick, lead member for children's services, said: "This is great news for the whole school community at Charters, and everyone should be very proud of their achievements.  So many areas of life at the school have earned high praise from the inspectors, proving that a rating of outstanding is very well-deserved.

"The school has already begun to take measures to address the few areas of concern highlighted in the report, including improving their safeguarding procedures to ensure that all staff are appropriately trained with regard to child protection issues."

Asked for their thoughts on the inspection, the school's co-headteachers, Richard Pilgrim and Martyn Parker praised the work of all 252 staff and 1630 students. "It is an achievement of which we can all be proud, especially as Ofsted have now raised the bar.  The inspection will help us to plan our work in the coming months and we are looking forward to even greater success in the future."