Whitstone School are celebrating an excellent recent Ofsted inspection, with the school judged to be 'Good' in all areas. The inspection forms part of Ofsted's routine inspection cycle of schools and saw four inspectors visit the school over the rigorous two-day process.

The final Ofsted Inspection report includes many positive reflections on the ambitious comprehensive school. Inspectors found Whitstone to be a 'happy community school' with a respectful culture where leaders have high expectations of students. The report states that students are proud of their school and often take advantage of the recent introduction of leadership positions within the school to act as Student Leaders, Peer Mentors and Student Council representatives.

During the inspection, emphasis was placed on the design of the school's curriculum and the manner in which this curriculum is then delivered within the classroom. The Ofsted Inspectors spoke glowingly of the ambitious curriculum developed over the past two years, the impressive range of courses and the ability of SEN students to access the wide range of support in place to enable them to engage fully with the curriculum. The standard of teaching was praised, with the report stating 'Teachers model learning and ensure pupils revisit the important knowledge they need to remember'.

Headteacher Guy Swallow, who has been in post since January 2020, commented 'I am proud that the hard work of our staff and students has been recognised by the Ofsted Inspection team and that the journey we have been on for the past two years was evident during the recent process. In some areas, the Inspection team considered whether we had met the 'Outstanding' criteria, which will now be one of our objectives as we move forward over the next three years. I am proud on a day-to-day basis of the efforts and achievements of our students and staff however, this is certainly a wonderful milestone on our journey'. Mr Swallow went on to thank the support of parents and carers over the past few years and especially so for the messages of support during the inspection itself.

The two-day process saw inspectors speak with a large number of students, visit around 50 lessons, consider staff, student and parent surveys along with meetings held with school leaders. The final report, issued around 8 weeks after the inspection, speaks highly of the schools safeguarding provision and school leadership, especially so after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The inspectors commented on the improvements seen at Whitstone School over the past two years, something which was widely spoken of by students, parents and the wider community. These improvements have led to the school now being oversubscribed in a number of year groups and in a position to help lead the creation of education partnerships across the county with Bath Spa University, Teach First, Preston School and a number of local primary schools through the Community Learning Partnership.