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The News Magazine of Comberton Village College
ISSUE 32, SPRING 2013
OU TS T AND IN G I N EV E RY W AY Comberton learned first-hand about the new style of Ofsted inspections — but the result was exactly the same.
Graded outstanding at the last visit in 2007, the college has again been rated as outstanding overall and in the four key areas inspected after the quick-fire visit earlier this term. This included ringing endorsements for three areas of the college that did not exist at the last inspection — the Sixth Form, the Cabin and the Green Room. Since September 2012, schools receive close to no notice for an Ofsted inspection. A phone call is received from the Lead Inspector the afternoon before the inspection is due to take place. The team of inspectors then turn up first thing the next morning. They are then gone by the afternoon of the next day and that is it. It was set to be a time of significant testing for the school. A team of five inspectors (including the designated Lead Inspector) together with a ‘shadow’ inspector (following the Lead Inspector on her work) made up the team. Their task was to make judgements under the four key criteria
that frame an inspection now: Achievement of Pupils, Quality of Teaching, Behaviour and Safety of Pupils, and Leadership and Management. From these, the judgement on overall effectiveness can then be made. They observed 46 lessons, some jointly with members of the senior leadership group at the school (in order to confirm that the school can and does accurately judge the standard of teaching and learning at the school). Various meetings with both staff and pupils took place and much data about student performance was analysed. Governors were interviewed and staff and parental questionnaires were completed and analysed. A phone call with The Voyager , our sponsored Academy in Peterborough, also took place. Inspectors also wandered the length and breadth of the school to clarify various matters. A lot happened in a short space of time! By the end of the two days, there was no equivocation whatsoever about the judgements made by the team of inspectors. The opening statement of the report summarised the overall
message: “Comberton Village College is a highly successful school which enables its pupils to achieve not only academic excellence but also to become mature, confident, thoughtful and rounded individuals with clear goals for their future lives.� That is a pretty good summary of what we do seek to achieve! All aspects of the school’s work were inspected and all came through with flying colours. However, three areas were looked at especially closely by inspectors as they represented newer and very important aspects of our work: The Sixth Form, The Green Room and The Cabin. Given that there are not yet any final results for our Sixth Formers as the Sixth Form is not yet two years old, clarification of the standards of the Sixth was especially significant and important. The judgement was utterly clear-cut: “The relatively new Sixth Form is outstanding. In a short time, it has become firmly established. Students are now achieving exceptionally well and are on track to attain high standards at the end of their courses.� Stephen Munday, Executive Principal
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