From Maurice Devenney (Headteacher)

As you will be aware we were visited by OFSTED on 24 and 25 January 2023. It now gives me great pleasure to share the final report and the outcomes of this inspection with you (I have to admit it has been incredibly difficult for me keep this fantastic news under wraps for the past month). Due to our excellent outcomes last year we were inspected under a Section 8 inspection, meaning that inspectors are evaluating whether the school remains good, with no change in the overall grading. Had there been any concerns over provision or results, we would have been inspected under a Section 5 inspection. I am delighted to inform you that we remain ‘Good’, with so much of our work being identified by the inspectors as being outstanding.

Before we go any further, I would like to take the time to acknowledge and thank everyone who has been involved in this inspection. My fantastic and supportive staff, our wonderful students and the wider #teamchsg who make our school a great place every day, not just during these 2 days. I want to thank the parents and carers who support us endlessly by ensuring their child meets our expectations and, like us, believe in the power of a great education. There were so many positive emails from parents and carers and I thank you all for taking the time to do so. I can assure you, we didn’t ‘pull out any stops’ or do anything differently to what we normally do on a daily basis, which makes this report even more pleasing for everyone in #teamchsg.

Now to the report! Throughout the 2 days inspectors were incredibly positive about the school (especially the staff and students) and the learning environment we have created. In this report they have acknowledged the hard work and commitment of my staff and have more importantly ratified many of the decisions we have made as leaders since the last inspection. They understood our mission and praised our high expectations of our students. They could see what our priorities were and how much progress we have made in the past 3 years, despite the pandemic. Student feedback was incredibly positive in the survey. As the Lead Inspector put it “this is clearly a great school, on its way to being an excellent school”.

I could fill this email with positive quotes, but a few select ones that bring me great pride include: 

“Carshalton High School for Girls is a calm, welcoming school. Pupils are happy and feel safe. Leaders have developed a culture where pupils behave well and work hard. Adults in the school know pupils well and support them to achieve.”    

“Leaders are ambitious for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This is realised in the curriculum offered and the wider opportunities that leaders provide.”

“The curriculum is taught well, and low-level disruption to learning is rare. The positive learning environment helps pupils to achieve well. Pupils are kind to one another, and their interactions are warm.”

“Pupils behave well around the school. Relationships between staff and pupils, and between pupils themselves, are positive. Pupils are confident in reporting bullying and say that staff tackle it effectively.”

Despite this fantastic report I can assure you that we will not rest on our laurels, and we will continue with our mission of being ‘a centre that is fearless in its commitment to excellence’. If anything we are now even more motived to take our school towards “Outstanding” in the near future, and keep improving as we have done. However, the outcomes of our students will always remain my greatest motivator, not an inspection grading. 

You will no doubt see that despite it being a Section 8 inspection it was a very thorough process and certainly the most thorough I have been involved in (this was my 5^th inspection – first as Head!). However, through this level of challenge I believe the inspectors really got a flavour of who we are as a school and the excellent provision that we offer. I will leave you with the final quote that matters the most to me – “pupils enjoy their learning and value the time and support teachers give them. They appreciate teachers recognising their efforts”.  I cannot ask for any more than that!

Kind regards

Mr M M J Devenney

Headteacher (Carshalton High School for Girls)