On November 1st, The Marches experienced the unique event that is a one day Ofsted inspection. In 16 out of 26 categories, the school was judged as outstanding, and, in the remaining 10 categories, as good.

The school was extremely pleased with the judgements of the inspectors, who were impressed by the school’s outstanding support and guidance, the behaviour of pupils, which was described as “exemplary” and the “very good academic work” that was seen.

The inspectors recognised that standards have risen over the last four years, with “70% of pupils gaining five or more higher level GCSE passes, including Mathematics and English. This is well above the national average”, a statistic that has put The Marches at the very top of the county league tables this year. Ofsted noted the excellent progress made by students and that the school “works very hard for them to gain success”, and that it “has met or exceeded most of its challenging targets, including those for its specialisms”.

Ofsted was full of praise for an environment that is “aesthetically pleasing” and where “pupils like school and are very happy”, with “relationships between teachers and pupils being very good”. It was clear to the inspectors that the students are keen to keep healthy and take part in a large number of sport and other opportunities after school. Furthermore, pupils receive “outstanding support for their cultural development” and take an active part in “developing extremely good relationships with the local community”.

“The school has used its specialised status to improve the quality of teaching and learning which is now good, with outstanding features”, and “provides appropriate courses for pupils to follow”. Inspectors found that large numbers of classes are organised to support students with revision topics; tutor groups are rearranged to further progress pupils with similar needs, and additional classes are run during holiday periods. Inspectors stated “target setting is used extremely well to challenge pupils”.

The team praised, in particular, both the Digital Centre, and the Bridging Centre for the “much rightly deserved acclaim for the work they do”, emphasising that both areas are seen as “centres of excellence by the local authority and the many visitors they receive”.

The Head teacher, Mr Davies, said “Our Ofsted inspection was highly successful, and has endorsed the high quality of the work that we do at the school. I was delighted with the outcomes which recognised the fact that a considerable amount of our provision is outstanding, and that we, as a school, turn out well rounded, well qualified students whose life chances have been significantly enhanced as a result of attending this school. The report clearly supports the notion that this is a high performing, successful school that provides outstanding care and support for its students”.

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