Thornton College and the Genevieve Nursery are regularly inspected. In 2006 the School was inspected by three bodies. Boarding was inspected by the Care Standards Commission, the Junior and Senior Schools were inspected by the Independent Schools Council (the independent schools' equivalent of OFSTED) and the whole school was inspected by the Catholic Schools Association. The Nursery and Early Years Department is also inspected by OFSTED.
The following is the Conclusions and Next Steps section from our ISC school inspection report. The inspection took place in January 2006.
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Extracted from the Independent Schools Council Inspection Report
Inspection date January 30th to February 2nd 2006
5. CONCLUSIONS AND NEXT STEPS
Overall Conclusions
5.1 Strong leadership, highly effective management, and consistently good teaching have enabled the school to improve upon the standards reported in the previous inspection. In line with the school aims, pupils achieve very well in all aspects of their work. They achieve their potential and go forth into the world with confidence. The pupils are happy, secure and positive about their work.
5.2 The school provides an outstanding educational experience. The curriculum fully meets pupils' needs. Many opportunities are provided for them to learn about the wider aspects of life through PSHE and citizenship and to prepare them for the next stage of their lives through careers education and guidance. The needs of pupils with learning difficulties or who are learning English as a second or additional language are well organised and effective.
5.3 Pupils achieve very well. They are highly literate and numerate and use ICT confidently, though more opportunities are needed throughout the curriculum for them to apply their ICT skills. Examination results are very good in relation to pupils' abilities and are well above national averages. Pupils now think more for themselves than was reported in the previous inspection, though the school recognises that there is still room for improvement. Pupils are keen to learn; they apply themselves to their work, persevere and usually achieve their objectives. Pupils achieve well in team sports such as netball, cross-country running, hockey and public speaking.
5.4 The pupils show an unusually well developed spiritual and moral awareness. The many opportunities provided enable them to develop very well socially. Similarly the strong cultural provision enables pupils to develop a wide and deep cultural awareness.
5.5 The quality of teaching is good and sometimes outstanding. The main strength is the extent to which teachers know and care about the pupils and the effectiveness of the support they provide for them. The quality of pastoral care is outstanding but some shortcomings exist in relation to health and safety that the school needs to address. Very constructive links exist with parents; they have a justifiably positive view of the school. Boarders are happy, well looked after and enjoy boarding.
5.6 The overall quality of governance, leadership and management is outstanding. The headteacher provides a strong lead which is reflected throughout the school. A very strong ethos is evident and morale is high. Robust planning and effective monitoring ensure the consistent development of the school
5.7 The school complies with almost all of the regulatory requirements, but does not at present meet Standard 3 (welfare, health and safety).
Next Steps
5.8 The main recommendation is listed below:
- Map ICT across the curriculum.
5.9 In order to meet all the regulatory requirements the school must:
- improve health and safety arrangements in the car park;
- improve storage arrangements for chemicals in science;
- ensure safe movement in science lessons by removing children’s bags from the floor which are a trip hazard;
- ensure that pupils’ access to the fountain has been properly risk assessed and that appropriate safety measures are in place. [Regulation 3. (4)]
Since the inspection, we have met all these recommendations. |