For the first time in its history, Pudsey Grammar School has achieved its second successive Ofsted inspection judgement of being a ‘good’ school.
The report says the schooll has developed an ‘ambitious’ curriculum for pupils, which is ‘ broad and balanced’. It adds: “Staff have high expectations of all pupils. The vast majority of pupils rise to the expectations and work hard.”
Others areas to receive praise include:
- The school is welcoming and pupils respect the differences in other people.
- Safeguarding is very well led and pupils feel safe
- Pupils get on very well with each other
- Teachers have strong subject knowledge
- Pupils behave well in lessons and the vast majority focus on their work
- The school has developed an ambitious curriculum for pupils
- Staff have high expectations of all pupils. The vast majority of pupils rise to these expectations and work hard
- Pupils benefit from the curriculum and are well prepared for their next steps
- The House system plays a central role in the school and provides a sense of belonging. Pupils who earn House ties for their dedication to House competitions wear them with pride
- If bullying happens, pupils are confident that staff will deal with it quickly
The report highlighted the ‘generic’ support for pupils with special educational needs as an are which needs improvement.
It added: “There is some variability in the implementation and delivery of the curriculum. This means that some pupils cannot always remember the key knowledge and concepts as well as they should. This means they achieve less well in some subjects.”
Headteacher Mark McKelvie welcomed the report. He said: “This is a fantastic achievement and it is testament to the consistently high quality of education which the school provides for all of our students. It is one of the reasons why the school is one of the most popular across the city of Leeds with over 900 applications for 215 Year 7 places.
“The school is also one of only 50 Department for Education National Behaviour Hub Lead Schools across the country. The school achieved this due to having an ‘exemplary behaviour culture’ and it has supported ten schools across the North of England to improve their behaviour systems over the past two years. In addition the school has recently secured £4 million from the Government to expand its thriving Sixth Form.
“We are very proud of our school and our students, and we will continue to build on our high standards and aspirations.”
The full report can be read in full here.