Dear parent,
RE: Ofsted Inspection Report
You will be aware that XP East had an Ofsted inspection in June, (exactly 12 months to the date since the XP inspection) and we have now received the report to share with you. The inspectors concluded that our School has a ‘unique curriculum which emphasises creativity and the relevance of learning to local and global themes.’ The behaviour and personal development of the school were both given an ‘outstanding’ judgement. In addition, the Post 16 off-site provision offered at Harrison College and Higher Rhythm was graded as ‘good’. In addition, the work of leaders was noted and the school improvement work recognised. ‘Pupils are beginning to benefit from these changes, but it is too soon to see the impact on published outcomes in external examinations and assessments.’
In some areas of inspection, Ofsted has made recommendations for improvement, due to the measures made by leadership of the school not yet showing the expected impact the inspection team felt they needed to see. Therefore, the school’s overall grade is ‘requires improvement’. We wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of the report’s findings and set out the steps the school is taking to make these improvements.
Ofsted recognised the impact of our work around positive relationships with students, parents and carers, particularly noticing that ‘Pupils show very high levels of respect to each other and to staff. They frequently contribute to the life of the school and the wider community. Pupils are trained to hold each other to account for their actions. Pupils feel safe at the school.’
The inspection team commented on the extensive range of opportunities to develop students’ character. We are proud that inspectors recognised the behaviour of our students stating, ‘at both the main school and off-site settings, behaviour is exemplary. Pupils have highly positive relationships with their teachers and with each other. They are nurtured to have compassion and respect for each other.’
These are just a few examples of the many positive comments that are throughout the report. The staff and I are proud of the students in the school and the many positive comments that inspectors made about them, a few of which have been included within the report.
Ofsted have identified two areas for continued improvement to help the school to be judged good overall. Unsurprisingly, we had already identified these as a leadership team and we acknowledge that this work is continued from the XP inspection in June 2023, where the same school leaders and curriculum were judged ‘good’. The actions to improve these areas continue and our inspectors acknowledged that the leadership team has started to take action around this, however, unlike the XP inspection, this team felt they needed to see evidence in outcomes at GCSE.
I would like to appreciate all of the staff for their hard work. We have an amazing staff crew who support our school community and learning provision to enable students to truly realise the best version of themselves.
Our students should be proud of themselves for the very positive impression that they gave during the inspection. I would further like to express my thanks to the governors, directors and executive team of the XP Trust for their commitment to the school and finally, to you as parents, who continue to provide the support to help your children achieve things that are truly remarkable and also voiced your positivity around our school.
We are starting the new academic year on a very positive note with the mandate to continue the amazing work we do throughout expeditions whilst also continuing to develop students who recognise character growth, beautiful work and academic success in equal measure and as such truly are the best versions of themselves. I am looking forward to the implementation of the improvements across both XP and XP East as we continue to share our stories.
A copy of the report can be found here.
Thank you for your continued support
Mrs Claira Salter
Principal