Silloth’s Solway Community School has been praised by education inspectors.
Watchdog Ofsted visited the secondary school last month and published its report today, January 16.
It said the school was good in all categories.
Inspectors said: “Pupils respond well to the high expectations that the school has of their achievement and conduct.
They appreciate the help that they receive from staff, who care for them well.
“Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are fully included in the life of the school.
“The school provides pupils with access to activities that help them to develop their talents and interests. Pupils learn to make a positive contribution to their community.
“For example, they run sports festivals for primary school children and raise money for local charities. These help pupils to become confident and resilient young people.”
Inspectors said data published at the end of 2023, which said that the attainment of pupils at the end of year 11 was significantly below the national average, did not reflect the strengths of the educational offer at the school.
They added: “A high proportion of pupils in this year group joined the school at various stages throughout year 10 and 11. In addition, the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic meant that that these pupils did not have time to benefit from the school’s well-designed curriculum.
“Most current pupils achieve well. The school has designed an ambitious curriculum.”
However, they added that at times, the school created activities that did not help pupils to build their knowledge sufficiently well. They added: “When this happens, some pupils do not achieve as well as they could.”
The report added: “Staff make regular checks on what pupils know and remember. They appreciate the recent improvements to the school’s assessment strategy, which has supported their wellbeing. At times, staff do not promptly address the gaps and misconceptions that some pupils have about their learning. When this happens, some pupils move on to new learning before they are ready.”
Headteacher Tom Hailwood said the recent positive inspection demonstrated the progress and impact everyone involved with the school made.
He added that a new and growing challenge was increasing student numbers. The student population has increased by 20% since the previous inspection five years ago.
He added: “This is a great endorsement of the hard work and commitment made by everyone associated with the school.
“We are delighted with the outcome of the report, which positively reflects the school. It is a very special place for students to build a foundation.
“Having worked at the school for 18 years in various roles, I am as optimistic about the school’s future and its place in the community it serves as I have ever been.
“We look forward to the next steps in further developing the school to be the best we can be.”
