The newest secondary school in Brighton and Hove has been rated as good with outstanding features after its first official inspection.
The government’s education watchdog Ofsted said that the King’s School, in High Street, Portslade, was “good” overall.
The Church of England academy school was given the top rating – outstanding – for leadership and management and the behaviour and safety of pupils.
The quality of teaching and the achievement of pupils were rated as good in the report which was published on Wednesday (1 July).
The school opened in its temporary premises in Portslade in September 2013 and is sponsored by the Russell Education Trust (RET).
King’s has 188 students and is hoping to move to a permanent home on the site of West Blatchington Primary School in Hangleton.
Head teacher Sarah Price said in a letter to parents: “King’s received its first ever Ofsted inspection on 9-10 June this year.
“I am delighted to be sending you a copy of the full report which, as you can see, describes King’s as a good school with outstanding leadership and management and outstanding behaviour and safety.
“These inspection grades are the highest of any secondary school in Brighton and Hove.
“HMI (Her Majesty’s Inspector) writes: ‘The head teacher, senior leaders, trust and governors have a compelling vision for an inclusive, nurturing school with high academic standards, based on Christian principles.’
“I am delighted by this judgment, coming as it does within only six terms of our opening, because it demonstrates that King’s is already providing exactly the education and ethos that you as parents wanted and your children deserve.
“Our students can be very proud of themselves because King’s is described in the report as ‘an exceptionally harmonious community’ in which ‘the behaviour of students is outstanding’ and ‘students conduct themselves in an exemplary way’.
“HMI notes that standards are high across the curriculum and teaching typically good moving towards outstanding, with the development of students’ literacy skills a strong feature across all subjects.
“The report quite rightly says that ‘school leaders have successfully recruited high-quality, motivated staff’.
“The consistently high quality of teaching, the respectful relationships between our staff and students and the expert support of our sponsoring trust, RET, are the bedrocks of this impressive report.
“The development areas in the report were largely those identified by the school and by our RET advisers but I am currently working with senior staff and those advisers to ensure that every detail of our inspectors’ advice is considered and acted upon, recognising it to be a crucial part of our journey towards exceptional GCSE and A level results in the future.
“Thank you for putting your trust in King’s and in RET and sending your child to a brand new secondary school.
“Above all I thank you for your prayers and support for the school. I look forward to our continued partnership.”
Ofsted said in its report: “This is a good school.
“School leaders and governors have a clear and uncompromising vision for the school that promotes the achievement of every student within a caring community.
“Leaders have established a highly positive ethos which is helping to drive further improvement.
“Governance is excellent. Governors use their wide-ranging skills to the best advantage of the school. They know where the best teaching resides and provide very effective challenge and support for school leaders.
“Highly effective support from the Russell Education Trust has helped improve all aspects of the school’s work.
“The school is progressing well towards the founding governors’ ambition for an inclusive, high-quality school based on Christian principles.
“The school promotes students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development particularly well. “Students show respect and concern for the needs of others in their community and beyond. “Students are very well prepared for life in modern Britain.
“Students are happy and feel safe in school. They are confident that the adults in school support them extremely well. Parents are equally enthusiastic in their praise.
“Students’ behaviour around the school and in lessons is excellent. Students are polite and take pride in their appearance. The large majority of them are keen to learn and work hard. Many stay on after school to take part in a wide range of clubs and activities.
“Teaching is consistently good and some is outstanding. Students benefit from the high levels of expertise and depth of knowledge of many teachers.
“Students achieve well. Progress in mathematics is particularly strong.
“Leaders ensure disadvantaged students are well supported and, as a result, they achieve as well as other students in the school.
“Students’ progress is tracked carefully so that effective action is taken to support students at risk of falling behind.
“It is not yet an outstanding school because teaching is not yet leading to outstanding achievement for all students.
“The most able students do not make as much progress as they could because they are not always sufficiently challenged.
“The written work of students is not always accurate or detailed enough for them to make exceptional progress.”
Plans to move the school to the West Blatchington site in Hove are due to be discussed at a meeting of the Brighton and Hove City Council Policy and Resources Committee on Thursday (9 July).
To read the Ofsted report, click here.
