100% ‘excellent’… say Independent Schools Inspectorate

We are delighted that the hard work of pupils, parents, teachers,governors and indeed the wider School community has beenacknowledged in the glowing 2011 Independent Schools InspectorateReport on our School.

The Independent Schools Inspectorate is the agency responsible for theinspection of schools belonging to the Independent Schools Council. Itreports to the Department for Education on the extent to which schoolsmeet the Government’s statutory requirements. The intention of such aninspection is to help schools, their staff and governors to recognise andbuild on their strengths and to identify and remedy any weaknesses.

We are very proud that Felsted Preparatory School was judged to be‘excellent’ in each of the seven stringent ISI standards – a rare accolade.Each area is judged against four possible standards – ‘excellent’, ‘good’,‘satisfactory’ and ‘unsatisfactory’.

This is a judgement against an overall standard for independent schoolsand a statement of where we stand in comparison to others. This isimportant, given that we are always striving to improve and that wecater to a range of academic ability.

Together with an Ofsted rating of ‘outstanding’ for both our Early YearsFoundation Stage and the quality of our boarding, we are proud andpleased to conclude that Felsted Preparatory School is clearly achievingits aims.

Pupils’, parents’ and teachers’ commitment to literacy throughout theSchool is really paying off, with fluent and imaginative work beingproduced by all age groups and extensive vocabularies being put togood use. Regular spelling tests, reading practice, quizzes and ‘wordof the week’ are really worth the effort!

The level of discussion is high and debating is a real strength,exercising not just vocabularies, but knowledge of global issues andgrowing self-confidence.

Similarly, number skillsbuild from an introductionto basic numeracy inStewart House, throughMaths challenges andreinforcement, to readinessfor the Felsted TransferExamination andCommon Entrance at 13+.

Our Young Felstedians impressed the ISI Inspectors with the quality of theiracademic achievement as well as their accomplishments in all the otheressential skills that we seek to encourage here at Felsted Preparatory School.Attainment across the board is judged to be ‘far above national age-relatedexpectations’ and pupils with learning support and the gifted and talented make‘excellent progress’, the Inspectors say, adding that the ‘quality of the pupils’overall achievements is excellent and fully meets the school’s aims for pupils toachieve the highest individual standards possible’.

Achievement:

Impressive academic attainment is madepossible through ‘high technical ability’ acrossall of our Phases and our ‘high standards of ICT’.

‘excellent’

The ‘quality of teaching is excellent’ say the Inspectors and they commend thequality of our ‘excellent lessons, meticulous planning’ and ‘staff developmentthat has successfully modified and improved the quality of teaching’. We areable to use a variety of methods and techniques to promote learning at FelstedPreparatory School and our creative, imaginative, investigative and well-pacedlessons keep standards of education high across our Phases.

Teachers ask appropriate questions, pupils areengaged, focused and ‘feel rewarded in theirlearning’ say the Inspectors. Assessment is‘comprehensive and thorough’, with ‘very high-quality marking’. Our Individual EducationPlans demonstrate the ‘excellent’ provision forour Very Able Pupils (VAPs) and those whobenefit from Learning Support.

Teaching:

‘excellent’

Curriculum:The Inspectors note our ‘suitably broad’ and ‘innovativeand imaginative curriculum’. This gives Young Felstediansa wealth of opportunities to be challenged and shine in allsubject areas.

Lively, stimulating lessons encourage pupils to ‘engage fully’ in theirlearning and profit from specialist teaching in History, Geography,Religious Studies, Science, Modern Foreign Languages and Latin.

Opportunities for self-expressionabound in our enrichment subjects –Art, Design & Technology, Music,Drama, Dance and Public Speaking.

Innovativeteachingthrough

Critical Skills, Leadership, cross-curricular and Passport programmes isparticularly praised by the Inspectors –our pupils are stimulated andchallenged at all levels of ability.

‘excellent’

Our ‘wide ranging and intensive’ co-curricular activitiesare a particular area for the Inspectors’ praise. A feature oflife at Felsted Preparatory School is our vast offering ofsports and activities in the Arts and Technologies. Thesecomplement academic learning and introduce our pupilsto new experiences, sparking life-long passions.

Sport is an integral part of life at Felsted Preparatory School. As well as the core sports, thereare chances to taste a huge range of other active pursuits, from swimming, gym and dance tovolleyball, fencing and shooting.

‘A unique experience’ is born out of cross-curricular events. Participation in nationalacademic and charity days, as well as the local carnival and other community events, helpsour pupils to understand their role in the world.

‘excellent’Co-curriculum:

Our commitment to encouraging the personal developmentof each individual pupil is identified by the Inspectors anddescribed as ‘excellent’. Pupils ‘develop confidence and self-awareness’ they note. Spiritual, moral, social and culturalgrowth is nurtured and there is a strong moral codethroughout the School. Pupils consider themselves‘involved and equal’,regardless of ability.

Spiritual developmentis ‘excellent’ and ‘welldeveloped’ andpromoted through arange of activities,

including the Lent Challenges, music, storiesand poetry.

Behaviour is ‘exemplary’ say the Inspectors and‘pupils display very strong moral attitudes andshow exemplary behaviour’. Moral guidance isgiven through initiatives such as the RUBYcode and pupil leadership in the BoardingHouse.

Social skills are developed at numerous eventsand occasions that are highlights of the FelstedPreparatory School calendar. Eating together,hosting visiting teams and conducting tours for parents are all valuable life experiences.

Understanding of the world’s cultures is promoted through international days and talks, andparticipation in Felsted’s Model United Nations Conference.

The Personal Social Health and Citizenship Educationprogramme is ‘well-structured’ and engages young minds.

‘excellent’Personal development:

Responsibility

Take responsibility for yourself,

your learning, your stuff!

Understand others

Be kind, well-mannered, friendly and tolerant!

Best

Achieve your personal best in all you do!

Yourself

Become yourself! Be yourself! Believe in

yourself!

Felsted Preparatory School is a ‘happy, caring and inclusiveenvironment’, say the Inspectors. Pastoral care is

‘outstanding’. Crucial policies andprocedures for child welfare, health and safety are ‘properly in place andenhanced’ and pupils feel wellsupported.

Relationships within the School communityare ‘extremely positive, mutually respectfuland most supportive’. Each pupil is ‘knownextremely well’.

Health education is taken very seriously andall pupils eat well. Meals are social occasions.Healthy Week is an opportunity to reviewpupils’ personal needs and adapt as necessary.Dietary requirements are catered for and theSchool is at the forefront of food hygiene.

‘excellent’

We provide an ‘excellent experience for both weekly andflexi-boarders’ who enjoy ‘high-quality, safe accommodation’.The School ‘fully meets its aims’ to provide superb care, saythe Inspectors.

Relationships between staff andpupils, and older pupils andyounger pupils are ‘excellent’.Boarders have fun taking part inafter-school activities as well astheir own programme of free-time entertainment and there ishelp with prep and someone totalk to when needed.

Boarding:

‘excellent’

Welfare, healthand safety:

The effectiveness and quality of governance, leadership and management is‘excellent’, say the Inspectors and our vision and ethos are ‘very strong’. This is

a huge vote of confidence onthe way our School is run andhow we plan for the future.

Our governors are ‘highly effective’in their different roles and theircommitment to the School is‘excellent’. The structure of thegoverning body and theorganisation of committees is ‘wellthought-through’. The Inspectorsnote that our policy for

safeguarding children and our Central Register are fully in place and monitored. Ourstrategies relating to the allocation of resources, use of our building, our pupil numbers andour planning are ‘highly effective’.

The leadership and management of our School is ‘excellent’, particularly in the areas ofachievement, teaching, organisation of resources, curricular and other developments. Self-monitoring is also ‘excellent’, particularly our ‘rigorous but sensitive’ self-evaluation throughbook scrutiny, pupil, staff and parent voice, staff appraisal and regular reviews. Thedevelopment plan is ‘comprehensive and thorough’ and a ‘strong tool for taking the school forward’.

Communication with parents, carers and guardians is vital and our links are‘very strong’ say the Inspectors.

We have ‘very effective’ communication with homevia our ‘colourful and very detailed’ weekly newsletter,our well-trained Admissions Registrar, teachers andtutors. Our information evenings, surveys, parents inschool afternoon, grandparents’ days and visits allhelp to keep family members involved in our pupils’school careers.

‘excellent’

Parental andcommunity links:‘excellent’

Governance, leadership and management:

We are determined not torest on our laurels! Thisextremely positive feedbackfrom the ISI encourages us tospread excellence throughevery aspect of teaching andlearning at FelstedPreparatory School.

Already we are refining our formsof target setting and giving ourPre-Preparatory pupils moreopportunities for outdoorlearning with the opening of ourwonderful new building, StewartHouse. We are constantly seeking to ensure that excellence of teaching is consistent acrossall subject areas, age groups and abilities. Our annual improvement plan seeks to addressissues that are important to pupils, parents, our local community and all who have aconnection with our School, with the outcomes shared in our annual achievement report.

Our aim is to offer Young Felstedians the very best education imaginable.

‘there is more in us’

Felsted Preparatory School, Felsted, Essex CM6 3JL 01371 822610prepadmin@felstedprep.org www.felsted.org

‘Plus est en nous‘:

Go to www.felsted.org to read the full 2011 Independent SchoolsInspectorate Report on Felsted Preparatory School.