What a start to the school year at Cropthorne…After five years of waiting Ofsted decided to visit us on September 25th. One inspector for two days who validated our own assessment that we are a ‘good’ school. The final report comments on the progress of pupils who leave with “standards usually well above the levels expected for their age” and teachers’ “high expectations of what most pupils can achieve.” Children in Reception receive “outstanding guidance” when moving through activities and are learning “through a broad and stimulating curriculum.”

Pupils leave as “caring and respectful individuals with a keen interest in the wider world” and their behaviour is “often exemplary.” They get on with others “outstandingly well.” “Staff morale is high” and the school “provides a highly stimulating learning environment with beautiful artwork displayed on the corridors.” There is an “exceptional range of extra-curricular activities” and children are given “ample opportunities to think for themselves and help others, such as through their extensive charity work.”

We are justifiably proud.

However, having an ‘Ofsted’ inspection does have a real impact on school life and I thought I would share with you a poem written in the aftermath:

“We had an inspector visit our school
Stood at the back with a clipboard making notes all the while.
He never smiled, he hardly spoke,
I’d like to know what it was he wrote.

Our school is the best, it’s colourful and bright
With the best teachers in the world, who help us read and write.
We go on trips, do lots of sports; we sing, we dance – have fun.
So why did he stand at the back of the class always looking glum?

We had an inspector visit our school, you’d think he could have smiled,
I think he was important, he was with us for a while.
My mum says we should be happy, he said that we are good.
So why was it he never smiled? I wonder if he could!”

A date for your diaries…Open Morning, Friday 21st November, 10.00 – 12.00 a.m. when the children will be manning stalls and raising money towards our Moldovan Charity. Please come and visit our beautiful school, we’d love to show you round. We guarantee smiling faces…