We welcomed Ofsted to Tytherington for a short inspection on 22 November 2016. The focus of the inspection was the effectiveness of school leadership and quality of the overall provision in the school. Many of you will be aware that since September 2015, the bar has been significantly raised by Ofsted so we are delighted that they have recognised the rapid progress being made by the school. Please do take the time to read the report.

What Ofsted said about our culture and learning environment:

• “Tytherington is a calm and happy place to learn. Pupils are polite, courteous and respectful.”
• “Promoting equalities is central to your vision. Your relationship with students is striking because of the value you place on each of them.”
• “Parents spoke of the work the school does to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender pupils”.
• “The school is a nurturing, safe and caring environment.”

Here’s what Ofsted said about the quality of leadership:

• “The senior leadership team have created a positive culture and driven rapid change across the school.”
• “Staff, parents and pupils welcome the new climate of change and innovation.”
• “Staff morale is high and middle leaders feel energised by your vision”.
• “Your high expectations of pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development manifest themselves in the uptake of the vast extra-curricular programme.”

Here’s what Ofsted said about our Sixth Form:

• “Standards in the sixth form continue to be excellent”
• “Students’ attainment is excellent and the progress they make is very strong”
• “Careers information, advice and guidance is a significant strength. There are strong links with business, industry and higher-education establishments which increase the aspirations of pupils.”

What they said about standards at GCSE:

• “You have put measures in place to ensure that the progress made by pupils in English aligns to the excellent progress made by pupils in Mathematics.”
• “Pupils make very strong progress in humanities and modern languages.”

Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum:

• “You work tirelessly to provide pupils with inspirational teaching and learning”
• “Staff training is at the forefront of your work.”
• “The Tytherington Half Dozen which puts passion, pitch, purpose, progress, pace and participation at the forefront of learning, is a clear example of your commitment to the best quality teaching.”
• “Leaders work well with local primary schools to ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of the pupils.”

Things we need to improve:

• Continue to improve the progress made by disadvantaged students.
• Ensure that teachers’ planning for different ability groups enables students to make even more progress.

The report indicates that we are on the cusp of outstanding. The senior leadership team has only been in place since September 2015 and we understand that we will need to sustain our rapid rate of progress over time. I plan to invite Ofsted back soon as we are only going to get better. We are proud of the positive impact we are having on standards across Macclesfield.

I would like to assure parents, students and the local community, that I intend to focus all my efforts to ensure that we stay hungry and committed to continuous improvement. I would also like to offer my heartfelt thanks to the students, parents, staff, governors and the local community who all work so hard to make Tytherington School such a special place. Have a wonderful Christmas.

Please click here to view the report.