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Twickenham School receives good rating for first time

A school in Twickenham received a good rating from Ofsted for the first time since opening in 2016.

The education inspector highlighted Twickenham School’s improved quality of teaching and pupil engagement in its report released last week.

Headteacher Assal Ruse said she cried upon finding out the result.

She added: “This turnaround is all down to staff and their hard work. We work as a team and we all believe in and are passionate about or vision.

“The school has had such a negative reputation for years. We have made significant improvements and we just needed Ofsted to confirm it.

“It is much harder to get a ‘good’ than in previous years, so yes, I was nervous, but I had every confidence in my staff.”

An improvement in pupil engagement contributed to the new rating
GOOD RATING: Improvements to pupil engagement contributed to the rating. Credit: Twickenham School

Ofsted’s system deems schools as inadequate, needing improvement, good, or outstanding – and in 2018 Twickenham School was needing improvement.

Ruse admitted to being nervous prior to the inspection, which took place on 6 and 7 July, as it was conducted using a new framework introduced in 2019.

Twickenham School received the good rating across all four categories: the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management.

To achieve an outstanding rating in the next assessment, Ofsted noted that some curriculums need more coherent and well-sequenced planning.

Its report said: “Some pupils are not gaining deep knowledge and remembering more.

“Sometimes they are unable to apply their knowledge to learn more complex subject content or make links across subjects.”

The efforts of Ruse and other staff are highlighted though, as Ofsted noticed a quickly improving curriculum overall.

The report has not yet been published on Ofsted’s website but was sent to Twickenham School last week.

[Featured image credit: Twickenham School]

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