A school in the West Midlands received confirmation in its most recent Ofsted inspection that changes made at the school are having a positive impact on the experiences of students and staff alike.

Waseley Hills High School, based in Rubery and part of the Central Region Schools Trust, was inspected just before the Christmas holidays. In his report, the inspector remarked on improvements made by school leaders since the previous inspection.

Positive areas noted in the report include:

  • “Decisive and well-chosen” actions taken by leaders to improve behaviour, the curriculum and support for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND);
  • How effectively reading is being promoted across the School;
  • Both staff and pupils are responding well to changes;
  • Staffing across the School has been strengthened through new appointments to key roles including leadership, subject leads and pastoral staff;
  • The School has benefitted from the support of the Trust, including in the monitoring of teaching and learning;
  • “Leaders have worked well to ensure that all subject areas have a clearly planned curriculum that builds on key knowledge and skills”;
  • Thanks to new assessment strategies, pupils report they are able to “know and remember more of their learning over time”;
  • “Calm and focussed learning from pupils” with a “clear” purpose for all learning;
  • “Effective action” which has led to “clarity about identified needs, strategies to support pupils with SEND and what these pupils should achieve in their learning”;
  • New behaviour strategies mean pupils are “focussed, willing to answer questions, engaged with partners in paired work and work independently”;
  • The School has “prioritised a significant amount of work on mental health in school and the wider community”. “Pupils, including students in the sixth form, spoke positively about the leadership opportunities available to them and they welcome the chance to be on the school council and/or become a prefect”.

The report is not based on a full inspection which would be officially graded. This was a monitoring inspection to check if the School is taking effective action towards improving out of its current grade of ‘Requires Improvement’, with the inspector concluding that progress has been made. 

This report comes just as the School kicks off its exciting new rebuild, which will see students benefitting from excellent, state-of-the-art new facilities, including a dedicated Special Educational Needs department and a brand-new Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA). The works are scheduled for building 1 to be completed in 2025 and full completion is scheduled for 2027, made possible thanks to the Department for Education's school rebuilding programme.

Ian Mellor, Executive Principal at Waseley Hills High School, said:

“We are thrilled to have the wonderful work of our students, colleagues, parents and carers recognised in our latest Ofsted report. I would like to thank our wonderful School community for all their support and dedication in making these improvements together – we couldn’t do it without them. As a School, with the support of the Trust, we will continue to strive for further improvements to ensure we are able to deliver a high-quality education for our young people.”

Guy Shears, CEO at Central Region Schools Trust, said:

“It is encouraging to see such positive impact evidenced in the inspector’s report, demonstrating that the hard work of our colleagues and students is already making such a difference. I’m confident that together, we will strive to achieve the best outcomes for our students and wider school community.”