Hartlepool's St Hild's Church of England School is found to be making progress after Ofsted visit
A school which was found to “require improvement” is “really proud” of the progress it is making after a return visit by education watchdogs.
St Hild’s Church of England School, in King Oswy Drive, Hartlepool, was subject to an Ofsted inspection just weeks into the current term.
The newly-published monitoring report has now concluded that “leaders have made progress to improve the school”.
It adds, however, that “some aspects of the school need further improvement”.
The report highlights how the school, which is part of the NEAT Academy Trust, “has acted with appropriate urgency to address the areas of improvement identified” at its last full inspection in March 2024.
It also notes that “there have been changes in school leadership”.
New headteacher Paul Martin started at the beginning of this term and an additional deputy headteacher and assistant headteacher were also appointed earlier this year.
The report says “the school is improving the quality of education” and that teachers “have a secure subject knowledge”.
Yet it adds: “The school is aware that further work is required to ensure that teachers adapt their teaching to deepen and extend pupils’ learning.
"It knows that it needs to make further significant improvement to reach national levels of attainment and progress.”
The report noted how St Hild’s “has high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and attendance”.
It continues: “It has developed a clear set of rewards and sanctions and additional provision to support pupils vulnerable to exclusion.
"However, the behaviour policy is not always applied consistently and there is a significant minority of pupils whose behaviour is persistently disruptive.”
The report acknowledges how levels of exclusion and suspension began to decline during the last academic year and that “the school’s work on attendance is having some impact”.
It adds: “Persistent absence is declining although it remains high for disadvantaged pupils.
"To improve behaviour and attendance further, the school needs to implement its behaviour and attendance policies with greater rigour and consistency.”
A statement on behalf of the school reads: “We are really proud of the progress St Hild’s is making as we continue to strive to ensure all of our young people achieve the best possible outcomes.
"We were particularly pleased that, in our recent monitoring visit, Ofsted recognised that ‘the school, supported by the trust, has acted with appropriate urgency to address the areas of improvement identified at the last inspection’.
"Ofsted also found ‘leaders have made progress to improve the school’ and ‘the school is improving the quality of education’.
"We were particularly delighted that Ofsted recognised ‘the school has high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and attendance’ as we feel this recognises the strength of our young people and the way we prioritise excellent attendance and behaviour as key components of effective learning.
“We look forward to continued improvement.”
The school’s last full Ofsted inspection in March 2024 took place a day after St Hild’s went into lockdown when threats were allegedly made to two pupils by a youth.
The “requires improvement” verdict, the second lowest of four outcomes at the time, was higher than the “inadequate” grade it previously received in 2019.
The so-called “single word” Ofsted judgements were later scrapped and replaced by more detailed feedback about a school’s performance.
Existing grades remain in place until another full inspection is completed.