Pupils at Hartlepool’s St Hild’s Church of England School praised for 'good behaviour' as Ofsted concludes school 'requires improvement'

St Hild’s Church of England School, in King Oswy Drive, Hartlepool, has been given an overall “requires improvement” grade – the second lowest of four outcomes – following its first Ofsted inspection as an academy.

While the school received a “good” grade for behaviour and for attitudes and personal development, inspectors believed the quality of education and leadership and management “requires improvement”.

St Hild’s has responded by saying how delighted it is that the report “recognises and praises the progress and conduct of our wonderful pupils”.

The report, published earlier this month, follows a two-day inspection in March.

It states that although the school “has undertaken extensive curriculum improvements, the impact of these changes is at an early stage”.

The school has also “struggled to recruit specialist teachers in some subjects,” say inspectors, meaning “some staff do not have the subject specific knowledge that is needed to implement the school’s curriculum well”.

The report adds, that as a result, "pupils do not always make the progress they are capable of in these areas”.

It did, however, praise the school for its “outward-looking mindset” that “allows leaders to draw on expertise to develop the school’s curriculum and support the staff team in implementing this”.

Ofsted continued: "This work is underpinned by a clear focus on developing behaviour systems that support learning.

"This contributes to a continually improving curriculum offer, which helps pupils to know and remember more.”

The report also praised the school for providing opportunities “to enhance pupils’ wider development and to support pupils in becoming active and independent citizens”.

The report states: "This is part of the school’s wider vision to equip pupils with the knowledge and skills that they need to be successful in life.

"The school is keen for all pupils to be independent learners and thinkers who can self-regulate.”

The report recognised that changes are currently being made to school systems, processes and staffing “to improve on the weak external examination outcomes of summer 2023” as the “published outcomes in 2023 did not meet the schools’ aspirations for pupils’ achievement”.

St Hild’s is going to be inspected again in the next 30 months and monitored closely following its recent inspection.

Prior to becoming an academy as part of the NEAT Academy Trust, the school was rated “inadequate”, the lowest of four possible grades, in 2019.

Headteacher Tracey Gibson said following the latest report: “I am delighted that the report acknowledges and praises the work of the school and its partners.

"But more importantly that it recognises and praises the progress and conduct of our wonderful pupils.”