Gaynes School Language College

November 6, 2009






Dear Parent/Carer,

Ofsted Inspection

As you will know, we had an Ofsted inspection of the school on 13th/14th October 2009. The official inspection report was published on Monday and we are writing now to let you have a copy of the report and our reflections on the inspection process and its outcomes.

The Gaynes inspection was one of the first conducted under the new inspections framework introduced on 1st September this year. Although the inspection judgements continue to be expressed as "outstanding", "good", "satisfactory" and "inadequate" the underlying standard required to achieve the first three of these ratings has been significantly increased. We have embraced this as a school and continue to set the goal of being an "outstanding" school by the time of our next Ofsted inspection expected in 2012/13.

We are delighted to say that two-thirds of the judgements about Gaynes met the increased standard of "good". For example, behaviour, leadership and management at all levels, community cohesion, student economic wellbeing, student attitudes to health and safety, student inclusion and the quality of the curriculum. Indeed, some of these were considered to be very close to "outstanding" even under the tougher new framework.

However, despite considerable recent progress towards meeting very challenging targets, we continue to achieve at, rather than exceed, expected levels of student progress. Under the rules of the new framework this means that our overall effectiveness, capacity to improve and a number of other areas cannot be judged better than "satisfactory". This is the case even though students' attainment, or in other words the percentage of our students gaining 5+ A* to C grades at GCSE including English and Maths, is well above the national average.

We are determined to continue moving forward on raising student progress above expected levels. Indeed, between the summer 2007 and summer 2009 examinations the school closed the gap on the nationally recognised most challenging Fischer Family Trust 'D' Target from 12% to just 1%. Our 2008 results won the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust "Most Improved" and "Significant Progress" awards and we firmly believe that this trend will continue.

We greatly appreciate your continued support for and trust in the school and we will employ the new inspection process to build even greater student success. We look forward to working with you to ensure your child benefits from the ever increasing quality of education provided at Gaynes School Language College, much of which is highlighted in the enclosed report.

Yours sincerely,





Mr W Edgar - Headteacher
Mr D Rogers - Acting Chair of Governors

Ofsted Inspection