West Exe gets glowing report from Ofsted

West Exe College has received a “good” rating from education inspectors.

A  team of inspectors from regulator Ofsted visited the school for two days in an announced inspection in mid-January in which they obsered lessons and met with students and staff.

In their report, inspectors praised the good progress made among all students including  those with special educational needs or disabilities, commenting: “Individual students’ needs are very well understood and skilled support is quickly put in place when necessary.”

Headteacher Vicki Carah said, “This is a fantastic outcome! The report is fair and accurate and I am very proud to lead such a good school. I am looking forward to the challenges which lie ahead on our journey to becoming an outstanding school.”

Inspectors also praised the school’s senior leaders for their success in raising achievement and the quality of teaching at the school and praised their continued “strong actions to bring about further improvement.”

Ofsted say these further improvements should be made in further improving the teaching from ‘Good’ to ‘Outstanding’ in all subjects noting that while students made rapid improvements in English and Maths this wasn’t shared all subjects.

Some teaching was considered ‘Outstanding’ by inspectors who singled out examples in a Maths lesson on statistics where students “were engrossed” and a History lesson on the Hitler Youth were students engaged with both the facts and the morality of the issue.

Students were also praised by the report as having a sense of pride in the school as well as a respect for each other and adults.

Head boy Sam Ryan, 15, said, “I think the inspectors understood the ethos of our school. They saw the human aspect as well as the academic and learning aspects.”.

Senior prefect Brittany Johnson, 15, said, “It was good to see that they noticed how good the behaviour and the community spirit in the school are. Relationships between all members of the school are excellent now – everyone respects each other’s contribution.”

Deputy Head Girl Charlotte Ward, 15, said, “I was glad to read about outstanding teaching. When you are in a brilliant lesson it’s really exciting to be involved and you want to succeed for the teacher as well as for yourself.”

Parents have also commented on the report. Parent of two students at West Exe Andy Swain of Ide said, “I am really pleased West Exe has had such a good OFSTED, it is well deserved. I am really impressed with the positive enthusiastic attitude I see in the school, and how much the students gain from it.”

Inspectors also praised the school governors for their support for leadership and their effectiveness reporting that they had a good appreciation of both the schools strengths and weaknesses.

New Chair of West Exe governors Allan Hart said, “On behalf of the Governors of West Exe Technology College, I am very pleased to see OFSTED acknowledge the hard work and successes of both staff and students.”