Outstanding Inspection Report for St George’s School for Girls
Education Scotland and the Scottish Care Inspectorate have this week published their report on St George’s School for Girls in Edinburgh, following a full school inspection in January 2015.
Within a new inspection format, the school was inspected in every area from Nursery to Sixth Form, with a joint inspection between the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland in the Nursery involving a team of up to ten inspectors over a period of five days.
The report confirms the exemplary reputation of the school which strives to provide excellent teaching and individual support for the personal, social and intellectual development of its pupils. The school’s prime aim is to produce ‘women of independent mind’.
The report focused on five key quality indicators covering the curriculum, improvements through self-evaluation and in performance, and learners’ experiences and needs. In three areas the school received the highest possible grading of “excellent”.
A school spokesman said: “An “excellent” rating was given to the school’s curriculum, which is based on St George’s guiding values of “truth, honour, freedom and courtesy”. This was commended as being “all-through” and “broad and stimulating”. The accolade of “excellent” was awarded for improvements through self-evaluation and also for performance (which covers examination results, attainment and achievement). This reflects the strength of leadership of the Head, Mrs Anne Everest, and the importance attached to self-evaluation and continuous improvement.
“Learners’ experiences and meeting learning needs were graded as “very good”, a clear indication of the very high standards adhered to across the whole school.
“In the nursery an additional grading was provided on four areas including the quality of care and support; the environment; staffing; and management and leadership. All categories were graded as “very good”.”
Head, Mrs Anne Everest, said: “We are delighted the report has acknowledged the excellent work done by our staff: it reflects the high quality of education here and the dedication and ambition of both staff and pupils. St George’s stimulating and supportive environment for girls is enriched by the diversity of the school community, contributing to both academic achievement and overall growth and development.”
St George’s Chairman of the Governing Council, Mr Paul Brewer, also added: “The report captures the ethos of the school and in particular its high attaining, self-evaluating and progressive atmosphere. This is something that has always been key to the ethos and continuing success of St George’s. I would like to congratulate Anne, her leadership team and the whole staff on their achievement of an outstanding outcome. ”
The all-through nature of St George’s, from 2 to 18 years, enabled the report to look at the transition arrangements as girls moved through the school from nursery to sixth form. The report recognised that “across the nursery and all stages of the school, staff plan programmes and courses very carefully to ensure there is coherence and progression in learning.”
Self-evaluation was recognised and commended. “There is an excellent culture of self-evaluation embedded across the school”. “The head teacher has strong and clear vision for the school where children receive the best education to develop their ambitions and fulfil their aspirations through continuous improvement through self-evaluation.”
The report highlighted staff across the whole school as being very successful at supporting pupils to develop and learn: “in keeping with the school’s aims, children progress at their own pace benefiting from a range of qualification systems and courses to meet the needs of students.”
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