Ofsted 2024

We are really pleased to share that Sir Thomas Fremantle continues to be a good school.

Dear Parents and Carers,

I wanted to share with you our Ofsted report from the inspection last month. As you can imagine it was a very thorough experience and the team were certainly put through their paces, as one would expect from a regulatory body. We found the experience a positive one and it is always good to have meaningful conversations about teaching and learning and to share our school with other professionals.

STFS was previously inspected under a different framework in 2019 and we are really pleased to maintain our category in a more robust inspection framework. It means we have up to four years before our next inspection and we continue to have autonomy over our future! In a two-day inspection the inspectors led deep dives on the following subjects:  maths, geography, art and history. This involved looking at books, speaking to students, teachers and leaders. Reviewing curriculum plans and student outcomes. We recognise this is a snapshot of our school and we wished were able to show them so much more!

“The school’s new vision is underpinned by an inclusive ethos and ambition for all”

We are really proud of this quote. We wholeheartedly believe that every child, regardless of background or circumstance should succeed! We want every student to RISE to the challenge! Our purpose is to ensure students leave here successful, ambitious and aspirational to continue to thrive ahead!

“The school’s ‘RISE’ values (Resilience, Integrity, Success, Empathy) are understood and embraced by most pupils who are proud of their school”

As you know in September we launched our new values. Last year in other external scrutiny, it was clear that students and staff were not sure of our values, who we are and how we will achieve them. We worked hard last summer to define these to ensure it captured our ambition for our students. Our next stage is threading this through the curriculum.

Pupils are happy and welcoming. They feel safe and understand that bullying is not tolerated. They know how to report any incidents, and trust staff to address them.

We know this is really important for any student coming to Fremantle. Our students are a real credit to you and the inspection team were really impressed by their interactions with students. Students approached the inspectors at break and lunch and made conversation with them. They were always polite and spoke articulately about school life. The lead inspector said in the verbal feedback that she did not see any poor behaviour in the two days she was with us. We were so proud of them!

Staff have high expectations for pupils’ behaviour and attendance in line with the school’s new values. The school has acted decisively to strengthen behaviour approaches and routines, as well as attendance management. 

This is really key for us. In order for students to succeed, the correct behaviour and culture needs to be in place. You will be aware that I introduced a new role in January 2024, the Assistant Head Teacher for Behaviour & Culture.  We have worked hard to ensure our values and what we expect is understood by all. We want to develop more praise and rewards into our systems so sanctions are the last resort. Changing culture takes time and part of that is a joint approach from families and school.

The new inclusion areas, and more nuanced approaches used there, are particularly effective in helping individuals manage their behaviour and emotions.

Our school community is varied, and this is part of what we love about our students. The inclusion team have worked tirelessly on reforming our provision and it certainly came out as an area of strength in the inspection. The inclusion areas are part of our ‘ambition for all’ and we will continue to ensure all students, regardless of need or background feel part of STFS.

Next steps

The report provides two areas to develop. Neither of these are unexpected; we are already working on the two areas to develop.

1: Curriculum Thinking and Key Stage 3 written work.

Our outcomes in Key Stage 4 (GCSEs) were average this year and above average the year before. Our progress scores are higher than some local schools, so we know our KS4 approach works! We have been aware that our Key Stage 3 students could be pushed more, and we are currently working on what is expected from our younger students. In particular, the presentation the pride and care over presentation in books. The inspection team encouraged us to replicate the Vigor in KS4 to KS3.

In terms of ‘curriculum thinking’ this is educational speak for the more refined curriculum design. For example, if in English students are studying Macbeth, do we ensure they have the context from other subjects to help it all come together. When we use language of ‘power’ or ‘masculinity’, have they come across these in a planned way in other subjects so they can begin the themes of Macbeth from a good starting point. This is part of our curriculum focus for next year.

 2: Consistent routines and behaviour approaches

The report refers to a small number of students that do not meet the expectations. We know that behaviour management only works when there is consistency, and all students RISE to the challenge. As I shared earlier, we started this work in January and over the summer term we are working on learning behaviours to be delivered in the next academic year. We want all students to be clear what is expected of them in the classroom, social times, canteen, sports fixtures, walking to and from school. We will make this explicit and we will rehearse these until it’s automatic. We are also working on a shared language for behaviour, again to be launched in September. In addition to this, we want to develop a culture of praise and recognition to reduce the need for sanctions! I want students to feel we invest in them and they know we are proud of them!

Finally, we are really pleased that Sir Thomas Fremantle continues to be a good school. It takes a huge amount of work to achieve this, and I am so proud of the students, staff and governors who helped us achieve it. I can’t thank everyone enough! We are pleased that the areas to develop match our current plans and this shows a true reflection of our journey.

I am absolutely dedicated to ensuring students at Sir Thomas Fremantle succeed and thrive here! They deserve the best and my job is to make sure that happens! I went into education to change the life chances of all students so they have the option to take whatever path they wish for a happy life. We can do this together, and our values of resilience, integrity, success and empathy will ensure we RISE to the challenge.

Best wishes,  

Francis Murphy
Head Teacher