Welcome to Winton Arts and Media College. I am proud to be the Headteacher of a school which this year can boast being in the top 15 most improved schools in the country. Since taking over the Headship in September, I have noticed significant improvements in the performance of the school and these have been most recently ratified by OFSTED during our highly successful OFSTED monitoring visit. The full report can be read here. However I have picked out a few of the highlights for you:
- Teaching and Learning is much better, with OFSTED grading the progress in this area as GOOD.
- Behaviour and Safety is much better, with fewer exclusions and a better rewards and consequences system. OFSTED graded the progress in this area as GOOD.
- Achievement and Standards are higher. Examination results have seen a 10% point rise, making us one of the most improved schools in the country and the most improved school in Bournemouth.
- Leadership and Management has significantly improved with a progress grading of OUTSTANDING.
I feel that school has really turned a corner and we are now a significantly improved school. I think that one of the best measures of this is student attendance which is currently at 95% putting us in the top category in the country. Safe and happy students turn up for school, unhappy and scared students don't.
I attribute this improvement in the school to the input from each member of our school community. The teachers have worked really hard to improve the quality of learning in their classrooms, the support staff have made the school run more smoothly, the students have been excellent and hungry learners wanting to take advantage of the better teaching, and the parents and the community have looked to support the school in every way they can including developing the school's community meeting and the regular parental consultation evenings that we provide. On this note, I have to say thanks for the overwhelming support I have received from you since I arrived, from the quick chat at the school entrance, to the many emails I receive from parents each week, through to the letters of support that come through the main office. I really appreciate all of them, thank you.
Whilst I am excited and enthused by the improvements that have been made already, I am also confident that we can make the necessary next steps required over the next term. The key areas of focus for me and my team of staff include better differentiation so that both the most and least able students are sufficiently challenged in every lesson, that TA support is used more effectively to support students who need more help, that punctuality in the school improves, and that the learning environment around the school and in classrooms becomes better.
I am fully committed to developing all these areas and look forward to working with all of you in making Winton Arts and Media College a truly outstanding school.
Ofsted Inspection Report | December 2011 (
