February, 2002
SPECIAL EDITION
St. Michael’s School, Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees, TS23 3DX (Tel: 870003)
TODAY’S ANNOUNCEMENT IN PARLIAMENT... ST. MICHAEL’S IS ONE OF OFSTED’S ‘PARTICULARLY SUCCESSFUL SCHOOLS’!
| Making his Annual Report
to Parliament on 5th February, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Mike
Tomlinson, names St. Michael’s as one of Ofsted’s ‘particularly
successful schools’.
In a letter to Mr. Maxwell, Mr. Tomlinson writes, ‘I am about to publish my Annual Report for the academic year 2000/01. As in previous years, I will be identifying a number of “particularly successful schools”. These schools have received an outstanding inspection report and have performed well in national tests and examinations.... I am pleased to inform you that your school is included. My warmest congratulations to you, your staff, governors and, of course, the pupils. Please pass on my good wishes to your staff for the coming year.... ‘ |
|
On behalf of the school, Mr. Maxwell has welcomed the news from Ofsted and he says, “We all know that academic results have been excellent over many years and that recent results have been outstanding. However, selection for this Report to Parliament implies much more. Last summer, the school was one of six secondary schools included in the National Commission’s book about schools which had exceeded all expectations. It concluded that St. Michael’s academic success had not been achieved at the expense of ‘other educational, religious and social outcomes of the school’. The Ofsted Report mirrored these findings, praising all kinds of provision, including pastoral, music and drama, citizenship education and our peer mentoring systems.
In any large community, not everything goes right all of the time, but this designation of St. Michael’s as a ‘particularly successful school’ is very welcome recognition that all-round education of very high standards is being provided for our pupils.
Reading the Chief Inspector’s letter again, there are two omissions to which I would like to refer. One is the importance of the support we have had from parents. Through the interest parents take in their children’s education, the work of the PTA and the support parents give to different events, the school benefits considerably. The other omission is the excellent support and encouragement coming from the local community and local and national businesses, for example Cleveland Press, Cowpen Bewley’s Wildlife Trust, Motorola and, most recently, Oxford Chemicals.
Thank you to all who have contributed in any way to the success of St. Michael’s. The accolade from Ofsted stems from the huge commitment so many have given to education in our school and I know we will strive to maintain and build upon all that has been achieved. In this edition of Home Links, pages 3-6 remind us about just some of the outstanding achievements since Ofsted carried out its inspection. I think they help explain why we are included in the Chief Inspector’s Report and I hope you enjoy reading about them again ”
