Lubavitch Senior Girls’ School rated ‘good’ by Ofsted
Praised: Lubavitch Senior Girls’ School
A Stamford Hill school has been rated ‘good’ three years after Ofsted told teachers it required improvement.
Lubavitch Senior Girls’ School, which teaches girls aged 11 to 18, was awarded the ‘good’ rating in all four inspection categories, including quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils.
Ofsted’s report gave a glowing account of the school’s headteacher, Helen Freeman.
The inspectors who visited the school in May 2016 said: “The headteacher has worked with determination and vision to tackle the areas of weakness identified at the last inspection.
“She knows the school and its community very well and has been able to drive forward change at a considerable pace.”
Girls achieved well at GCSE and were doing particularly well in maths and modern foreign languages, inspectors found.
The report praised the work of the governors and said senior leaders had “grasped the nettle of change” by transforming the school since the last inspection.
The secondary school had previously been rated as ‘requires improvement’ in 2013.
Inspectors had found achievement in English was poor and that sixth form students did not have the opportunity to pursue a wide range of studies.
Following the inspection Mrs Freeman said: “I would like to pay tribute to the Hackney Learning Trust as well as the governors, staff and pupils of the school who have helped us attain this good rating.
“Our school is a credit to our community and I am proud that we will continue to give our pupils a fantastic education to prepare them for whatever path they choose for their futures.”
The school principal, Rabbi Shmuel Lew, provided “leadership and a sense of openness about the importance of asking questions”.
Rabbi Lew said: “We are proud of our superb pupils and our incredible team, who bring out their best. We intend to continue to improve [so as to be] recognised as an outstanding school.”
Please note the comment “English was poor” is incorrect. The report contains no adverse comments about English – in fact it states “the successful expansion of the GCSE curriculum means that pupils now take examinations in the full range of Baccalaureate subjects”. Later in the report it states “two thirds of pupils are expected to achieve the English Baccalaureate this year and a high number of most able pupils are in track to achieve 5 or more A or A* grades”.
The report did, however highlight the need for the school to expand the range of books available and establish a clear expectation about the importance of reading and the frequency with which pupils should read.
@Mrs Helen Freeman (Headteacher): Thank you for your comment.
Our story states: ‘Inspectors had found achievement in English was poor’.
This statement refers to the situation Ofsted inspectors found three years ago.
The preceding sentence states: ‘The secondary school had previously been rated as ‘requires improvement’ in 2013’ is followed by ‘inspectors had found achievement in English was poor’.
The 2013 Ofsted report, page five states:
Overall achievement requires improvement because progress in English is slow.
Students enter the school with above average attainment, but too few students across the ability range make expected progress over time.
This slow progress in English means that the percentage of students achieving five or more GCSE passes at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics, was below national averages in 2012.
Students’ ability to write detailed answers and essays is often not good enough for the students to reach higher examination grades and the most able students do not make good progress given their starting points.
– Ed.