Heron Way celebrates ‘outstanding’ Ofsted result

The school was rewarded with an ‘outstanding’ rating in all areas: the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision.

The inspection took place on February 20 and 21 this year, and means the school has maintained its status following the previous ‘outstanding’ result in 2011.

The three inspectors carried out deep dives in reading, mathematics, geography, history, science and PE. For each deep dive, they discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.

The report stated that “Pupils at this school relish learning and rightly take pride in their achievements. Adults have a deep understanding of how to meet pupils’ emotional and physical needs. This creates an inclusive atmosphere where both pupils and adults feel supported to try out new experiences, make mistakes and grow personally".

“Leaders are excellent at developing their staff. They coach one another to become experts in curriculum design, subject knowledge, and early childhood development. Staff use this knowledge skilfully, alongside their astute understanding of each pupil’s pastoral needs, to adapt their teaching. This enables all pupils to achieve highly".

Reading was heavily scrutinised and the team were impressed with Heron Way’s approach and facilities: “The school’s huge library pays tribute to the importance given to reading. Teachers share their enthusiasm for books at every opportunity. Older pupils read to younger ones, sharing their love of stories. Any children at risk of struggling to read are identified before starting school".

In the feedback meeting directly after the inspection, the safeguarding team were also praised as they “went above and beyond” good practice - ensuring the children and families at Heron Way were nurtured, cared for and happy.

Head Teacher, James Crump said: “The children at this school are amazing and for OFSTED to recognise our efforts as outstanding is fantastic. The whole community are thrilled to receive this recognition – and this is a major team effort. Staff, children, parents/carers and governors all play their part in making Heron Way such a great place to work, learn and have fun! Horsham is full of great schools and we will continue to work alongside our fellow establishments to ensure the best possible outcomes for the young people across our communities.”

Parents and carers of the school’s 416 children have sent messages and cards of congratulations to the school staff after hearing the news.

Annabel Klempa wrote: “As a parent, I know how lucky we are to have our children attend the school but to have had the school’s hard work and care formally recognised by Ofsted so magnificently is just wonderful.”

Kate Hearn posted in the parent’s Facebook group: “On behalf of all the parents a HUGE thank you to the school and all those involved in the school. We know how lucky we are.”

Rachel Wylie agreed, replying: “Fabulous result and what an amazing reassurance that our children are receiving such a positive start in their education. Thanks to all at the school.”

Chair of Governors, Patrick Donovan said: “It is great to see the hard work and dedication of the staff at Heron Way be recognised in this way. We are incredibly grateful to everyone that went above and beyond during the OFSTED inspection, and especially the children who were, as always, amazing! It is testament to the way that our is school is led by Mr. Crump and his team, that they look at this as a positive not only for our school community but also more widely for the Horsham area.“