Staff and students at Holsworthy Community College are celebrating a successful Ofsted report, with the school receiving a ‘Good’ rating from the body.

The report – which has been published following a section 8 inspection at the school on June 14 and 15 — highlights some of the key reasons why the school remains ‘Good’.

As part of this, it highlights that “the cooperative values of Holsworthy Community College are present throughout the school”, before going on to praise:

• While leaders at the school have high expectations of pupils’ conduct, they also “celebrate positive behaviours and achievements.”

• Pupils feel safe at school, and “know how to keep themselves safe online.” This is supported by the “strong culture of safeguarding” in the school.

• Subject leaders have defined the essential knowledge for pupils to learn and have “created an ambitious curriculum” for learners.

• Pupils are well informed about career choices, thanks to a careers programme which spans across five years, and the “good relationships” which the school has with colleges, sixth forms and local employers.

• Leaders have “a spotlight on equality.” When social issues arise, there are several parts of the curriculum that address this, with pupils saying they “enjoy these opportunities to discuss the issues.”

• The report also highlighted areas in which the school can improve further still, and these have been firmly taken on board by the Holsworthy leadership team.

Gareth Smith, principal of Holsworthy Community School, said: “We are incredibly proud of this report, and believe it is testament to the hard work and dedication of everyone in the school community.

“Though the pandemic posed a wide variety of challenges for everyone in Holsworthy, we navigated these together, and we are looking forward to building on this report’s positive momentum to achieve even greater things.

“In the meantime, though, I wanted to wish everyone a very happy and restful break over the summer holidays — it is hugely deserved!”