Scarborough’s Barrowcliff School receives improved ‘good’ rating from Ofsted

Scarborough’s Barrowcliff School has received an overall rating of ‘good’ from Ofsted following an inspection that took place this summer.

The inspectors said that the school, which was said to “require improvement’ following an inspection in 2019, had benefited from revised policies and “an ambitious curriculum”.

Schools are graded by Ofsted on a four-point scale ranging between “outstanding, good, requires improvement, and inadequate”.

Barrowcliff, which is located at Ash Grove, Scarborough, was commended for its provision for pupils with special educational needs, students’ participation in lunchtime and after-school clubs, and for maintaining regular oversight of behaviour.

The school’s leaders had recently revised the school’s behaviour policy and as a result, incidents of poor behaviour had “significantly reduced since its introduction” with pupils aware of “what is expected of them”, according to the report.

The Ofsted inspectors said: “Leaders have implemented an ambitious curriculum and they have identified the important knowledge and skills that pupils must learn as they progress through the school.

“Leaders initially prioritised the development of mathematics and English before improving other subjects and have ensured a consistent approach to the way in which lessons are taught, which helps pupils to achieve well.”

They also said that staff benefit from weekly training sessions “to support them to teach the school’s chosen phonics scheme well” and that their strong subject knowledge “enables them to anticipate and address pupils’ misconceptions”.

However, it was noted that “in some instances, teachers do not check that the standard of pupils’ work is as high as it could be”.

The report, which was published on Wednesday, July 26, states that “although most subjects are established, a small number of subjects, such as art and design, are at an earlier stage of development” and that in these subjects “teachers lack clarity about how to break down the knowledge and skills into smaller steps for pupils to understand”.

It was suggested that improvements could also be made to support pupils’ broader development as “some do not fully understand the importance of concepts, such as democracy and the rule of law”.

The report concluded that arrangements for safeguarding are effective, that governors have “an accurate view of the school” and that they “focus on making sure that the school provides a high-quality education for all pupils”.