Gelliswick VC School

Overview

Leaders and staff have successfully amalgamated two schools, creating a “calm and purposeful ethos” where most pupils make good progress. The report highlights a strong sense of pride and ownership among stakeholders, with pupils displaying “positive attitudes to learning” and high levels of care for one another.

Strengths

• Pupils make “good progress” in literacy and numeracy, with many developing as “articulate, confident speakers” and “self-assured, fluent readers.”
• The school provides “strong” support for pupils in learning resource centres and nurture classes, helping them develop social and emotional skills.
• Staff establish “positive working relationships” with pupils, fostering a respectful environment where nearly all pupils feel “safe and secure.”
• Senior leaders have managed the amalgamation “very successfully,” resulting in effective tracking of pupil progress and rigorous attendance monitoring.

Areas to improve

• Provide pupils with an “engaging broad and balanced curriculum,” ensuring consistent teaching across all areas, such as music.
• Offer pupils “greater choice in what and how they learn,” as adults currently “over-direct activities,” hampering independence.
• Give pupils more opportunities to develop as “independent learners” and to use ICT skills regularly to support their learning.

Safeguarding

The report states that the school’s arrangements for safeguarding pupils “meet requirements and give no cause for concern.”