Gillingham School

Overview

Gillingham School is rated as ‘Good’ across all inspection categories, including overall effectiveness, the quality of education, and leadership. Leaders maintain a ‘shared and clear moral purpose’ to provide every pupil with the best opportunities, fostering a culture of ‘continual reflection’ that drives sustained improvement. The school prioritises removing barriers to learning, ensuring that pupils with additional needs are well supported through carefully adapted teaching.

Strengths

• Leaders have developed an ‘ambitious’ curriculum where knowledge and sequencing are ‘carefully considered’, with teachers using strong subject knowledge to challenge pupils.
• Staff know the individual needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well, breaking the curriculum into ‘small, achievable steps’ to support progress.
• Pupils enjoy a ‘wide range of clubs and activities’, valuing opportunities for leadership such as the school council and ‘red coat’ supervisor roles.
• Leadership at all levels is a strength, with governors providing an ‘appropriate balance of challenge and support’ to school leaders.
• The personal, social and health education curriculum is ‘responsive to current and contextual issues’, helping pupils learn about tolerance and respect.

Areas to improve

• Leaders must ensure that work to eliminate ‘discriminatory attitudes’ and bullying remains a whole-school priority, as some pupils do not demonstrate respectful behaviour.
• Leaders should encourage pupils to develop a love of reading, particularly of authors from a ‘range of different backgrounds and cultures’, as exposure to diverse literature is currently limited.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are ‘effective’, with staff knowing their pupils well and working with external agencies to ensure vulnerable pupils receive the help they need.