Following a visit from Ofsted inspectors in April, Wilmslow High School is proud to be judged outstanding and exceptional.
The school was recognised as an outstanding school with an outstanding sixth form and an outstanding capacity for sustained improvement. In fact they were judged outstanding in 29 out of the 31 categories - an achievement matched by only a handful of schools nationally this year.
Mrs Gill Bremner, whose leadership of the school was described as "exceptional", said "The Ofsted team were most professional, they rightly rigorously challenged our own self evaluation and yet worked with us. I am so pleased that they were able to recognise the hard work and commitment we all have to Wilmslow High: everyone deserves to be able to wear the badge 'outstanding' with pride.
"This success marks a moment in time which we should savour and celebrate after many years of continued effort and determination to improve: nevertheless we will not stand still, there is still much to do and we are always looking for further improvement, 'outstanding' does not mean perfect and we will never become complacent in aiming to achieve the best education possible for our students.
"I would like to thank the parents, as always, for their support and to thank students and staff for everything they do, without whom none of this would be possible. I am convinced that it is our team approach that makes us the school we are, proud to be at Wilmslow High and proud of what we achieve. Wilmslow itself should value having such a wonderful school in the town: I look forward to developing further our links with our wider community."
Mrs Bremner added "I am so proud to be Head at Wilmslow. We, both staff and students, are all always so committed and work so hard constantly trying to make things even better. It's been a journey for the school and I am so pleased for staff, past and present, knowing that finally their efforts and their belief in the school have been recognised.
"Verbal feedback from the Ofsted team, the governors, staff and parents already tells me how pleased everyone is that we have such a high achieving school in this area."
Looking to the future, the inspector's only recommendation for improving the school further was to extend the school's work to enhance students' cultural experiences and understanding of a wider range of other settings within the United Kingdom.
The inspection was carried out by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors and five additional inspectors who observed 45 lessons taught by 45 teachers. In addition they paid short visits to other activities, looked at students' books and met with senior leaders, governors, members of staff and groups of students.
Inspectors looked at a range of documentation including its self- evaluation and improvement plans, minutes of the governor's meetings, and the school's analysis and tracking of information on students' attainment and progress. In addition, they analysed and considered the content of 660 questionnaires returned by parents and carers, 97 by staff and a representative sample of the large number of completed student questionnaires.
Visit the Ofsted website to read the report for Wilmslow High School in full.
