Harrogate Grammar School has been rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.
The Harrogate district’s largest school announced last night it had retained its outstanding verdict in its first full assessment for 15 years.
Ofsted has yet to publish the report but the school said in a statement that government inspectors had judged the school to be outstanding overall and in all five areas assessed: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and sixth form provision.
Inspectors described the school as “an extremely rewarding place to learn” with “an exceptional curriculum”. They added:
“Effective teaching and assessment enable pupils to learn well. This depth of knowledge is sustained from key stage 3 to the sixth form.
“Through sports, outdoor pursuits and performance opportunities, pupils develop their skills and self-confidence. Pupils are articulate and polite. They are keen to engage in discussion and debate. Teachers make sure that pupils’ views are heard.”
Ofsted described the sixth form curriculum as “exceptional”, offering students “an extensive range of subjects”. It added:
“The headteacher has built a very strong team of leaders at all levels. Leaders demonstrate clear moral purpose in their actions.
“Leaders maintain a constant focus on the safety and well-being of pupils. Pupils feel safe because of the supportive environment built by staff.”
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Headteacher ‘very proud’
Neil Renton
Headteacher Neil Renton praised students, parents, staff, governors and colleagues at Red Kite Learning Trust, which the school is a member of, for the outcome. He added:
“It makes us very proud to see the exceptional commitment that we experience every day from our community, being recognised in this way.”
Six inspectors visited Harrogate Grammar over two days last month.
Tougher regime
Ofsted’s assessment regime has become tougher since inspections resumed after covid in September 2021. Only 50% per cent of schools have maintained their outstanding judgement since then.
In January, Harrogate’s St Aidan’s Church of England High School, which was previously rated ‘outstanding’, was assessed as ‘inadequate’.
Christopher Russell, Ofsted’s national director of education, said:
“There’s no doubt that under the current education inspection framework, outstanding is a challenging and exacting judgement to achieve.”
Paul Cotton, chair of governors at Harrogate Grammar, said,
“The Ofsted report captures so clearly what takes place each and every day at the school. Harrogate Grammar School is indeed an extremely rewarding place to learn.”
Richard Sheriff, chief executive of Red Kite Learning Trust, said:
Harrogate student busking for Ukraine“Students benefit from an exceptional curriculum at Harrogate Grammar School.”
Upsetting TV images of the war in Ukraine inspired Harrogate Grammar School sixth form student Sarah Castillo to go busking to raise money for the British Red Cross.
The 18-year-old is a regular busker in Harrogate and performs with her microphone and speaker at a spot outside Holland & Barrett on Cambridge Street.
Sarah raised an impressive £285 in a couple of hours last Saturday and is well on her way to raising her target of £500. All of the money will be donated to the Red Cross Ukraine humanitarian appeal.
She said:
“I just felt really upset watching the TV and seeing all the people suffer, they are not supposed to be experiencing things like this, especially the children, I felt like i had do something”.
Sarah likes to sing songs by Adele, The Beatles and Billie Eilish and will be back singing in Harrogate town centre from around 11am this Saturday.
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- Harrogate school fundraiser raises over £500 for Ukraine
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Disappointment for Harrogate bobsleigher Axel Brown at Winter Olympics
Harrogate’s Axel Brown competed for the Trinidad and Tobago bobsleigh team today in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
However, there was disappointment as out of 30 countries, the two-man team he piloted finished 28th in heat 1 and 27th in heat 2. Both heats today were won by Germany.
But the Olympic dream is not over yet as Brown’s team will compete in heat 3 and 4 tomorrow.
Brown was born and raised in Harrogate. He attended Harrogate Grammar School from 2003 to 2011 and excelled at American football and taekwondo before discovering bobsleigh in 2014.
He previously competed for Great Britain but qualified to switch to Trinidad and Tobago because his mum is from Pointe-a-Pierre in the country.
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Writing on Instagram, Brown said he was looking forward to competing again tomorrow.
Harrogate man to compete at Winter Olympics for Trinidad & Tobago bobsleigh team“Olympic Games run 1&2, done! The 20 year wait is over! 🇹🇹 Very happy with what we accomplished, especially given our setbacks! Very happy with my drive, looking forward to improving again tomorrow.
“Thank you SO MUCH for all the support. It really does mean the world. I’ll get round to replying as soon as I can! Time to focus up and hit the track again tomorrow!”
Harrogate man Axel Brown will compete for the Trinidad & Tobago bobsleigh team in the Beijing Winter Olympics, which kicks off today.
If you ask someone about bobsleigh, most people will recall the 1993 smash hit film Cool Runnings. It featured the trials and tribulations of the Jamaica team as it battled to compete in the Winter Olympics.
Brown was born and raised in Harrogate. He attended Harrogate Grammar School from 2003 to 2011 and excelled at American football and taekwondo before discovering bobsleigh in 2014.
He previously competed for Great Britain but qualified to switch to Trinidad & Tobago because his mum is from Pointe-a-Pierre in the country.
For the uninitiated, bobsleigh is a winter sport where teams barrel down an iced track in an aerodynamic sleigh while racing against the clock.
Brown has a crucial role as the pilot of the team, and sits in the sleigh to steer it along so it can produce the greatest speed.
The Caribbean country hasn’t competed in the games for 20 years, and Brown is hoping their efforts can inspire a new generation.
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Speaking to Trinidad & Tobago Newsday in December, Brown said:
“It is exciting that now all of a sudden the Trinidad & Tobago population is kind of embracing us and what we are able to do.
“Hopefully there are other Trinidad & Tobago teams that are inspired by what we are doing. I think we certainly have the athletic pool from which to choose great athletes from but also the four that we’ve got at the moment are doing incredibly well and I am really excited to see what they can do.”
The Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 opening ceremony takes place today, where Brown will be cheered on from back home.
Brown is a supporter of Harrogate horticulture charity Horticap, which showed its support for him when some of its students held the Trinidad & Tobago flag.
