The Whitstable School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 12 March 2024

There are high expectations for what every pupil in this school can achieve. Academic expectations have not been realised in the past, but the school has identified the barriers to achievement. The school and the trust have acted swiftly to bring in improvements. These changes mean that pupils are confident in discussing what they have learned. They produce high quality work and show a curiosity about the world. Pupils are now achieving well. Most pupils behave very well. Lessons are very rarely disrupted by those in class. However, some pupils are not punctual to lessons and they sometimes cause a disturbance to others. These pupils do not reflect the expectations of the school for how they should behave. Measures have already been taken by the school to ensure that pupils are in lessons on time. Pupils benefit from a very wide offer of clubs and other enrichment activities. The school ensures that disadvantaged pupils do not miss out on these opportunities. Pupils feel well-cared for at school and know that there are people who they can go to if they have any worries. This helps them to feel happy and safe.

What the school should improve

• Too many pupils are late to lessons. This means that they miss out on their learning and at times prevent others from learning. The school needs to continue the work to change the culture so that these pupils arrive at their lessons in a timely manner.
• In some subjects, teaching is not as consistently strong as it could be. The approaches to teaching and learning are not always used in the way that the school intended. This means that pupils do not achieve as highly as they could do. The school needs to ensure that all teachers understand the principles behind the practices they use so that they can put them into action consistently well.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)