William Howard School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 24 June 2025

Pupils quickly develop a strong feeling of belonging to this school. Despite coming from a wide geographic area and different backgrounds, they are united by their understanding of 'The William Howard Way'. Pupils enjoy spending time in their year group common rooms. They value the strong friendships that they make. Pupils delight in contributing to the school community. For instance, students in the sixth form support younger pupils with their reading. Pupils in the 'open spaces' group relish their roles caring for the school's animals. They recognise that these experiences develop their own confidence, while also helping others. The school has high expectations of pupils' achievement. A strengthened curriculum, coupled with the school's successful work to raise pupils' aspirations, has helped to rapidly increase the number of pupils who meet these expectations. Pupils understand that education creates opportunities. They take their learning seriously and most behave accordingly. Pupils benefit from the school's commitment to pairing academic rigour with personal development. They eagerly participate in the vast array of opportunities to discover and nurture new talents and interests. For example, pupils can ponder the meaning of life in 'young philosophers' or try their hand at unusual sports, such as table cricket. Pupils told inspectors that there is 'something for everyone'.

What the school should improve

• In a few subjects, the school has not ensured that staff have clarity about the most important knowledge that pupils should know and remember over time. This makes it difficult for teachers in these subjects to emphasise this information, including during recall activities and assessment. The school should provide clarity around the knowledge that pupils should acquire in each subject so that teachers can better support pupils to build rich bodies of knowledge over time.
• The school's approach to supporting some pupils in key stage 4 who find reading more difficult is underdeveloped. Consequently, a small number of older pupils do not receive effective help in a timely way. The school should ensure that appropriate support is in place for these pupils so that they learn to read well.

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