'Close-knit, nurturing, family environment': Upminster school rated 'excellent'
The whole of Oakfields Preparatory School celebrated their 'excellent' in all areas rating - Credit: Oakfields Preparatory School
An independent Upminster school has been awarded an overall rating of ‘excellent’ following a recent inspection.
Following a three-day visit to Oakfields Preparatory School in March, a report published by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) has awarded the provision top marks.
The education regulator rates schools using four grades: excellent, good, sound and unsatisfactory.
Oakfields was found to be ‘excellent’ across eight areas including quality of education, welfare, health and safety of pupils and quality of leadership and management.
The report said the quality of pupils’ academic and other achievements is "excellent”, as is the quality of pupils' personal development.
It said: “Pupils of all ages have exemplary attitudes to learning.
“They work effectively both independently and collaboratively, increasingly managing their own work as they move through the school.”
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The independent preparatory day school caters to children aged three to 11 and the inspection deemed the attainment of pupils of all those ages to be ‘excellent’.
ISI’s report says children attending the school develop “high levels of self-awareness, self-confidence and resilience within a close-knit, nurturing, family environment”.
It noted: “Pupils make excellent progress because of senior leaders’ successful planning for their needs and the nurturing and caring approach of their teachers."
The inspectors also found a range of information is “published, provided or made available to parents, inspectors and the Department for Education”.
Information included details about the ethos of the school and the curriculum.
The report found that if any complaints were made, they were handled “effectively" through a three-stage method, which starts informally but moves to a formal process and a hearing before a panel of three, one of whom is independent of the school.
In 2015 the school was rated ‘good’ across the quality of its curriculum and the quality of teaching and assessment.
In this same previous report, it was rated ‘excellent’ for the pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
Headteacher Katrina Carroll said: “The report is a testament to the hard work of everyone at Oakfields Prep School, and we are extremely proud to be one of the leading independent schools in Havering.”
