ERO Review

The Education Review Office have been into the school on Monday and Tuesday of this week. Whilst this is a relatively short timeframe I was impressed with the amount of information they were able to process in that time. Key areas they wanted to see was continued improvement to our educational curriculum carrying on from our last outstanding report, our management of the dormitories, and our management of International Students.

I sent them a copy of our procedures and our new curriculum document. On site these were the areas they felt we were doing extremely well in:

1. Our Curriculum Document. ERO felt in their discussions and observations that our curriculum document was a very comprehensive document that drew in all aspects of the Huntley Ethos and gave staff a solid theoretical platform to launch their teaching from. They felt our staff attestation and professional development practices were of a very high standard and allowed for constant review by using the Teaching as Inquiry process. Staff are using high quality data to develop quality learning programmes. Advancement in nationalised testing was generally well above national standards expected. They felt that the teachers planning was in line with our stated curriculum and there was a clear correlation between planning and identified needs for the pupils at the school. They clearly identified that the boys knew their learning goals and what they were hoping to achieve within their lessons. The Huntley Values were strongly a part of the school ethos and this was apparent in many of the lessons they observed.
2. Our Dormitories. There was clear evidence of student voice in this area of school with surveys being taken regularly. The pastoral care of the boys is an obvious priority and they also commented on the role of the form teacher in ensuring that all boys have someone they can talk with when experiencing any difficulties. They felt the addition of the new heaters had been well received by the boys and their parents. They were pleased to see we had gone through a process of self review in the areas of Nutrition, Medication Administration, Earthquake and Fire drills and Bullying surveys.
3. International students were obviously very happy and making pleasing progress within the school. The quality of the pastoral care of these boys was exceptional and Lyn Barnett is obviously doing a fantastic job with these boys.