Linslade School celebrates as it retains Good Ofsted status following inspection

After receiving a Good rating in 2016 during a 'full inspection', the Mentmore Road school was visited by inspectors this autumn for an ungraded 'school inspection', which declared that it "continues to be a good school". Since 2016, the school has joined the Chiltern Learning Trust, gained a new headteacher, special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) and assistant headteacher, as well as appointing a new head of school.

Mark Gibbs, headteacher of Linslade and Cedars, said: “We’re thrilled with our latest Ofsted report and are really pleased that the comments of the inspector recognise the hard work and progress we have made over the last couple of years. I would like to thank all our 'EPIC learners', parents, staff and governors for their continued support and dedication to the school."

The inspectors state: "The school provides pupils with a supportive and caring environment. Pupils love coming here. They are safe and are well supported by staff. Pupils treat each other very well and say that bullying does not happen. They know that if they were to have any concerns, or if they require extra support, a dedicated pastoral team is always available to help them."

The report notes that staff model the behaviours that they expect to see in pupils, ensuring that students are "courteous and well behaved" in lessons and around the school. It also states that "a positive reading culture" exists and that leaders focus on pupils’ wider development, too, including "tolerance and respect".

To improve, the report notes that staff need to fully secure their subject-specific pedagogical knowledge, while it reveals that "sometimes, pupils are not given sufficient opportunities to learn and practise smaller components of the curriculum."

Phil Stock, head of school, said: “As acknowledged in the report, we have developed an aspirational and ambitious culture at Linslade and we will continue to strive to achieve high standards and learn from the recommendations of the report.”

A Linslade School spokeswoman added: "We are celebrating after an excellent Ofsted visit. The type of visit meant that the grade could not be changed from a ‘Good’ to ‘Outstanding’, however with more time they are confident about achieving this."