In November 2020, OFSTED made a Monitoring Visit during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Although not an inspection, the inspectors could see all the fantastic work our team had been completing to keep the school thriving in particularly difficult times. Please visit the OFSTED website to view the Monitoring Visit letter.  It can also be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

In January 2018, we enjoyed a visited from OFSTED.  Here are some headlines from the inspection letter:

• Hillcrest has, once again, been evaluated as being a GOOD SCHOOL;
• We have continued to improve since the last inspection “through effective and purposeful leadership”;
• We have a “good understanding of the school’s strengths and areas for development”;
• We have “ensured good teaching across the school”;
• We are fortunate to have subject leaders who have “developed their roles well since the last inspection”;
• We are a team of staff whose “morale is high”;
• We enjoy the “confidence of parents”;
• Hillcrest pupils feel “safe and cared for at the school”;
• We have a “strong culture for safeguarding” and school leaders “ensure that all safeguarding  procedures are effective”;
• Hillcrest pupils’ “behaviour in lessons and around school is very good”;
• Hillcrest pupils have “many opportunities for enrichment through a wide-range of after-school clubs, in which they eagerly participate”;
• Hillcrest’s curriculum “promotes pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development well”;
• We use strategies that “establish reading as the heart of the school’s curriculum”;
• Pupils across our school “achieved significantly above the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics”;
• Proportion of pupils in Key Stage 2 who “achieved greater depth was above the national average”;

Of course, we have a couple of areas to work on, including developing the learning of the least able pupils across the school, especially in Reading.  However, having previously been identified as an area to prioritise by the leadership team, this lead to the development of our new Text-Linked Curriculum. On that note, we are especially pleased that the astounding efforts of our dedicated staff team, creating and teaching our TLC curriculum, was recognised by the inspector and mentioned in the report when he wrote, “the school’s curriculum is beginning to have a positive effect in encouraging reluctant readers”.

For a full copy of the inspection letter, click on the link at the bottom of this page

Please visit the OFSTED website to view the entire report.