Inspection Report
As an independent school, Westfield is inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI). ISI is licensed by the Department for Education to carry out inspections of independent schools on behalf of Ofsted. The inspections report against the Independent Schools Standards and Regulations (ISSR) 2014.
In October 2017, we had a combined inspection of educational quality and focused compliance. We are delighted to report that the Educational Quality Inspection was extremely positive, with the judgement being excellent or good in all categories. “Pupils of all ages achieve well so ensure the fulfilment of the school’s aim of a first-class education with a global outlook.”; “Progress benefits from teaching which is characterised by expertise and enthusiasm.”; “The quality of the pupils’ personal development is excellent.”; “Pupil behaviour and attitudes to learning are excellent and pupils of all ages collaborate well and are mutually supportive. Contributory factors to this positive approach to learning are the ethos within the school”. The Round Square IDEALS, which we espouse in our ethos, were particularly identified as contributing positively to our pupils’ strong development, which inspectors rated as excellent. Educational Quality is the key area for any school and we are very pleased with the outcome; one sentence encapsulates the overall inspection findings: “throughout the school there is a strong sense of family and togetherness”. To read the full report please follow this link – Inspection report 2017
With regard to some of the compliance regulations, the school was required to take further action and we are delighted that, following an unannounced monitoring inspection by the ISI at the end of January 2018, the school was found to have implemented all the required actions and all the regulations were met. To read the full report please follow this link – Inspection report 2018
In June 2022 we had a Regulatory Compliance Inspection (RCI). This inspection is a simple pass/fail one with no gradings attached. The inspectors praised the girls for their independence of thought and cheerful outgoing character. We were praised for the excellent learning which the inspectors saw alongside the inspirational teaching which they identified as particularly well-led and managed. One point that the inspectors praised us for was the level of satisfaction rating from the parent questionnaires. The inspection was a very in-depth check and sought to discover whether or not we comply with all of the Independent School Standards and Regulations. Within the regulations, many are cross referenced and if there is a problem with one part this has a knock-on effect into other areas. Unfortunately, the inspectors noticed some omissions in our procedures and these are areas which we must tighten up. Clearly this was a very disappointing outcome for the school, particularly given the praise heaped upon our core business of educating the girls. Although there were areas of non-compliance, the inspectors were happy that none of our girls had been put at risk. To read the full report please follow this link – Inspection report 2022
In order to confirm that we had addressed the minor issues of compliance, the Department for Education implemented a no notice inspection in January 2023. This one-day visit looked at areas of compliance which were missing and reviewed all our safeguarding procedures. These were all found to be meeting the regulations and the inspectors were very happy with how quickly we had tightened up the weaker areas from their earlier visit. To read the full report please follow this link – Inspection report 2023
