College gets new Ofsted designation "OUTSTANDING"
Posted on Monday 14 May 2007
Following a new inspection approach for excellent colleges, Farnborough Sixth Form College received
Ofsted verdict: College formally designated as outstanding
Following an inspection in March 2007, Ofsted has formally designated Farnborough Sixth Form College as outstanding. In their report published in April, the inspectors gave grade 1, outstanding, to every area of the College.
In a covering letter sent to the Principal, Ofsted said that since the last inspection (in 2002), the findings confirm that "students have achieved excellent standards and the quality of provision has been outstanding. The college is now designated as outstanding".
Ofsted visits all colleges annually to inspect the provision but Farnborough Sixth Form College will now "not be subject to a further inspection visit from Ofsted for three years".
The inspectors reported, "There is a strong focus on developing the full potential of every individual, and enabling students to achieve at every level".
The glowing report continues, "Outstanding leadership and management have created a culture that enables students to achieve excellent standards in almost every subject. The College has further improved high success rates year on year because it constantly seeks to improve the achievement of each individual student by focussing on ways to improve already outstanding levels of teaching."
College principal, Dr John Guy said, "The inspectors spent many hours probing the College and testing our own quality procedures - it is a wonderful tribute to the entire teaching and support staff, and to our students, that the report is so powerfully strong and supportive of all that we are trying to do".
The College is praised not only for the outstanding support and achievements of the students but also for the highly effective manner in which it monitors performance of teaching and learning.
The report states, "The few weaknesses identified in the last inspection have been eliminated. Senior managers set very high standards which all staff are committed to achieve".
The College is not complacent about the report, however, and is actively involved in further research by teachers to develop effective teaching. Simon Jarvis, Vice Principal, said, "In a sense, we are restless to improve so that today's students are even better-prepared for the changing world ahead. Tomorrow can always be better!"
