Eston Park is outstanding and that's official

Rising achievements at Eston Park School has earned top marks from Ofsted inspectors.

The number of students achieving five or more GCSEs at the school has almost quadrupled in the last five years, resulting in an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating.

The report says: “Students make outstanding progress given their starting points and develop into confident young people.”

The Redcar and Cleveland school in Eston is now in the top 14 per cent of schools nationally for the progress students make from entering to leaving the school. Some students are given the opportunity to study GCSEs in Year 9 when they are 14, two years earlier than expected.

The report said: “The holistic approach taken by the school is a major factor in enabling the students to make excellent progress in their learning. There is a very strong sense among staff of their commitment to helping all students to achieve.”

Headteacher Jim Rogers, praised for creating an ‘ethos of continuous improvement’, said: “We are delighted that the report recognises the outstanding progress at Eston Park. We work extremely hard to instil appropriate values in our pupils and they can be justifiably proud of themselves and their school.

“This report is the culmination of 11 years of hard work by strong, dedicated staff at all levels. We intend to build on it to improve further to convince people of the value and importance of comprehensive education and to maintain Eston Park’s outstanding status.”

The report highlighted the ‘excellent’ student behaviour, ‘good’ teaching and high attendance which was hailed as ‘better than found nationally.’

It praised the promotion of healthy eating lifestyles to the school’s 899 students together with the school’s celebration of student achievements through reward systems and displays.

Redcar and Cleveland Council's Cabinet Member for Education Councillor Steve Kay said: "Congratulations to Eston Park on a truly deserved report which is testament to the dedication of hard working staff.

"The school clearly works extremely hard to ensure that every child is given the opportunity to reach their full potential and the improving examination results demonstrate its effectiveness in doing so.”

Links with parents were commended in the report, with inspectors stating: “The school works well, and increasingly successfully, to involve parents in the education of their children and is rightly continuing to explore new ways to help parents become more involved.”

The report also highlighted the extra support given to students with disabilities, learning difficulties, or those at risk of exclusion from school.

Inspectors predicted an ‘outstanding’ capacity to improve at the school, where the number of students has increased by almost 100 in two years.