The head teacher at one of the oldest schools in Chesterfield has vowed to focus on the positives and continue to make changes after it was told it requires improvement following a government inspection.
This is the first inspection that Netherthorpe School, part of the Cavendish Learning Trust, has had under the new Ofsted framework introduced in 2019. Helen McVicar, newly-appointed headteacher at Netherthorpe School – which will celebrate its 450th birthday with a community event planned for July 2023 – said: “We feel this was a fair inspection and our senior leadership team had already identified the areas of priority highlighted by Ofsted as requiring improvement. These are evident in the schools’ strategic plan.
“We are not a school that makes excuses, and we always make decisions that are best for the school community. The comments in the report give us something to work on and there were plenty of highlights in there too; things that we are proud of and that should be celebrated.”
The inspection team recognised that leaders are in the early stages of their development work and the new senior leadership team have the determination and capacity to realise their vision of providing high quality education at this school.
Mrs McVicar said: “We think very carefully about the knowledge that we want our young people to know, and offer a broad range of subjects at key stage 4 and 5. We are proud that our curriculum and teacher’s subject knowledge was recognised by Ofsted to be good and ambitious with plenty of opportunities.
Helen McVicar is the headteacher at Netherthorpe School. Image: Penguin Pr
“More importantly to me was that safeguarding was recognised as being effective and the pupils feel that the school is a ‘safe and happy’ environment.
“The school recognises that there is always work to be done in education and we are already working hard on improving the provision for all pupils, including strategies to tackle low level behaviour disruptions.
“In addition to the extension to the schools Special Educational Needs Hub, a Trust-integrated resource centre is expected to open soon on site to further support our pupils with increasing social, emotional and mental health needs.”
The school was praised for its ‘nurturing and caring’ staff with inspectors noting that there are ‘lots of opportunities for pupil leadership’. The inspection team also recognised the pride of pupils in representing their house and in the achievement badges worn.
The ‘old school’ at Netherthorpe is 450 years old and the school are hosting a community event to celebrate the big birthday in June 2023. Pictured back row (from left): Lily Haywood, James Vernon and headteacher Helen McVicar. Front: Hollie Pointon and Charlie Hutchinson.
Image: Penguin PR.
The headteacher added: “Pupils are placed into one of three houses when they join Netherthorpe – which gives a sense of pride and promotes healthy competition among students vying for the ‘Rose Bowl’ at the end of the year; this tradition goes back years and many of our parents can recall fond memories of our house system.”
Kudos was also given to the amount of extra-curricular activities available.
Year 13 head prefect James Vernon, who has aspirations to pursue his career in sport at Loughborough University and runs the year 9 girls’ football team, said: “There is a real sense of community here at Netherthorpe and everyone who comes here is proud to do so.”
Netherthorpe School is fortunate to be able to offer a Sixth Form provision to the community and this was recognised as being of high quality and ‘good’ by Ofsted, with students consistently speaking highly of this provision.
Lily Haywood, a Sixth Form pupil in her final year, wants to study pharmaceutical medicine when she leaves Netherthorpe. Her family are former pupils and she said: “You can go to any member of staff here for support, and receive it. My sisters both came here; one is a deputy headteacher and the other qualified as a doctor. I wouldn’t have wanted to go anywhere else – I love it here.”
The school, which has almost 1,200 pupils on roll and is in one of the most deprived areas in Chesterfield, is proud of its community and rich history.
Hollie Pointon – a Year 9 pupil at Netherthorpe School – has seen her designs for a fleet of vehicles printed on ambulances taking children to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Mrs McVicar, who joined the school as a newly qualified science teacher in 1999 and taught many of the pupils’ parents, wants Netherthorpe to be a pillar in the community with local groups regularly using its facilities.
She recognises the importance of good communication and, in addition to being an integral member of the school’s Parent Voice group, the school is pursuing its Leading Parent Partnership Award.
“Netherthorpe continues to look at what we can do to build positive relationships and support everyone in the school community,” she said, “including looking to extend its current parent workshop offer to include ‘how to support your child with anxiety’ as the exam season approaches.
“Post-covid, one of the biggest challenges in education has been dealing with the social, emotional and mental health of students, staff and parent/carers.
“As soon as we could, the school ran trips and put on events to try and bring some ‘normality’ back to the lives of those in our community. That’s something that I’m very proud of. The staff always have the best interests of the pupils at heart here at Netherthorpe and go above and beyond to deliver.
“Of course, there is always more that can be done. There are unreached parts of the community who we want to target and events such as the forthcoming charity gig featuring Jon Richardson and Lucy Beaumont, which has raised more than £10,000 so far, and next year’s celebrations to mark 450 years of the school, are ways in which we can do this.”
Former pupils at Netherthorpe include Olympic medallist Liam Pitchford, while talented artist Hollie Pointon recently made national news after her winning design for a fleet of ambulances that transports sick children to and from Great Ormond Street Hospital, in London, was unveiled at the NEC’s emergency vehicle show.
Hollie, a Year 9 pupil, said: “It’s a good school and I feel supported here.” Classmate Charlie Hutchinson added: “It’s a privilege to be a part of a school with such rich history and I feel supported and enjoy my time at school.”
