Particularly noteworthy, in our view, are the comments about our ethos and its impact on the school as a whole (“Pupils feel happy and safe” and “Pupils treat each other with kindness and respect so that everyone feels welcome and included”), as well as the comments about our students’ enrichment opportunities, the outcomes they achieve as a result of high quality teaching within a broad curriculum and the pastoral care our young people receive (“If pupils need help to manage their emotions, the school provides thoughtful support”).

Inspectors have also noted our students’ behaviour as “exemplary” and have simply stated: “Students leave school ready and equipped for a bright future ahead.”  This is our most important mission and we achieve this by our strong community partnership of parents/carers and staff working together.   

This report coincides with the publication of schools’ progress measures (these are the impact a school’s teaching at GCSE has had for the previous academic year) and our summer 2024 exam results are the best we have seen: our progress score is +0.44, which means that students at The Weald overachieved compared to those in schools nationally by almost half a grade per subject; and our attainment score is 5.1, meaning that the average GCSE grade our students achieved was above a grade 5, which is what is known as a ‘strong pass’.  These results place us as the highest performing school in the Horsham area and 6th out of all 40 secondary schools in West Sussex.

You may also have seen local press coverage stating that The Weald has been identified as the best place to study A Levels in West Sussex in 2023-24, following exceptional results, which ensured that 97% of students secured their first choice university.

The inspection report notes one area of improvement for us, and this is something we have already been working on as a school: namely to ensure that, in a small number of subjects and for a small number of students, we need to ensure that our students with SEND receive precisely tailored adaptations for their learning.  This is a national issue which has been widely covered in the national press recently; we know that the provision for students with SEND is extremely challenging due to lack of resources, but we will continue to strive for the very best for every single one of our young people.

The Weald has a long history of having a tremendously strong community.  Not only are you, our students’ parents/carers, a key part of this but so of course are our 250+ members of staff.  We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our expert and dedicated colleagues who work tirelessly to provide the very best education and learning environment for our young people.  

Please do take the time to read the whole report.  We are enormously grateful to those of you who completed the parent survey in October; we know that our community can only ever be as strong as it is with your support.