Inspection Report
Dear parents/carers
I have pleasure in attaching the final report of the ISI inspection carried out at Mayfield Preparatory School in the week beginning 29 November 2021. As explained at the beginning of the report, the inspection comprised of a full Regulatory Compliance Inspection (RCI) and an Educational Quality Inspection (EQI). In the report, part one describes the background information of the school. Part two gives judgements on the 8 areas of regulatory compliance and I am very pleased to report that all the standards are met. Part three gives judgements on the pupils’ outcomes. These are divided into two parts: the achievement of the pupils, including their academic development; and the personal development of the pupils. I am delighted to confirm that the findings of the ISI inspectors are that the quality of pupils academic and other achievements is excellent, and the quality of the pupils’ personal development is excellent. You will note that there is one recommendation to develop the pupils’ ability to use ICT to enhance their learning – ironic considering how the pupils’ ICT skills have developed exponentially during the pandemic as a result of a great deal of highly effective remote learning and teaching! In my opinion, the ICT curriculum in the school is already very good and I know that the teachers use many different programs, learning platforms, devices and websites to enhance the children’s learning in many different areas of the curriculum. You will be pleased to know that we have already started developing a 3 year action plan with our ICT partners. We are already consulting with other independent prep schools and partner secondary schools to generate ideas, and we are planning to invest time, training and money for additional resources to ensure that we provide the best possible ICT learning across the curriculum.
In summary, it’s a great report reflecting a great school. I counted 21 excellents, 2 exceptionals and 1 outstanding, as well as many other superlatives; I particularly liked the use of the word ‘voracious’ in paragraph 3.7! Paragraphs 3.5, 3.6, 3.11 and 3.15 also stood out for me. I am proud to say that of all the inspection reports I have read, both as a Headmaster and as an ISI inspector myself, this must be the best report I have seen.
I hope you are as proud as I am of this amazing report. The ISI inspection team told me how impressed they were with our children. During the week, they observed lessons and spoke with as many children as they could. They commented on how confident, articulate, bright and happy our children are at Mayfield, which is a credit to the children, staff, parents and to the school. I would like to particularly thank our magnificent staff for their unstinting commitment and the incredible work that they do to ensure that the children receive the best education possible, which sets them up for the rest of their lives and gives them, you and us so many valuable memories! I would also like to thank the School Governors and the Queen Mary’s Schools Foundation Trustees for their continuing and invaluable support, as well as for the time they so selflessly give to the school. I would also like to thank you, parents and carers, for caring so deeply about our children’s education and for the incredible support you give to the school.
In the next week, the report will be placed on the school website, published on the ISI website and we will be contacting the local press with the hopes that they will run the story and sing the praises of our school from the rooftops! I hope this gives you all a lift and starts the weekend off on a very positive note.
Take care and best wishes.
Mr M. Draper
Headmaster
Mayfield Preparatory School
Queen Mary’s Schools’ Foundation
Sutton Road, Walsall, WS1 2PD