Parkwood High School Ofsted Report - November 2007

Inspection of Parkwood School, Sheffield, S5 8UF

Letter to students from inspectors:

Thank you for making us so welcome when we visited your school recently. You were very keen to tell us how much you enjoy school and we certainly agree with you that Parkwood is a good school. The main things that make it a good school are:

• your positive attitudes to work and determination to do your best to achieve the highest possible standards
• your enthusiastic learning and participation in lessons especially when you are actively involved
• the excellent leadership of the headteacher, senior staff, governing body and school council
• the way your parents and carers are also keen to learn with you and to put the school at the heart of the community
• the sensitive and supportive care especially of those who do not find school an easy place to be
• the exciting curriculum that caters for everyone's needs.

We all appreciated that you stopped to talk to us on the corridor or outside at lunchtime, not forgetting how you accepted us in your lessons, even using one of us as a 'model' to be described in Spanish!

There are a few things we have asked the school to do in order to continue the upward trend of improvement you are enjoying. These are to:

• raise standards, especially in English and mathematics
• improve attendance
• make all teaching as good as the best so that you enjoy and benefit from every lesson.

You know you have a part to play because your very vocal school council makes sure of that. Keep on welcoming newcomers so that they want to come regularly to school and keep on working hard so that you get the results you are worthy of.