The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) is the Government approved inspectorate responsible for the inspection of Association independent schools. Schools in the Associations are ranked among the best in the world and educate more than half a million children in 1,200 schools. We see inspections as a valuable experience, as they seek to improve the quality and effectiveness of schools’ education and care.
Inspections are usually carried out with only 1 or 2 days’ notice. The inspection teams are led by professional reporting inspectors with many years’ experience, who are supported by team inspectors such as heads and senior teachers currently working in independent schools.
Focused Compliance and Educational Quality Inspection – March 2022
In March 2022 the Independent Schools Inspectorate spent several days at Normanhurst scrutinising all aspects of the education we provide. This was a Focused Compliance inspection which was combined with an inspection of Educational Quality. The Focused Compliance part comments purely on our compliance with the Independent School Standards Regulations (ISSRs). There are more than 500 regulations with which the school must comply and there are eight categories examined by inspectors. These eight categories are graded as either ‘met’ or ‘not met’, and each of the individual regulations in each category must comply to receive an overall ‘met’ for that area. We are delighted to report that we were fully compliant and that every one of the regulations inspected was met. No further action is required as a result of this inspection. 100% compliance is unusual in our sector and this achievement represents a great deal of hard work and attention to detail by the whole of our team.
The second half of the report focuses on the achievement and personal development of the pupils. We were pleased with the number of positive comments throughout, and that the inspectors found our pupils to be so confident and articulate.
- Pupils are confident and articulate speakers with strong communication skills.
- Pupils are able to express themselves with fluency and poise, orally and in writing, as they are taught these skills from an early age.
- Pupils of all abilities make good progress because of well-directed support from their teachers in class.
- Pupils are able to make strong progress due to small class sizes and generous allocation of teaching assistants.
- Pupils receive much personal attention in their lessons, supplemented by booster sessions before and after school.
- Pupils’ mathematical skills and knowledge are strong at every age group.
- Pupils from an early age develop strong study skills and are confident in assimilating and analyzing information from a range of sources.
- Pupils are very effective decision-makers when working collaboratively in groups or as individuals.
- Pupils’ contribution to others is very strong.
Regulatory Compliance Inspection – March 2018
In March 2018 the Independent Schools Inspectorate spent several days visiting Normanhurst to inspect our compliance with the Independent School Standards Regulations. There are more than 450 regulations with which the school must comply, divided between 8 main categories, and the inspectors look at all of them.
With Regulatory Compliance inspections, each main category is graded as either ‘met’ or ‘not met’. Each of the individual regulations in each category must comply to receive an overall ‘met’ for that area. We are delighted to report that we were fully compliant and that every one of the 450 or so regulations was met. No further action is required as a result of this inspection.
