Harrogate school celebrating after being awarded top marks in latest inspection

A team of three inspectors from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) spent two days at the co-educational prep school and nursery in Birstwith, before concluding that the school is both ‘excellent’ and ‘outstanding’.

Belmont Grovenor School, along with its Magic Tree Nursery, cares for children from three months to 11 years and is based in Swarcliffe Hall, an historic house set in 20-acres of grounds just a few miles from the centre of Harrogate.

The latest ISI inspection, which took place in September, covered all aspects of the school’s provision, and aims to ensure it meets the standards required across a wide range of factors including quality of education, the development of pupils and the quality of leadership and management at a school.

A school is judged to have ‘met’ or ‘not met’ the standards – and Belmont Grosvenor School was compliant in all areas with ‘no further action required’.

Inspectors also carried out a full Ofsted inspection of Belmont Grosvenor’s Early Years Foundation Stage and concluded that the overall effectiveness was ‘outstanding’.

Headteacher Mr Nathan Sadler, who joined the school at the start of the academic year, said the entire team at Belmont Grosvenor School was delighted with the results of the ISI inspection.

He said: “Our school community is very pleased with the outcome of the inspection.

"Most pleasingly, the inspection team could not sing the praises of our pupils enough, describing them as an absolute delight.

“The inspection process is a great validation tool and will also help us determine what will come next at Belmont Grosvenor School.”

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Inspectors also highlighted the quality of education and standards of early years provision at Belmont Grosvenor School as ‘outstanding’, praising the well-balanced and planned curriculum as “providing excellent opportunities for children to develop their communication and language, physical skills and personal, social and emotional development”.

In their report, inspectors said: “The children consistently demonstrate that they feel safe, secure and happy, willing to engage not only with familiar staff but also with visitors.

“The stimulating experiences that the children receive provide them with a solid foundation on which their future learning can be built.

"All children from the earliest age are well prepared for the next stage of their education.”

The report also praised Belmont Grosvenor School for the effective use of its 20-acre site, on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, as it “provides an abundance of outdoor opportunities for children to explore, discover and be curious”.

Inspectors said that children at the school “show great enjoyment in their learning” and staff encourage children to be “creative and inventive in their play so that they can develop their own ideas and choose ways to do things”.

The team of inspectors singled out the “highly effective partnership” and “strong links” with parents as an ‘outstanding’ feature of Belmont Grosvenor School and praised the children’s personal development, reporting that youngsters at the school are encouraged to ‘take risks and do adventurous things with confidence’ and are taught to be “kind and considerate and the high-quality support provided by staff encourages their excellent behaviour”.

For more information or to arrange a tour of Belmont Grosvenor School, visit www.belmontgrosvenor.co.uk

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