An Ofsted report has found Tavistock College is making positive progress on its journey to improve and enhance the educational experience of its pupils. 

Following a full inspection last year, the report has described leaders as “ambitious for the academic, social and emotional well-being for pupils,” and directly references the school improvements that have been implemented recently.Some of the changes to the college’s safeguarding arrangements, which included the appointment of a vice-principal overseeing behaviour and inclusion and a director of special, educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) were found to “ensure that most pupils feel safe at school”.

The report also noted significantly less unruly behaviour in comparison to the previous inspection and that most pupils “feel protected.”Improvements to the PSHE curriculum were highlighted, with the report stating that the revisions “support pupils to be well prepared for the world beyond school.” Teachers were reported as having “strong and up-to-date knowledge” of the programme and consequently pupils were described as being able to “articulate their knowledge confidently about a breadth of topics.

”In addition, the report stated that pupils believed that the curriculum was successfully helping to “build a culture where pupils with protected characteristics are safe and supported. ”The report praised leaders for the “oversight of bullying incidents,” and praised the way that any issues were addressed. Pupils similarly agreed that bullying, when reported, was dealt with “effectively.”

Ofsted also included mention of the work leaders at the school are doing to improve avenues of reporting, including working with pupils to establish more helpful anonymous processes to encourage greater rates of reporting. Regarding improvements to behaviour management, Ofsted reported that through close tracking, leaders are able to provide “bespoke support for pupils who need it” and that increased consideration of pupils with SEND when curriculum planning had supported improvements to behaviour in lessons. Pupils in all year groups echoed this finding crediting the improvements during class time to the action leaders had taken to improve the quality of the curriculum and teaching.

Tristan Muller-Forster, Principal, Tavistock College, said: “We welcomed the feedback from Ofsted regarding the ongoing improvements being made within the College. We are entirely committed to improving every aspect of the school and, with the help of the wider Trust leadership, will continue to put in place practical plans which can help drive this positive change and build on the positive momentum reflected in this report.“It is only through the support of our staff, parents and Trust community that we have been able to make such positive improvements so quickly, I look forward to continuing to champion the College on it’s upward trajectory.”

Dan Morrow, Trust Leader for Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust, said:“The confirmation of Tavistock’s positive improvements from Ofsted is highly welcomed. It is great to see the hard work of Tristan and his staff over the last few months recognised for the tangible positive change it has led to. The team at Tavistock have the full backing of the Trust and I’m excited to see the continuing work.”