All the Chesterfield schools ranked "Outstanding" by OFSTED

Who are OFSTED?

OFSTED (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) is a governmental department that reports to parliament on the upkeep of the nation’s schools. They also provide inspections to child day care services and the like.

After inspecting a school, they will give it one of four grades: outstanding, good, needs improvement, or inadequate. If a school receives an outstanding grade, it is unlikely that OFSTED will return any time soon, as it is deemed unnecessary.

However, if a school is under-performing, OFSTED inspectors will generally return within 30 months, in which time the school is expected to display signs of improvement. Schools with an inadequate grade may also be monitored for several months following the inspection.

What criteria do OFSTED grade schools with?

OFSTED inspectors judge schools using four criteria – quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and leadership and management. In recent years, they have begun judging schools less on their exam results and more on the quality of the teaching itself.

While quality of education and behaviour and attitudes are self-explanatory, personal development and leadership and management can seem a little bit more vague. Personal development mainly refers to preparing students for post-school life, while also making sure standards of equality are sufficient.

Leadership and management entails how effectively the school is run, as well as staff development and wellbeing.

Without any further ado, here is a the list of every school in Chesterfield with an outstanding OFSTED rating (as per GOV.UK). For a full list of all schools in Chesterfield under OFSTED’s watch, click here to be taken to the governmental webpage (within a radius of ten miles).

Outstanding schools in Chesterfield

Brockwell Junior School, Primary only. Purbeck Avenue, S40 4NP. (Last inspection: May 2008)

Ashgate Croft School. All ages, Ashgate Road, S40 4BN. (Last inspection: October 2017)

St. Mary’s Catholic High School, Secondary + 16-18s. Newbold Road, S41 8AG. (Last inspection: October 2012)

Westfield Infant School, Primary. Vincent Cresent, S40 3NW. (Last inspection: April 2009)

Ashover Primary School, Primary. Narrowleys Lane, S45 0AU, (Last inspection: November 2007)