Melbourn Village College once again hailed as ‘good’ by Ofsted

Students at MVC, (Image: Archant)

Declaring the school as ‘good’ once again, the representatives – who inspect and regulate education provision – noted that the college had continued to improve the quality of education since the previous judgement in 2013.

The report told the principal Simon Holmes: “Leaders, including governors, have worked hard to create an innovative curriculum that truly meets the needs of pupils.

“Your vision is clear and parents value the ways in which the school offers their children a broad and rich curriculum alongside strong pastoral support.”

Pupil behaviour and learning was also highlighted in the feedback, which said: “Pupils’ conduct is exemplary. They are kind, respectful and welcoming of each other and staff. They respond well to teachers’ high expectations and speak positively of the support that they receive.”

Frank Fan teaches Mandarin at MVC - one of the points that was praised by Ofsted. (Image: Archant)

The teaching of Mandarin alongside Spanish in Key Stage 3 was also well received, with acknowledgement that expertise on the governing body facilitated its introduction.

Students told the inspectors they “felt privileged to study Mandarin”, and “decisive action to strengthen the quality of teaching and learning in modern foreign languages” has seen pupils in all year groups make significantly better progress.

One of the key lines of inquiry for inspectors was about the progress of disadvantaged pupils – including the most able, and those with special educational needs and disabilities.

The report said: “The school’s inclusive ethos is enacted in every area of the curriculum. The school’s ethos, ‘everybody is somebody’, is evident in the highly tailored provision for pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.”

However, the inspectors say that attendance of disadvantaged pupils and those with disabilities needs to be worked on.

Another next step suggested for the school was “for teachers to provide more challenging work for the most able pupils, including the most able disadvantaged pupils, to accelerate their progress in some areas of the curriculum.”

The focus on literacy and numeracy skills for special educational needs and disability pupils was also highlighted, with the report noting: “Pupils make good progress in line with other pupils nationally in all areas of the curriculum.”

Another area of interest for inspectors was how leaders are sustaining strong pupil progress in English and maths and how they reported progress in both subjects significantly above average in 2016, with Ofsted noting “strong teaching in both areas.”

But the report also said that not all subject teachers provided effective guidance to promote pupils’ progress with the same precision and rigour as English and maths.

Ofsted went on to praise the effective use of teaching assistants at MVC, who adapted work in both subjects to match the needs of the pupils they help.

Mr Holmes said: “We were delighted to see so many positive comments. As with any school, there are areas which we would want to improve and we will continue to focus on these.

“In the meantime it is heartening to see the positive aspects of the school highlighted and the students and staff given the credit they deserve.”

The full report is availalble online – go to for more on their performance and to have a read of the report melbournvc.org/about-us/school-performance.