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Top marks to Fallibroome

Jenny Kirby
5/ 9/2007

TOP MARKS go to Fallibroome High School after being acknowledged by the Department for Children, Schools and Families as one of the best schools in the country.

Following fantastic A Level and GCSE results, Fallibroome received top marks when a team of Ofsted inspectors judged the school to be ‘outstanding’ and awarded the highest grade for all seven areas of the inspection framework.

Now the government has nominated the school as a ‘High Performing Specialist School’ and invited Fallibroome to adopt a further specialism.

The school has opted to become a training school and will commit to developing high quality and innovative staff development programmes for current staff and trainee teachers.

It has also received major capital investment and will open a £3million Arts and ICT complex in September, adding to the new floodlit all-weather pitch that opened last year.

Headteacher Peter Rubery said: "We have been working on the development of innovative approaches to teaching and learning for the past four years and the research evidence we have produced has received national attention.

"We are delighted to receive this accolade and look forward to enhancing our teachers’ skills and adding to the pool of high quality teachers joining the profession."

The school was also nominated by the Specialist Schools Trust to join a small group of outstanding schools and lead the transformation of secondary education by adopting the role of ‘System Redesigner’.

Mr Rubery added: "Our efforts to prepare our young people for the future are often restrained by the confines of what is essentially a 19th century model of education.

"We will work with the other highly regarded schools to pilot new curriculum and organisational models and bring what we know about 21st century research into the psychology and neurology of learning into our daily routines."

Fallibroome staff will present case studies of their innovative methods at national conferences in the coming year, and continue working as a mentor school to underperforming schools.

Mr Rubery said: "Fallibroome never stands still.

"We are constantly striving to improve, and to receive the approval of the Department for Children, Schools and Families and our peers is very encouraging.

"The dedication of the staff and the willingness of our students to serve the school make this a very exciting community where every student can achieve."