Two Nottingham schools for pupils with additional and special educational needs have been handed the highest grading by Ofsted inspectors.

Oak Field School and Specialist Sports College, in Bilborough, has been awarded an Outstanding rating for the third consecutive time, while Nethergate School, in Clifton, has achieved the same grade and was awarded a clean sweep of ‘Outstanding’ in all areas.

Both have been praised by Nottingham City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Business, Education and Skills, Councillor Sam Webster.

Inspectors who visited Oak Field issued a glowing report, which highlighted:

  • The leadership team is dedicated to its pupils and placing them at the heart of what the school does every day
  • Pupils enjoy coming to school because they feel safe and well cared for
  • Staff have high expectations of what each pupil can achieve
  • Pupil behaviour is exemplary

They were equally impressed with Nethergate, saying:

  • Whole-school planning is always centred on improving outcomes in pupils’ learning and wellbeing
  • Leaders have developed a warm, purposeful learning environment
  • Pupils make excellent progress from their starting points because learning is personalised, expectations are high and no limit is placed on what they can achieve
  • Pupil behaviour is excellent and they are very respectful of each other, staff and visitors

Currently in Nottingham, 86% of schools are classed as either Good or Outstanding, and the City has the highest proportion of Outstanding-rated schools in the East Midlands.

Councillor Webster, pictured above, said: “I’d like to congratulate the pupils, staff, parents, carers and governors at Oak Field and Nethergate for their hard work and commitment to making their schools fantastic places to learn and work.

“A major city such as Nottingham has a duty to be inclusive and provide opportunities for everyone across its diverse communities, and I’m proud that our provision for pupils with special educational needs is consistently excellent.

“It’s also really pleasing to see the City leading the way in the region for the proportion of Outstanding-rated schools. Our ambition has always been to provide good schools close to home, and we’ve been working really hard to deliver that.

“As well as these two Outstanding schools in Oak Field and Nethergate, we’ve also overseen a £4.45m expansion of Westbury School, in Bilborough, while Education Minister Damian Hinds visited Rosehill School, in St Ann’s, recently to see the exceptional work being done there. Provision for local pupils with additional needs has never been stronger.”

David Stewart, headteacher at Oak Field, said: “We are delighted to be acknowledged by Ofsted as Outstanding for the third time since we opened in 2009. That’s a real testimony to the commitment of pupils and staff at Oak Field to the very highest quality education. It says that all children and young people can achieve if given the right opportunities.”

Tracey Ydlibi, executive principal at Nethergate, added: “I am delighted that the hard work and dedication of the whole team here at Nethergate has been recognised. This includes families, staff, the local authority, other professionals and, more recently, Greenwood Academies Trust.

“Everything we do here at Nethergate has children’s interests at the heart of it and this enables us to achieve exceptional outcomes for our very vulnerable children. We are already planning how to develop further to extend and expand our provision so that the needs of even more children can be catered for within our City.”