Regent High School kicks off new era with Ofsted praise
Pupils at Regent High School model the new uniform and logo. - Credit: Archant
A Camden secondary school which began the academic year with a new identity is enjoying an instant reincarnation after receiving its best-ever Ofsted report.
Regent High School, in Charrington Street, Somers Town, returned in September with a brand new uniform, logo and name - changing from South Camden Community School.
The school’s re-branding has now been followed by praise from schools inspectorate Ofsted, which rated the school “good” after an inspection in November - a marked improvement on the “satisfactory” rating it received last time around in 2011.
Next year, a £25million regeneration project, providing state-of-the-art facilities for the school, is expected to be finished and headteacher Rosemary Leeke believes it will seal the school’s long-term success.
She said: “We really wanted to celebrate the move into the new school with a major new image. We are going to be moving into an outstanding building and we need to make sure we are delivering an outstanding education.
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“It is an exciting time and it is a time that a lot of the work that the school has carried out is coming to fruition. The time has come for the school to look forward to a phenomenal future.”
In its report on the school, Ofsted said: “All staff share the headteacher’s and governors’ relentless drive to raise the achievement of students and results are improving rapidly.”
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The report also praised the progress demonstrated by the school’s GCSE results last year and said: “In 2012, all students made at least expected or greater than expected progress between years seven and 11 and a significant proportion made outstanding progress.”
Ms Leeke said: “We are in the top 13 per cent nationally for progress. We are very pleased that Ofsted have come in and validated the good progress that the school has been making.
“As a school we have focussed relentlessly on improving teaching and learning.”
The headteacher, who took over in 2003, also credited the introduction of an innovative “vertical tutoring” system with the school’s success.
Regent High are the first school in Camden to use the system, which mixes children of all ages into “tutorial community groups” as opposed to the standard system of tutor groups arranged within year groups.
“It’s beneficial because it breaks down barriers between year groups,” said Ms Leeke. “It gives younger students a chance to see what their aspiring to and there’s lot of opportunities for older students to develop leadership roles.”
Pupils are currently housed in the completed sections of the new school, as well as temporary classrooms on the site.
While the school’s home is set to be complete by next year, Ms Leeke insists the school’s journey is far from over.
“Our ambition is very clear, we want to be an outstanding school,” she said.
