The people of Bristol have shared their thoughts on a recent story in which it was revealed that a school in Bristol received an 'inadequate' Ofsted rating in its first inspection for 12 years. Montpelier High School, formerly Colston's Girls' School, was given the worst Ofsted rating where it had previously been dubbed 'the best school in Bristol'.
Residents have taken to sharing their views and opinions online, suggesting that the reasons for the school's drastic drop in ranking could come down to a multitude of factors - from the school deciding to change its name to disassociate itself from Edward Colston, whose statue was torn down from its plinth in the city centre two years ago, to poor management, also cited by inspectors. Read more about that here.
In the damning Ofsted inspection report, inspectors said that, 'for a significant proportion' of the pupils at Montpelier High School, the school 'does not feel like a safe place' because of a bullying problem, adding that the quality of education, sixth-form provision and personal development of pupils there also requires improvement.
Read more: The Bristol school with a 'Culture Day' dedicated to celebrating the diversity of their students
The leadership of the school - which changed its name from Colston’s Girls’ School in November 2020 - has written to parents acknowledging they ‘feel shocked and let down’, and a number of open meetings with parents have been scheduled for next week.
Those taking to comment on BristolLive's story, which has received more than 130 comments in less than 24 hours, blamed a number of things for the inspection results, including the school's recent name change. One commenter said: "Should never have changed the school's name", to which another added: "They should never have changed it's [sic] name from Colston and it proves how much it has gone done [sic] hill.
"The school has been concentrating on changing it's [sic] name rather than keeping a high standard of teaching. Shame on them for trying to hide history as if it never existed."
And another reader agreed, saying: "Sadly the school has lost out to Bristol’s challenges with its past. When you make so many changes to a schools identity and ethos you lose it’s [sic] very culture for excellence which was a mark of the great schooling for all. You should be doing better for both the pupils and Bristol!"
Others believed that the ranking was the fault of the Merchant Venturers and the Ofsted inspection report itself said that leadership and management at the school, which is run by the Venturers Trust, a multi-academy trust sponsored by the Society of Merchant Venturers and the University of Bristol, is inadequate.
Montpelier High School, located on Cheltenham Road, has for years been seen as the best state school in Bristol, and has consistently been the one most over-subscribed, with the best academic results. In 2017 and 2019, it was ranked by the Real Schools Guide as the best state school in Bristol, and currently has 925 pupils. But one commenter disagreed, writing: "I was a pupil at this school from 1971 to 1978 and my report would have been exactly the same then.
Ofsted inspectors had not visited the school since 2010, two years after it converted from a fee-paying private girls’ school to a state-funded academy in 2008. Back in 2010, Ofsted rated it as ‘outstanding’, but have not been back since, with Ofsted saying the school had been ‘exempted by law from routine inspection’ until November 2020.
Another user commended the school's response, saying: "The one bright spot is that the school acknowledges it’s [sic] failings in its statement. Some schools in similar situations won’t even do that."
But added: "The real issue is governance - a shame, because the school does get good results, and is genuinely inclusive. Perhaps this is what you get when you stuff a governing body with business people instead of parents and people with an academic pedigree. I suppose there might be a lesson here for some other school."
The school's response
School principal Kerry McCullagh “The Ofsted inspection found weakness in several areas and we recognise that parents and carers will want to know more about how we are addressing these. Below are some of the actions we’re taking to deliver rapid improvement,” she said, outlining a 20-point plan to tackle the issues highlighted by the Ofsted inspectors.
“Some students have very bravely shared difficult truths which are detailed in the report. Our task now is to ensure that every student feels the strength of our community in the positive way that we intend,” she added.
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