Cambridge International School

Cambridge International School

Independent School Inspection report

DCSF Registration Number 873/6042
Unique Reference Number 135184
Inspection number 320731
Inspection dates 6 March 2008
Reporting inspector Roy Bowers HMI

This inspection of the school was carried out under section 162A of the Education Act 2002 (as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005).

This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

Alexandra House
33 Kingsway
London WC2B 6SE
T 08456 404040

www.OFSTED.gov.uk

© Crown Copyright 2007

Purpose and scope of the inspection

This inspection was carried out by OFSTED under section 162A of the Education Act 2002, as amended by schedule 8 of the Education Act 2005, in order to advise the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

Information about the school

Cambridge International School opened in Cambridge in September 2006 and admits pupils aged from 3 to 16. To accommodate the rapid rise in pupil numbers, the school moved to larger accommodation in September 2007. Currently there are 96 pupils on roll. The majority of pupils have parents who are bi-lingual, do not speak English as their first language or are internationally mobile. The school teaches a variety of languages from an early age. The school aims to provide pupils with opportunities to learn through small class sizes and a nurturing environment. The school makes use of facilities at the community sports centre, a local independent school and the University of Cambridge cricket ground. The neighbouring park is used for recreation activities. The school has recently become accredited by the University of Cambridge to become a Cambridge International Centre. This is the school’s first full OFSTED inspection.

Evaluation of the school

Cambridge International School provides good education and an outstanding standard of care for its pupils. Teaching is good. The small number of pupils in classes and excellent relationships help pupils to make good progress. Pupils’ personal development, including their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, is exceptionally good. Pupils’ behaviour is outstanding and they show kindness and consideration to each other and adults. The curriculum is satisfactory and, although it offers opportunities for pupils to engage in a wide range of activities, all schemes of work are not yet sufficiently detailed. The school meets all but one of the regulations.

Quality of education

The school’s curriculum is satisfactory. The curriculum chosen for each key stage enables the school to provide relevant experiences for pupils of all ages in all areas of learning. It is based on a very practical approach to learning which reflects the school’s ethos and values, particularly in relation to social inclusion. The subject matter, and the focus on practical tasks, interests and motivates pupils. This helps the school to overcome barriers to learning that may arise for pupils, especially those with English as an additional language.

Although outline schemes of work for all subjects are in place, they are not yet detailed enough in all areas. However, the decision to add detail to the schemes of work gradually and systematically is enabling the school to establish a well thought out rolling programme of study for each year group based on pupils’ needs and aptitudes. Basic skills are covered effectively and several modern foreign languages are taught. An appropriate amount of time is dedicated to physical education (PE) and sporting activities, underpinning the school’s work to promote healthy lifestyles. The school is aware that it does not provide appropriate careers guidance for secondary age pupils. The school’s willingness to provide a curriculum that meets the needs of each pupil is demonstrated by the flexibility shown in helping pupils maintain fluency in their first language.

Teaching and assessment are good. Pupils say that they enjoy lessons because they find them interesting and know that they make good progress. Because pupils feel safe and secure in the school, they are not afraid to attempt answers to questions even if they are unsure. This helps them to learn well and builds their confidence and self-esteem. A few of the lessons seen were outstanding. In these lessons pupils were highly motivated, their work was challenging and they were totally absorbed in their practical activities. Because class sizes are small, teachers are able to give a high level of individual attention to all pupils, especially those who require particular support. Because of this, pupils who enter school with limited skills in English often make exceptional progress in their language skills. Those pupils who find learning difficult receive additional help from the learning support assistants. This helps them make good and occasionally outstanding progress. Teachers are enthusiastic about their specialist subject areas and have good subject knowledge. The headteacher monitors the quality of teaching well. She identifies when teaching does not provide well enough for the needs of the pupils and takes decisive action. Recent appointments have strengthened the quality of teaching and ensure that progress made by pupils is good. Lesson planning is often thorough and detailed, but on some occasions it does not show in sufficient detail what pupils are expected to learn during the lesson. Teachers use a wide range of tests and assessments to help them track pupils’ progress and plan lessons. The school has recently implemented procedures for analysis of pupils’ progress against national norms, but systems to use the information are not yet fully implemented. This is limiting the school’s ability to compare progress made by their own pupils with that made by others nationally or internationally.

Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of the pupils

Pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding. Their attendance is good and they are eager to come to school. The family atmosphere and the respect shown by staff towards all pupils enable them to grow in confidence, and to develop positive attitudes towards themselves, their backgrounds and their own particular talents. Their behaviour is outstanding. Pupils are kind and considerate, showing a high level of respect and sensitivity towards the feelings of adults and children. They respond very well to the school’s behaviour code and understand the need for a community to have rules. The school council is valued by pupils. They feel that they can use this platform to influence what happens in school and that their views will be carefully considered by staff.

Relationships are very positive. Pupils respond particularly well to the trust placed in them and recognise that rewards must be earned. For example, they speak enthusiastically about non uniform days and trips to local restaurants, recognising that these are treats but also that they help prepare them for life beyond school. Pupils are actively encouraged to take responsibility and show initiative. For example, older pupils are organising a ‘giant’ car boot sale and the proceeds will go to five charities. This business enterprise initiative and other fund-raising events successfully enable pupils to understand the world of commerce, how they can make a difference and how their actions can help those who are less fortunate than themselves. Their study of several modern foreign languages gives pupils a firm basis for their economic well-being in a global market. The school’s work on promoting cultural development is particularly noteworthy. The curriculum draws positively on pupils’ own cultural backgrounds. Pupils are encouraged to share and value the traditions and customs associated with their own culture. For example, regular cookery events are used to promote understanding and celebrate the rich diversity of cultures and nationalities represented at the school. Pupils learn successfully about the cultures, beliefs and lifestyles of different people through lessons and topics that draw on pupils’ own personal experiences. This is supported by a small but modern and up-to-date book stock that promotes racial harmony and tolerance. Pupils are very proud of the wide range of nationalities represented at the school and one child described the school as being ‘one big happy family’.

Welfare, health and safety of the pupils

Welfare, health and safety are outstanding. The designated person for child protection has been trained appropriately and staff understand what to do if they are aware of a child protection issue. The first aid policy provides very good guidance for staff and detailed records are kept of accidents. Fire drills are routinely undertaken and risk assessments are thorough. The school meets the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act 2002.

The small number of pupils in each class means that pupils receive a very high level of attention and supervision. Staff have an exceptional knowledge of the pastoral needs of the pupils and treat them with great care and respect. One parent wrote that, during a time of distress at home, the staff went ‘beyond the call of duty’ in making sure that her child was cared for and safe, at home and at school. Pupils say that there is no bullying in school but are extremely confident that staff will deal with any problems that may arise. The school encourages a healthy lifestyle and routinely provides nutritious lunches. Students are encouraged to be physically active through the timetabled PE lessons, lunchtime activities at the park and in the wide range of after-school sports activities.

Suitability of the proprietor and staff

The school checks all staff to ensure their suitability to work with pupils. A central staff register is kept which has been implemented in line with statutory requirements.

School’s premises and accommodation

The school is housed in a building which has been suitably adapted to meet the needs of the pupils and provides safe and effective accommodation for learning. The teaching areas are adequate for the number of pupils in each class and are in sound decorative order. The local park provides an area which is used well by the school and enables the students to engage in a variety of games and activities. Sports activities are accommodated well through use of the facilities at a local school, the community centre and the university cricket ground.

Provision of information for parents, carers and others

The prospectus provides parents and carers with all of the information required to meet the regulations. The website is attractively presented and a wide range of school information is made available to parents through this and letters sent home. A clear majority of those parents who returned the inspection questionnaire are overwhelmingly positive about all aspects of the school. However, although the annual reports to parents meet requirements, a significant number of parents say that they would like even more information about the progress their children are making. The school welcomes the views of parents about its effectiveness and uses the feedback to improve further.

Procedures for handling complaints

The school has a detailed and comprehensive complaints procedure which meets requirements. All parents are informed of the policy when their children are admitted.

Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school meets all of the Education (Independent School Standards) (England) Regulations 2003 as amended January 2005, with the exception of those listed below.

The school does not meet all requirements in respect of the curriculum (standard 1) and must:

ensure that appropriate careers guidance is provided for secondary age pupils (paragraph 1(2)(g)).

What the school could do to improve further:

While not required by the regulations, the school might wish to consider the following points for development:

• ensure that the recently introduced systems for analysis of pupils’ progress against national norms are fully implemented and the information is used to compare pupils’ progress and the performance of the school with other schools nationally and internationally.

• implement its plans for adding detail to all schemes of work to provide continuity and progression of skills, knowledge and understanding across the school.

School details

Name of school Cambridge International School
DCSF number 873/6042
Unique reference number 135184
Type of School Preparatory and Upper school
Status Independent
Date school opened September 2006
Age range of pupils 3-16
Gender of pupils Mixed
Number on roll (full-time pupils) Boys: 65 Girls: 30 Total: 95
Number on roll (part-time pupils) Boys: 1 Girls: 0 Total: 1
Number of pupils with a statement of special educational needs Boys: 2
Girls: 0 Total: 2
Number of pupils who are looked after Boys: 0 Girls: 0 Total: 0
Annual fees (day pupils) £6,650 - 9,150
Address of School Cherry Hinton Hall
Cherry Hinton Road
Cambridge
CB1 8DW
Telephone number 01223 305875
Email address
sturdy@sturdy.demon.co.uk
Headteacher Dr Harriet Sturdy
Proprietor Dr Harriet Sturdy and Dr Daniel Sturdy
Reporting inspector Roy Bowers HMI
Dates of inspection 6 March 2008

Dear Parents,

It has been a wonderful year. I have enjoyed almost every moment of it and I think your children have too! The first few months of the school year involved settling in to our new school and adapting to the increase in pupil numbers. By Christmas, we were one large and very happy family, witness the success of the Christmas Fete and the really excellent school plays performed at the Shed Theatre.

One of the delights of the school is seeing how quickly children settle in to their classes. Some children have joined us from large schools with 30 in a class, many have arrived knowing no-one in this country, but are instantly welcomed as important members of our school. So many parents tell us of the amazing growth in confidence and achievement by their child. This is tribute in great part to our excellent teachers, who come to work with a smile on their face, plan the most amazing lessons and relate to the children with great respect and enthusiasm. The loyal commitment of all our parents remains an essential part of our school. There were teething problems at the start of the year, but all of you knew we would work constantly until they were smoothed over and showed great patience and faith in us, for which I thank you.

CIPA (our Parents Association) have worked tirelessly to put on some spectacular events. The Jazz night in the Michaelmas Term was such a success that it is being repeated this coming term. All the events have run so smoothly and so professionally, we are very impressed indeed. Not only have they raised significant sums of money but they have all been great fun for participants. One of the best points about these events, for me, is watching the emerging friendships of parents from so many different countries. I still delight in the range of nationalities we have in the school, epitomised by the flag relay and march on at sports day. What a wonderful sight!

Teachers have arranged many exciting trips this year, including several to London, one to Pompeii, to the beach, the theatre, numerous trips to the museums and university departments of Cambridge and other local areas of interest and, the highlight for many Juniors, the camping trip! Mrs Greer must be congratulated for managing very well for one night with no manicures, hair dryers or other home comforts.

One very popular subject this term has been gardening in the Juniors. Warm thanks to Mrs Rigby, Mr Shepherd and Mrs Memon for running truly fascinating lessons this term. Children have been so excited to pick their own potatoes and beans and have been very diligent in watering and tending the vegetables. It is lovely to see this development. Thankyou so much to Mr Kidger for planning, installing and preparing the sleepers for this purpose. We are very grateful indeed.

Children have raised significant amounts of money for a range of charities this year. Their enthusiasm for this has been most impressive and I am pleased to see the focus children give to those less fortunate than themselves.

Farewells

Being an International School (and still the only one in England outside London!) we inevitably have to say goodbye to a small number of children each year as there stay in the UK finishes. This year, Frederik Bak is returning to Denmark, Sooma Hussein is moving to America and Godefroi Chevallier has finished his IGCSE’s with us and will commence his studies of the International Baccalaureate at Impington Village College in September. These three students have been with the school since we first opened, and we will miss them all sorely. Hanna Ishikawa is returning to Japan and Peter Deininger to Austria. Both students joined us for two terms and have been a real asset to their classes. We say goodbye too, to Eunji Kim, Lenny Andersen and Luca Vendruscolo who are moving to other schools in this country. They all go with our love and hopes for a happy, successful future. I know they will all keep in touch.

We are very sad indeed to be saying Adios to Mrs Karla Siegel, our much loved Spanish teacher. When the school first opened, we asked if she would come and teach a few lessons a week to the one Junior and one Senior class that we had! The job has now become almost full time and we cannot persuade Senora Siegel to work these hours! She has promised, however, to come in for any supply teaching we need and we fully intend to take her up on this! We will miss her a great deal. We have been very grateful to Mrs O’Connell who stepped in to teach some of Mrs Young’s lessons this term. The children have really enjoyed her lessons and are sad to see her go. We wish her luck in her new teaching post. Agnieska Chaberska from our Baby Unicorns kindergarten is expecting a baby in August. We wish her well for this and look forward to seeing her and the baby in the new term.

New Staff and children

We have made several new teaching appointments for September, all of which are very strong. On Move Up Day, children met their new class teacher and I know they all had a great time. We are welcoming an impressive number of new pupils to the school in September. Most have been for several visits already and we are confident that they will all settle in quickly and become valued members of our very happy school. I would like to pass on details of classmates to our new children and will assume you have no objections to me giving out your email address to the parents of children joining your child’s class. If any social visits can be arranged it will make starting a new school so much easier for our new children, many of whom will know no-one in the country at all!

The one very sad part of this year has been the news that Mrs Young, our Head of Upper School is suffering from a return of cancer. She is currently undergoing chemotherapy and has been in school when she has felt able. She has remained fully in touch of all developments and regularly sends and receives emails to parents of Upper School students. We have missed her daily presence dreadfully, and look forward to the day when she is back with us full time. I know you join me in sending our love and positive thoughts to her.

Moving Forward

In September, as Upper School parents already know, our IGCSE students will benefit from studying for some of their subjects at a new site we have secured on Glisson Road. We are currently designing a very smart laboratory, and allotting classroom space for media studies, drama, and other subjects. IGCSE 1 students will continue to have some lessons at Cherry Hinton Hall and will be transported via minibus where necessary from one site to the other. Pupils will enjoy the company of Sancton Wood Year 10 and 11 pupil during break and lunch and will continue to share some of the GCSE options as they do now. This is a really exciting move for us, enabling students to have a wider social group, better facilities for older children and (most important to them, it seems) a common room with space to relax. More important to us, they will have an area for supervised study! They remain, very much, part of our school and will attend assemblies and whole school events, as well as remain on the Student Council.

Targets

Your children will have been set targets for improvement for next year. Staff are just the same, and so is the School. My targets for next year are to make sport and music subjects of which we can be truly proud. The quality of teaching for these subjects is already excellent. We are lucky to have some outstanding athletes as well as many extremely musical children. Our intention is to continue to nurture these and enter public events in both cases. We need help with this, with any offers of tenacious parents helping to set up sporting fixtures gratefully received. It can be hard to arrange these, with many independent schools only playing those who are members of ISA, an organisation we do not plan to seek membership of. However, it is always worth asking and if you have friends at other schools, state or independent, we may well be able to set up fixtures with them.

Other areas for improvement for the school and our pupils are to be tackled by the introduction of a touch typing programme across the senior school. We further plan to focus on spelling throughout the school and will be introducing spelling programmes in the Junior and Senior classes to facilitate improvement in this important area.

And so to the holidays……

Holidays are busy times for school staff. Teachers will be in designing their teaching schedules for next year, school administration carries on throughout the holidays and we all turn our attention to refurbishments. The main focus this holiday is on our toilets! They are not satisfactory and we intend to change this. The ones on the ground floor are to be gutted and rebuilt entirely, new toilets are going in beyond the Caspian class and the two upstairs ones are to be completely redecorated. Apart from these major jobs, the school will be repainted where necessary. This is where you come in! Last year, we had a great team of parents who came and painted some of our classrooms. If any of you have any time and a little skill, your offer of help will be much appreciated. It is very satisfying and despite being hard work, is also fun. I will look forward to hearing from any budding Botticellis! Any offers to come and help move furniture also much appreciated!

It remains for me to wish all of you and your lovely children a very happy summer break. It is a long holiday and we do expect children to read regularly. I know you will encourage them in this important pleasure. Older students will have received holiday homework which is not optional! I will award prizes to those children who keep a holiday diary. Many of you have amazing holidays booked, others are looking forward to a good rest at home. Either way, please encourage your child to keep a record of this. It will be a pleasure for us to read and for you to keep as a memory.

Thankyou, all of you, for your part in making this school so special. I am proud to be part of such a loving, exciting, innovative, rewarding and fun place to learn.

Have a wonderful summer

Yours sincerely,

Harriet Sturdy (Dr)
Principal
Cambridge International School

Minutes for meeting held on
Wednesday 7th May 2008

Present: Clodagh Barker, Ros Mills, Harriett Sturdy, Vikki Hughes, Kerry Sexton, Becka Atkins, Barbara Fernandez, Fiona Donelly, Lisa Young, Nadja Shaw, Alison Dye, Monica Krylander, Inger Marie Sarenson, Dorte vom Endtwozny, Zorina Pintar, Gilles Chevallier, Claire Cameron.

Apologies: Lorna Anderson, Kim Clegg

Chairman’s Report:

Clodagh welcomed & thanked everyone for attending the meeting & then explained that Cambridge International School Parent Association (CIPA) had been unofficially formed last year by a small group of parents. The group, with the kind help of some of the parents & teachers hosted some very successful events. These included the Summer Fair, Blues Night, Lantern Festival & the Christmas Fair.

Clodagh stressed that it was important that to be able to continue with these events it was necessary to formalise CIPA so that we could lay down good codes of practice which would help us to control spending & profits & also to comply with bureaucratic requirements & legislations.

Clodagh told us that a steering group had been working on setting up a more formal parents association.

CIPA has joined the National Confederation of Parent Teachers Associations through which we have obtained insurance & guidance on good practices.
It was decided not to form a charity as it was not a legal necessity & would have burdened CIPA with too much legislation & costs.

It was decided that CIPA would adopt a constitution. Clodagh asked if we could vote to adopt this later in the meeting. All parents had been sent a copy of the constitution last week.

Clodagh also said we would like to ask & vote for nominations for the various officer posts to run the association.
Two sheets were handed round for volunteers to forward there details offering to become a Committee Member or a CIPA Helper.

Clodagh expressed that the steering committee had identified the primary responsibilities of the new committee. These are: to ensure that each event complies with legislation of licences, health & safety, child protection & the correct spending of the monies raised.
Clodagh expressed the committees desire to continue with the school summer & Christmas fair but would also like to hold some discos for the children.

Clodagh expressed great thanks to all those who have helped & supported events in the past and special thanks to DR Sturdy & members of the school staff.

Clodagh handed over to the treasurer Ross Mills.

Treasures Report:

Ros handed out a financial report showing profits & expenditures for the year, April 2007 to April 2008.

This showed that the profits were as follows:
Summer Fayre     £983.40
Blues Night    £393.00
Xmas Fayre    £742.98

Purchases for TV, Catering equipment, stationary, notice board & NCPTA membership amounted to £1139.75
With the donated opening balance being £250.00 interest being £1.57

This gives CIPA a grand total of  £1231.20  ( £2.18 is held in cash )
Anyone wishing to have a copy of the financial report please see Ross Mills

Ros reported that sadly the big screen TV that was bought by CIPA for the school was stolen last term. Fortunately the schools insurance policy would replace it.

Ros stated that allowing for upcoming expenses & cash flowing the summer fayre CIPA could afford to spend up to £800.00 & would welcome any ideas as to what we could spend it on.

Ros also reported that she was in the process of drawing up treasurer guidelines & had found two parents willing to check & sign off the accounts.

Vote on the Constitution:

Clodagh pointed out the two main objectives of the proposed constitution

To raise funds in order to supply extras or organise events for the children that would not ordinarily be provided for by the school.
To organise social events for both parents & children.

The vote for the constitution was unanimous.

Vote on the committee members:

The Nominees were as follows:

Chairman – Clodagh Barker
Treasurer _ Ros Mills
Secretary - Lorna Anderson
Liason Officer – Marion Reusch

As there was only 1 nominee for each post it was decided there was no need to vote.
The new committee was elected as above.
There were no objections.

Expenditure of funds:

Clodagh raised a discussion regarding how the committee should spend the funds of £800.00

Ross suggested catering crockery i.e. mugs for our social events.
Lisa young suggested some wall games for the playground. Lisa had very kindly down loaded some information on various games off the Internet.  Harriet said she would check with the council as to whether we could put games on the wall. There may be a problem as it is a listed building.

Other suggestions were book cases, tables & benches (possibly with games on the tops of the tables), shade canopy, more sports equipment, interactive white board & a climbing frame for the infants.

It was agreed that the children’s school council could make some suggestions as to what they would like to spend the money on.

It was agreed by all present that CIPA should go ahead & buy some mugs.

The next meeting will be on Monday the 12th May 2008 at 7:30pm at Cherry Hinton Hall.

Clodagh expressed thanks to all who had attended & the meeting was drawn to a close.At

Dear Parents,

We have had a short, but very productive and happy term. New staff to the school have made a fantastic impression and we have enjoyed receiving numerous emails from happy parents commenting on the positive changes. We appreciate all the feedback we get from you, and where you have concerns, we try very hard to address these quickly and helpfully.

The last few weeks of term have been particularly busy, finishing off with an exciting series of trips arranged around Science Week. I know the science staff have been very excited at the thought of sharing their love of the subject with as many people as they can! I am sure your children have been coming home talking a lot about some of their discoveries. Trips to the Tutankhamun Exhibition and Science Museum also rate as very memorable experiences for the children.

This term has also seen some great academic achievements. Particularly notable are more excellent IGCSE results for two of our students, with yet another A* in one of our languages! We were also very impressed by the quality of entries for the Short Story Competition judged on World Book Day. Many of the stories were absolutely fascinating and it was a pleasure to see the effort put in. The standard achieved by the prize winners was really wonderful, and I am pleased to announce that their entries will be available for you to read on our website shortly. Ben Cameron was awarded 1st Prize, Jorinde van de Scheur, 2nd and Erin Ko, 3rd. Well Done to these particularly impressive winners and to all entrants.

Equally pleasing were the results of the National Intermediate Maths Challenge. Bronze certificates were awarded to the following children, Marcos Ryhanen, Peter Deininger, Ivan Causey, Ruairidh Grass and Zainab Al Dawood and a truly impressive Silver and Best in School to Hanna Ishikawa.  As I write, Jorinde van de Scheur, Eunji Kim, Emil Sorensen and James Dye are representing the School  in the Group Regional Maths Challenge. On a slightly less cerebral note, but marking the excellent creativity of many of our pupils, congratulations to all those who entered our Easter Egg Competition. We were dazzled by the imagination and skill shown by our entrants. Winners to be announced on the last day of term! I am glad I am not a judge for this as it is going to be extremely difficult to choose the prize winners. Come and see for yourself!

The steady progress made in creating a new school has been helped by the enthusiasm and practical help of many parents. Thankyou to the hardy volunteers who spent a Sunday morning painting beautiful designs on the playground. We have not finished this task but it already looks a great deal better. The playground continues to be a target for improvement for us next term. We have purchased a significant number of new playground toys, most of which will be put into use at the start of the new term.

A particular achievement this term has been the improvement in our Libraries for the children. The Upper School Library under the care of our new English Teacher Mrs Parsons is undergoing transformation and receiving considerable care and attention to good effect. Children have set Library times and are encouraged to read widely from the newly organised and attractive stock. The complete creation and organisation of the Junior School Library is entirely down to the dedication and expertise of Mrs Colette Austin who has devoted hours of time to creating a library for the Juniors from absolutely nothing. We are absolutely delighted by this and it has been lovely to watch children gravitate towards the Library and to start borrowing and avidly reading from our new collection.

Thankyou to all parents who help on trips, offer practical help and support us so enthusiastically in developing our School.

All parents will be receiving a report on their child’s progress this term. This takes the place of the Parents Evening held in Michaelmas Term. Infant reports are fairly short and succinct, the detailed report is to be issued at the end of the School Year. All pupils will receive a further report at the end of the year. We do encourage you to use the page at the back to fill in your comments as we find this a useful form of feedback.

One very interesting form of official feedback came in the shape of OFSTED two weeks ago. In line with their short notice, we received a phone call on Monday March 3rd informing us that we would be inspected on Wednesday and Thursday March 5th and 6th. We supplied the inspection team with over 100 regulatory documents and policies and crossed our fingers!

We received informal feedback at the end of the inspection and have also had a draft copy of the Report. When this has been through its verification procedure, we are obliged to distribute a paper copy to all parents. Until that time, we are not allowed to quote from the Report. However, we are allowed to give you an idea of their findings. I am sure you have heard from the children how pleased we were, and in particular how delighted we were with the comments from the Inspectors about their behaviour and attitude.

There are six main categories reported on and findings can range from Inadequate, Satisfactory, Good and Outstanding. You can imagine our delight when our School was awarded one Satisfactory (for our emerging but pleasing curriculum, still in an early phase of development), two categories relating to teaching and learning received Good with the comment that several lessons observed were Outstanding and three categories including Health and Safety, Behaviour and Social, Moral and Cultural Development all received the highest possible (and rarely awarded) Outstanding.

We are so proud of our School, our staff and our pupils and I am sure you are too. For a school which is so new, and which has grown so quickly and also moved location, this is an unimaginably good report and we are really overjoyed by these findings. We were also touched by the many parents who, we are told, reported to OFSTED so positively in the questionnaires. Thanks too to all those who reassured us that we had absolutely nothing to worry about and that any Inspector would recognise how lovely the School is.

So, thankyou, parents, staff and children for making this school. We are still young (well, the School is anyway!) at only 18 months old. It is a great place to be and although there is a lot of hard work to be done, this is accompanied by great joy that we are surrounded by happy and achieving children.

While I very much hope that no pupils are leaving us in the summer, other than those returning to their home country, can I request that if anyone has plans to move on, please let us know as soon as possible as we now have a considerable waiting list in several age groups and want to be clear in our offers to prospective parents.

Have a wonderful Easter break and get ready for a fun filled summer of exams, trips, swimming and lots and lots of studying.

Yours sincerely,

Harriet Sturdy
Principal
Cambridge International School
(also known as the three outstandings from OFSTED school!)

24th February 2008

Dear Parents,

The second half of Spring Term appears to be happy and purposeful. We are delighted to welcome Luca Vendruscolo and Leonard Andersen  to Caspian Class and hope they enjoy their time with us greatly. We have had a real surge in admissions recently, so much so that it is almost impossible for any staff to catch Mrs Greer between showing families around the school!  We are particularly pleased to note the number of girls registering for the next school year. This will balance out some classes very nicely indeed.

We had great fun painting parts of the playground at the weekend. I was so pleased to work with such a sterling group of helpers and am most impressed with the results.  All volunteers who came proved to be most creative and artistic and even my attempts do not look too crooked! We do need to hold another session, as we have a fair bit of space still to cover.  I am sure the children will enjoy these additions to the playground. We have been very pleased to watch some really nice playground games developing. One kind parent has donated several books on playground games and also come in to show the children some games, and these have already been adopted and are becoming favourites. Any parents who wish to come in to share some memories of their times at school break, please do!

I must reiterate our plea to parents of Upper School that they ensure their child brings in alternative shoes for playing in the park. It is very hard to keep on top of all the mud coming in and although a good number of students remember each day, there are enough who don’t which means the school is still very muddy after lunch.

We have become increasingly disappointed in the quality of lunches offered by our current supplier and have just signed a contract with Lunchtime UK, a local firm which provides food to several other schools in Cambridge. Their operations manager is a previous Sergeant Major and I am quite sure everything will run very smoothly. I am attaching a sample menu which you will note offers soup and sandwiches every day as well as very well balanced hot meals. There is some ambiguity as to who is having hot lunches and we may need to contact some parents to check whether they do wish their child to have a school meal.

You may be glad to see that Raven, Loopy and Chuckle are back! They are well rested from their holiday at Holme Court School where they had the run of many acres of land as well as the company of three other chickens. Our children seemed very pleased to see them back and I am very impressed with the diligence of those who ensure they have fresh water and food every day.

We had very closely fought elections to the Student Council this week. We had been amused to see slogans around the school promising to make break times longer and getting more outdoor toys and will be interested to see how Councillors set about achieving this. We will have a Meeting of the Council one Friday in every month and a member of staff will attend for the last ten minutes to listen to the ideas and proposals put forward. Congratulations to Adam, Marcos, Aniella, Zahra, Jean and Joshua  in the Upper School and to Vincent, Olivia, Robin, Martha, Medina and Adara. I am sure all children will be pro-active and effective. It was interesting to see that children can gauge which children are good at campaigning and getting the opinions of their peers listened too.

I am also very pleased to appoint Eamon Ouali and Anna Krylander to the roles of Charities Officers. These two youngsters will be responsible for deciding which charities we support each term and for motivating their classmates to arrange and support fundraising events.

Med class are attending the Tutankhamun exhibition this week which is a real privilege. We hope very much that they learn a great deal from this once in a lifetime opportunity. Our other big event this week is our Mother’s Day Assembly which is this coming Friday at 9am. We do hope all mothers from the Infant and Junior sections are able to attend. We have not yet practised for this but in true CIPS style are sure that we can produce something very pleasing in one week! Our children are so talented and quick to learn that they will I am sure, charm all our mothers on Friday.

We will let you know shortly what events are booked for Science Week. A quick reminder that the Juniors and Caribbean will be off to the Science Museum on March 3rd and will need to be in School by 8.15 that day. Also, all Juniors will be attending a Science performance on March 6th put on for CIPS and Sancton Wood Juniors at Sancton Wood School. Upper School pupils will be attending lectures put on by the University of Cambridge. More information to follow.

Advance warning that we are running an Easter Egg competition again this year. So consider yourselves warned when your child comes home and tells you they have 24 hours to produce a masterpiece made up of eggs! Last year’s entries including a marvellous piano made of an eggbox and a pianist who was an egg, as well as a super representation of Easter Island, a football match and many other very creative efforts. Deadline for entries 17th March.

Although it is still very cold, it is worth turning your attention to Summer Uniform. It is very easy for the boys (Infant and Junior), who simply need to wear shorts in grey or navy blue. Girls need to buy a blue stripy dress which is available online at Marks and Spencer and is very durable and attractive. It is worth placing your order soon, as they are a very popular item. We did not go with John Lewis as our supplier for this item as the cost was three times as much! Please ask to see a copy of the dress from us at School before ordering, to ensure you get the right style and shade.  The web address is  http://www.marksandspencer.com and the product code is Product Code: T766408  £6.00 - £9.00 (Stain Defence Short sleeved stripe dress)

This comes with every best wish to all our parents, who seem to be as smiley and enthusiastic as our children and who are always a pleasure to see.

Kind regards

Harriet Sturdy