Leeds school a success in anyone's language
Leeds' most culturally diverse high school where pupils speak 37 different languages has made the grade with school inspectors.
Carr Manor High in Meanwood has been applauded for wide-ranging improvements including teaching standards, pupil attainment, behaviour and attendance.
Although still below the national average, the proportion of pupils – many of whom come from deprived inner city areas – who gained five or more good GCSE grades jumped from 29 to 43 per cent last year, with improvements again this summer.
"Carr Manor is a good school with outstanding features," said a new report by education watchdog Ofsted, in awarding the school the second highest grade of two.
"Staff and pupils are very optimistic about the future of the school and proud of its achievements.
"All the staff are committed to providing the best possible opportunities for pupils who say that they are constantly encouraged to do their best."
Headteacher Simon Flowers was described as "inspirational", providing "outstanding leadership and a clear vision for the school", and there was "a very positive atmosphere in school and optimism and confidence amongst staff and pupils".
The school's new building, opened by Tony Blair in March last year, had also helped raise attainment, although there were many others factors, said the report, which quoted one pupil as saying: "It's not just the building - you wouldn't believe how everything has got so much better in the last two or three years."
Inspectors also highlighted the promotion of healthy lifestyles such as a minimum of two hours of PE a week for every pupil, and the general community feeling in such a multi-cultural, 737-pupil school.
Mr Flowers said confidence in the school, which has recently added specialist sports college status, was reflected in the increasing number of local families opting for Carr Manor.
"The report recognises the great achievements of staff, pupils, governors and friends of the school," he said. "It was particularly pleasing that the inspectors saw that we have outstanding capacity to improve further.
"We now have a fantastic environment for the pupils to succeed. That is reflected in the increasing numbers of parents opting to send their children to our school, which we understand should be oversubscribed next year."
Carr Manor Higfh School's 37 different languages:
Albanian/Shqip
Arabic
Bemba
Bengali
Caribbean Creole English
Chinese
Chinese (Mandarin/Putonghua)
Czech
Dutch/Flemish
English
French
German
Gujarati
Japanese
Kurdish
Lithuanian
Ndebele
Ndebele (Zimbabwe)
Pashto/Pakhto
Pahari (Pakistan)
Panjabi
Panjabi (other)
Panjabi (Gurmukhi)
Panjabi (Mirpuri)
Polish
Portuguese
Persian/Farsi
Russian
Shona
Somali
Swahili/Kiswahili
Swahili (other)
Tigrinya
Thai
Urdu
Vietnamese
Yoruba
Posted: Wednesday, October 15, 2008
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