Following a visit from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) in September 2024 to assess Highgate’s regulatory compliance and school standards, we are pleased to share the inspection findings, which reports compliance in all five areas and a ‘significant strength’ in our teaching expertise.
The full Inspection Report can be viewed on the ISI website here and key findings are summarised here.
Under the new ISI inspection framework, which came into place in September 2023, ISI inspectors can identify areas of a school as ‘significant strengths’, showing clear, demonstrable and highly beneficial impact for pupils.
We are delighted that the inspection report has identified Highgate’s teaching expertise as a significant strength, highlighting how our “highly knowledgeable teachers with strong pedagogical skills have a profound impact on the learning of pupils for all ages.”
They note that “teaching instils an appetite for intellectual effort and fosters in the pupils an ability to think and learn for themselves”, and that “teachers pursue their own subject knowledge research, exemplifying the scholarship which they advocate for their pupils.”
“As a result, pupils develop a deep connection to their work and make good progress.”
In addition to our ‘significant strength’, inspectors identified how Highgate’s “comprehensive curriculum covers all required areas and fosters high levels of scholarship and pupils’ individual talents”, whilst also pointing out that “teaching across the school is inclusive and promotes academic development without discrimination.”
The report recognises Highgate’s equal attention to pastoral care, observing how leaders “strike a deliberate balance, enabling pupils to reach high academic standards whilst paying close regard to their personal wellbeing”. The inspection findings note how Highgate’s “pastoral care systems and the wellbeing arrangements further support the development of pupils’ self-esteem and confidence.” The report also points out that there is “a robust safeguarding culture” in place.
There is significant recognition of Highgate’s focus on pupils’ personal development and our efforts to build a reflective community, welcome to all. Through an extensive range of co-curricular and recreational opportunities “pupils develop new skills, build self-confidence and resilience.” The inspection team recorded how “pupils learn to respect diversity, challenge discrimination, and engage democratically through pupil councils,” and how there are systems in place to ensure a “culture of respect, equality and trust.”
The Head of Highgate School, Adam Pettitt, commented: “Inspection is not something we build our lives around. We are, and will remain, a school committed to our aims and ethos: being a place for learning and scholarship, a reflective community, and an exemplar for healthy life. Nevertheless, it is always affirming to have your practice recognised by those whose job it is to assess it.”
