Didcot’s Aureus School achieves inaugural ‘good’ Ofsted rating

An Oxfordshire secondary school has received its first-ever ‘good’ rating from Ofsted, one year after a new headteacher was appointed. Aureus School in Didcot had been assessed as ‘requires improvement’ by the inspection body in March 2022, a classification that remained unchanged during a subsequent visit by inspectors in July 2023. Ofsted had previously identified behaviour, leadership, and the quality of education as areas needing improvement. However, inspectors have now observed progress following the appointment of Kirsty Rogers as the new headteacher in September 2023. Aureus School, which currently serves 475 students aged 11 to 16, opened in 2017 to cater to the expanding population of the Great Western Park development in Didcot. Despite this, the school’s initial Ofsted report in 2022 rated three out of four key areas as ‘requires improvement’, including the quality of education, student behaviour, and staff leadership. Ms Rogers stated, “The school was in a position where its reputation was significantly decreasing.” She added, “The behaviour was so poor that students couldn’t possibly learn. So I knew straight away that we had to implement rules and consistency.” To enhance behaviour, the school introduced “regulation” rooms. In these rooms, a student exhibiting disruptive behaviour is given time to calm down away from their class. Such a student also receives a 40-minute detention at the end of the next day. Ms Rogers indicated that avoiding excessively strict policies was key to improving behaviour. She commented, “We don’t have silent corridors and we don’t have students walk [using] a one-way system.” She further explained her approach: “From my perspective I am ‘warm-strict’. The students know the boundaries, they know the rules. “But they’ll still come to my office, knock on the door and tell me what’s going on in their lives.”” Year 8 student Durham Hutchinson observed: “Staff take into account what you think needs improving… they really listen to the students and understand what [we] want, not just what they want.” Ms Rogers emphasized that securing student buy-in for the new policies was crucial to her success. She stated, “The biggest thing is that your students [come] first. They should be listened to at every moment. They know the answer…. you’ve just got to get it out of them.” Ms Rogers also recalled a “backhanded compliment” from a student regarding the new policies: “About three weeks [after I started] one of my Year 10s came up to me and said: “Miss, I hated you when you first arrived. “But I get it now.”” BBC Oxfordshire can be followed on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC disclaims responsibility for the content of external sites. Information regarding its approach to external linking is available.