Sheffield schools whose Ofsted ratings have changed since the pandemic - for better or worse

But now, the results are in – and data shows Sheffield’s schools are doing alright.

Ofsted inspections were suspended at the outset of the first lockdown in March 2020, and only resumed in earnest in September 2021.

Since then, 31 Sheffield institutions have been revisited by the education watchdog – with good results.

Out of those 31 schools, academies and nurseries, 26 have been freshly rated as Good, a rate of five out of six in the green.

In fact, five of those schools have improved from a grade of Requires Improvement up to Good since the pandemic.

Below are a gallery of Sheffield’s 11 schools whose Ofsted ratings have changed since the pandemic – for better or worse.

The Star asked Ofsted if the challenges faced by schools in the pandemic were factored into their ratings, and how they are faring nationwide since September 2021.

A spokeswoman said: “The pandemic has clearly been colossal challenge for schools and some children are still catching-up following the disruption. But in our inspections we’ve seen that schools have risen to the challenge and adapted.

“We are seeing a high proportion of schools previously deemed requires improvement or inadequate coming out of that category and being judged good or outstanding – so the pandemic is not getting in the way of schools improving and being recognised for doing so.”

The data does show, however, that only one school has been freshly rated as Outstanding – Totley All Saints Church of England School, which already held the top grade.

The spokeswoman said: “While all schools should aspire to be outstanding, parents should be reassured that a school with a “good” judgement is very much a good school.

“Our expectations for children’s education are higher now than they were 10 or 15 years ago when many of the formerly outstanding schools were last inspected.”

Unfortunately, there are some slip ups.

Two schools – Bankwood Community Primary and Holgate Meadows – dropped from Good down to Inadequate upon reinspection.

Two more – Gleadless Primary and Beighton Nursery Infant– fell to Requires Improvement from Good and Outstanding respectively.

And two more – Dobcroft Junior and Infant School – tripped from Outstanding down to Good, but were still highly praised in their reports.

Below are a gallery of Sheffield’s 11 schools whose Ofsted ratings have changed since the pandemic – for better or worse.