Longhill head says: ‘We’ve turned a corner’

Classrooms are generally calm and orderly at Longhill, according to the official education watchdog Ofsted in a letter to the school’s head teacher Rachelle Otulakowski.

And on a visit to the school the week after Ofsted published the letter on its website, classrooms are calm, children are focused and Mrs Otulakowski said: “We’ve turned a corner.

The letter included phrases such as “notable improvements” and “behaviour across the school is improving” and “a culture of high expectations”.

The feedback was welcome as the deadline to apply for a secondary school place next September is tomorrow (Friday 31 October) at 11.59pm.

The letter said: “Classrooms are generally calm and orderly, reducing disruptions and allowing pupils to focus on their work. Pupils spoke positively to inspectors about the rapid improvements in behaviour around the school.

“Pupils continue to benefit from a wide range of enrichment opportunities that support their interests and aspirations.”

The school’s year 8 footballers were a case in point. Last season, the boys were runners up in a Sussex-wide cup competition, beaten in the final by Cardinal Newman.

And the girls won the schools league for the second year in a row. Some of the girls also play at the thriving Woodingdean Wanderers Football Club when they’re not at school.

“To reward the teams,” she said, “we’re taking them on a football tour to PSV Eindhoven (the Dutch champions) in May 2026.

“They will be coached by the A team’s staff, play matches against local secondary schools and attend a match at the stadium – while studying in a four-star hotel.

“The school has subsidised this trip for those pupils who are in receipt of free school meals so that everyone can afford to go.”

The P in PSV stands for Philips, the multinational health technology and former consumer electronics company that was founded in Eindhoven in the late 19th century. PSV started life before the First World War as a football team for the factory workers.

At Longhill, it’s about much more than football, with the school providing plenty of sporting variety for pupils.

The head said: “The range of sports is wide due to our two huge fields, tennis courts and sports hall, dance studio, leisure centre and gymnasium. Particular favourite sports are trampolining, basketball, badminton and cricket.”

The school is proud of its excellent sports facilities and Mrs Otulakowski said that there were plans to make them even better, with a £1.2 million 4G pitch in the pipeline.

She added: “We’ve produced many sporting stars, including Sonay Cartal, the Wimbledon tennis prodigy.

“We also offer 31 different extra-curricular activities here – not all of which are sports, of course.”

The performing arts are popular with some pupils – staging plays, for example, singing and playing musical instruments.

STEM is also popular. The acronym stands for science, technology, engineering and maths. And the dedicated teaching staff aim not just to fire up their pupils’ enthusiasm but to fuel their ambitions.

Each year, there is a trip to CERN – the European Organisation for Nuclear Research – in Switzerland as well as visits to Drusillas, Herstmonceux Observatory Science Centre and the Science Museum, in London.

There is an annual stargazing night, coming round again soon, when Sussex University academics bring their telescopes along so that pupils not only hear about space but see the stars for themselves.

Students make and fire rockets. They build and program robots. And the school welcomes children from Woodingdean Primary School for computing lessons.

Then there are the “Whodunnit workshops” led by Longhill science teachers and student science ambassadors at local primary schools. The workshops include detective work and finger printing.

And while Longhill was the first secondary school in the area to ban mobile phones, Mrs Otulakowski was keen to tap into one of the specialist sectors in Brighton – computer games.

She said: “We’ve got games developers talking to us, talking about test and learn.”

One initiative that has made the school more attractive to the parents of year 6 pupils and the children themselves is described by some Longhill youngsters as the “year 7 bubble”.

Mrs Otulakowski said that the aim was to make the transition from primary school less daunting, adding: “We’ve got more year 7s despite the birth-rate decline.

“Our year 7 teaching corridor, canteen and toilets is a real USP (unique selling point) for us. The year 7s enter through a separate door in the morning.”

Perhaps it might be better to say that they’re incubated rather than isolated, with plenty of opportunities available to mix with older pupils.

The letter from Ofsted captured much that has improved and spells out that there is more to be done to build on the solid foundations laid over the past few years.

Mrs Otulakowski, 47, now in her third year at the school, said: “We were pleased that our monitoring visit went well. Ofsted were particularly pleased with the improvements that they noted in behaviour.

“The culture of the school has shifted significantly and we look forward to our full two-day graded inspection.”

With a new PTA (Parent Teacher Association) organising fundraising events such as a Christmas fair, the optimism about Longhill is extending into the communities served by the school.

And some of this is showing through even among those whose secondary school years were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns and other restrictions.

Mrs Otulakowski said: “Part of our improvement journey is easily evidenced by the progress that our children have made when they receive their GCSE results.

“As we have a truly diverse intake, with many different starting points, we focus on progress rather than attainment.”

The pandemic has left gaps in the official figures but progress has improved significantly and the head is sure that the current year 11s will continue this positive trend.

Before becoming a teacher, Mrs Otulakowski worked as a list caller in a magistrates’ court and found herself gravitating towards the troubled children in the youth court.

Perhaps it helps to explain what Ofsted called the “wide range of enrichment opportunities that support (pupils’) interests and aspirations” at Longhill. Pupils have ample opportunities to fill their time constructively.

These include the CCF (Combined Cadet Force) section, giving pupils a taste of military discipline, practical skills and knowledge that sits outside the typical school curriculum.

But there is a wider and more purposeful discipline – classrooms and corridors don’t become “calm and orderly” without it.

One small example of how it’s taking root is the team spirit among the successful young footballers looking forward to their trip to PSV Eindhoven next summer.

Each of them knows that if they get into trouble between now and then, it’s a red card. They’ll miss the trip. They’re already motivated to play well – and now there’s jeopardy if they mess around.

So far, so good. The squad is intact. And the wider measures across the school are bringing results in the classrooms and beyond.

Article written by Frank Le Duc of Brighton & Hove News
Original article can be found here: After Ofsted highlights progress, Longhill head says: ‘We’ve turned a corner’ – Brighton and Hove News

For more news on Longhill High School visit our news section: https://longhill.org.uk/news/

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