“A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you.”
– Brigitte Bardot
It is often said that in a house fire people prioritise the rescue of the family photo albums. Unsurprising as it is difficult to recreate the contents, they are by definition a collection of snapshots, moments frozen in time, a means of remembrance.
Every three years we are visited by inspectors from the Independent Schools Inspectorate who have the task of judging whether the education offered here meets the standard required of a British School Overseas. During their time in the school they observe, interview and interpret. The team consists of teachers who are currently employed in schools like this one and they are lead by an inspector who is, normally, a recently retired headteacher or principal.
As part of the process, parents are asked to respond to a questionnaire, the results of which provide a starting point for the inspection team. The inspection team feeds back at the end of the process and then the report is processed. After processing it has the unique tone of a bureaucratic report, enthusiasms and joy are removed and what is left is a slightly washed-out picture of what they see. Once upon a time reports like this gave short phrase or single word judgements that described the school as requiring improvement or being outstanding. The current crop of reports do not give this judgement, so it falls to the reader to decide what the inspectors thought of the school that they visited.
In our report you will see that the inspectors confirmed that we have passed the threshold required to be a British School Overseas. The useful overview findings suggest that they were impressed with all that they found. But if you want a real view of what they found then may I direct you to page 5? It is here that inspectors make their suggestions for next steps. If you care to look at other schools’ inspection reports, then you will find that it is far from uncommon for three or more suggestions to be made. Two suggestions are rare and only one is even more difficult to find. The inspectors must make one suggestion…
So, I was delighted to see that there was only one next step suggested, indeed the next step has already been taken and it is acknowledged in the report that the school is addressing this issue. So far so good.
It would be easy to sit back at this point and congratulate ourselves. Whist we will take a moment to celebrate this recognition of all that has been achieved at the BSP, we will be looking for areas in which we can improve, because there isn’t a school out there that is the finished item, the perfect, flawless school.
But if the school were burning down, there is one point made in this report that I would seek to save. You will find it at the end of the report. Our pupils are described as “kind”. Of that we can feel proud, for it is vital for the future success of society that we prioritise kindness. The inspection team recognised us for the school that we are and we will look forward to welcoming them in another three years.
If for any reason you did not receive a copy of the inspection report then you can find it by following this link.
