Having grown up and brought up three daughters in Hackney. I have a lot of affection for this much-maligned borough and, more recently, pride. This is as a result of the recent Office for Standards in Education inspection at my youngest daughter’s school, Ickburgh, the borough’s only school for pupils with severe learning difficulties.
The head and deputy head - and indeed all staff and personnel attached to the school’s daily management and organisation - ensure a resounding and well-earned success that all parents and guardians can be justly proud of and reassured by. Ickburgh pupils are extremely fortunate in the school’s total commitment to their education and well-being which the OFSTED inspection team observed and documented.
The OFSTED inspection was therefore an extremely positive experience for the school and all associated with it, and not least for Hackney.
The inspection team found 95 per cent of all lessons observed satisfactory or above, with two-thirds of lessons good or better.
Ickburgh staff were described as enthusiastic and effective in their teaching, demonstrating outstanding patience and understanding, and were praised for the exemplary way in which they work to meet challenging needs in a school justifiably described as having many strengths and some very good features.
As a parent I am delighted that Ickburgh has the recognition it so richly deserves.
V BEBBINGTON 15 Chestnut Close Grazebrook Road London, N16
