Absolutely delighted: those are the two words a Farnham headteacher has uttered after a “tough” inspection team lavished praise on his school.

Stuart Maginnis and his Heath End colleagues had a tough start to 2025 as OfSted got in touch just a few minutes after the January term began to confirm an inspection.

But they needn’t have worried – as inspectors have effective given the “welcoming and happy school” a good all-round verdict and a report with plenty of positives.

Although OfSted has scrapped one-word summaries, the school has effectively retained its ‘good’ status following the ungraded inspection by Mary Davies and Julia Mortimore.

They state the 1,092-pupil school has “taken effective action to maintain the (good) standards identified at the previous inspection” before lauding its ambition, culture, inclusivity and “extensive extra-curricular programme”.

They also add that “polite and respectful” pupils behave well, follow a broad and balanced curriculum, and that pupil absence and suspension rates are improving.

The report states: “Staff know the pupils very well and care deeply that all pupils achieve both academically and personally.

“The school is ambitious for all pupils. The Weydon Multi-Academy Trust has also supported the school to establish an inclusive and aspirational school culture.”

The report also states: “Staff are proud to work at the school and value the commitment shown to their development and all-being.”

The report isn’t perfect as sometimes checks are not identified and addressed when pupils have gaps in understanding. There also needs to be some refinement with staff so they can help “pupils acquire the tools and resilience they need” to approach increasingly challenging learning activities.

But it’s an otherwise excellent report card for the Heath End team with Mr Maginnis speaking of his pride and delight following the report’s release.

He said: “I think it’s a fair and thorough reflection of the school, as the inspection team were tough and under the new framework it was difficult in some places.

“We had literally got back through the door after our Christmas break and were told almost immediately there would be an inspection. There was a phone call at 9.10am on day one, and then there was a deep conversation.

“That was seriously long, the conversation centred around school improvements and boy, they were prepared.

They do a lot of work beforehand around the website and data and there was a real focus from the inspectors, but we came out good.”

And ‘good’ seems to be the buzzword at Heath End with the inspectors satisfied and facilities ever-improving with around £12million being pumped into the school, like the impressive new sporting set-up.

“It’s a very happy place to work and lead and we’re constantly striving to improve our facilities, added Stuart.

“I think for me, the proudest bit of that report is also what you can see every day when you walk around Heath End School. The students are genuinely happy here.

“I’ve been blown away by it all – it’s a very happy place to work and lead.”