Rikkyo School-in-England

School progress monitoring inspection report

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Rikkyo School-in-England Guildford Road, Rudgwick, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 3BE

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Main inspection findings

Part 3. Welfare, health and safety of pupils Paragraph 7 to 7(b), 32(1) and 32(1)(c)  At the last standard inspection in October 2022, safeguarding was judged to be effective and all relevant independent school standards (the standards) relating to the welfare, health and safety of pupils were found to be met.  At the previous progress monitoring inspection conducted on 26 April 2023, all relevant standards that were checked linked to the welfare, health and safety of pupils continued to be met.  The safeguarding policy is published on the school’s website and complies with current guidelines.  The school’s new model of governance is now firmly established. Trustees’ oversight of safeguarding, welfare, and health and safety at the school continues to be effective.  These standards continue to be met.

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Main inspection findings

Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools Paragraph 34(1) to 34(1)(b)  At the last standard inspection, it was found that quality assurance practices were not sufficiently rigorous. Trustees were not ensuring that the school was fulfilling its statutory duties. School policies were not being updated in a timely manner and standards linked to the school’s relationships and sex education (RSE) programme were not being met.  At the progress monitoring inspection on 26 April 2023, it was found that leaders had addressed unmet standards relating to RSE. However, despite some elements of a new model of governance being in place, some aspects were not yet fully established. Because of this, it was not possible at that time to judge the impact of the changes linked to governance and trustees’ oversight of the school. Therefore, part 8 continued to be unmet.  The school’s new model of governance is now fully operational. A new governance

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Main inspection findings

handbook has been written, detailing the roles of trustees and how the new committee system will work. The compliance officer, appointed after the last standard inspection, is now the bursar. This is because compliance is seen as everyone’s responsibility and is now monitored by the trust’s five sub-committees.  The trust’s sub-committees are fully established. Their work covers key areas such as the school’s curriculum and academic outcomes, welfare, health and safety, finance, compliance, and monitoring and appraisal of staff performance. These sub-committees meet at regular intervals. Members of the various committees visit the school and are clearly more involved in holding leaders to account for their work.  Minutes of committee meetings show that trustees now have a much better understanding of the school and its work than was the case in the past. Records of the work of trustees are fully available and create a positive view of their oversight.

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Main inspection findings

 The school’s special task team, described as an ‘executive team’ put in place by trustees after the last standard inspection, continues to operate. However, its role to monitor progress against the school’s various action plans and to ensure that unmet standards were fully addressed is becoming less relevant. Because of this, the team is evolving into what is described as a ‘development team’, to monitor the ongoing work of the committees and look to the future in all aspects of the school’s work.  The school’s full board of trustees meets three times a year. The chair of the board of trustees now visits the school personally for these meetings. Reports from the various committees and the special task team are considered at these meetings. It is clear that the school’s new model of governance is firmly established, and that trustees are increasingly effective in their work.  Discussions with leaders at all levels show that trustees now have much better oversight

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Main inspection findings

and understanding of the school and its work. Trustees know more about the day-to-day work of the school. Their strategic oversight is clear to see. Written records show this to be the case. In a conversation with His Majesty’s Inspector (HMI), the chair of the trust reflected that he and other trustees are now much better informed about the work of the school and that this is a positive development. Inspection evidence confirms this is the case.  The standards found to be unmet in part 8 at the last standard and subsequent progress monitoring inspections are now met.

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Compliance with regulatory requirements

The school meets the requirements of the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 ('the independent school standards') and associated requirements that were checked during this inspection. This included the standards and requirements that the school was judged to not comply with at the previous inspection. Not all of the standards and associated requirements were checked during this inspection.

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

 34(1) The standard about the quality of leadership and management is met if the proprietor ensures that persons with leadership and management responsibilities at the school-

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

– 34(1)(a) demonstrate good skills and knowledge appropriate to their role so that the independent school standards are met consistently;

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Part 8. Quality of leadership in and management of schools

– 34(1)(b) fulfil their responsibilities effectively so that the independent school standards are met consistently.

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School details

This inspection was carried out under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the purpose of which is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school's suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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School details

Type of school School registered with a religious charter

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School details

School status Independent boarding school

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School details

Gender of pupils in the sixth form Mixed

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School details

Of which, number on roll in sixth form 82

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School details

Proprietor Rikkyo School in England Trust

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) £28,500 to £32,700

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School details

Date of previous standard inspection 18 to 20 October 2022

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Information about this school

 Rikkyo School-in-England is a co-educational Anglican Christian independent boarding school. The school exists primarily to serve the needs of children of Japanese families living and working abroad.  The school was founded in June 1972 and is part of the Rikkyo School-in-England Trust. It is registered for up to 205 pupils aged from 10 to 18 years old.  The school teaches the Japanese national curriculum. It aims to provide a high-quality education which will enable pupils to achieve their ambitions of securing a place in high- ranking universities in Japan and other parts of the world.  The school’s most recent standard inspection was in October 2022 when it was judged to require improvement and unmet standards were found. The school was subject to a progress monitoring inspection on 26 April 2023.  The school does not currently use alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

 This inspection was carried out at the request of the registration authority for independent schools. The purpose of the inspection was to monitor the progress the school has made in meeting the independent school standards and other requirements that it was judged to not comply with at its previous inspection.  The inspection was conducted without notice. It was aligned with an unannounced monitoring inspection of the school’s boarding provision.  This was the second progress monitoring inspection since the school was judged to require improvement with unmet standards at its last standard inspection in October 2022. The first progress monitoring inspection took place on 26 April 2023.  As a result of unmet standards identified at the first progress monitoring inspection, the proprietor was required by the DfE to produce a further statutory action plan on 20 June 2023. The action plan was assessed by Ofsted on 1 August 2023 and found to be

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Information about this inspection

acceptable by the DfE on 1 September 2023.  The inspector held a range of meetings with the headteacher, the deputy headteacher, the school’s bursar and other leaders. He also held an online meeting with the chair and one other member of the board of trustees.  The inspector also met with the social care regulatory inspector who was conducting the aligned inspection of the school’s boarding provision. Most inspection activities were conducted jointly with the social care regulatory inspector.  The inspector met formally with a group of pupils to discuss their views of the school.  The inspector toured the school site, including visiting classrooms and other communal areas.  The inspector considered a range of policies, plans and other documentation linked to the standards. Minutes of meetings relating to governance were reviewed. The inspector also reviewed the school’s single central record and met with the school’s designated

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Inspection team

Clive Close, lead inspector His Majesty's Inspector guidance 'Raising concerns and making a complaint about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/publications/complaints-about-ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Inspection team

Parent View You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child's school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Inspection team

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.gov.uk/ofsted .

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Inspection team

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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