Moorside High School

About Moorside High School

Moorside High School is a mixed, non-denominational secondary school for 11 to 16 year olds, located in the Staffordshire Moorlands area of the West Midlands and operating under the Staffordshire local authority. With 765 pupils on roll, it sits within a competitive local landscape of 75 state secondary schools in the authority. Among its top-performing peers in the area are The Friary School, St John Fisher Catholic College, and Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group, which set a high benchmark locally. The school is led by headteacher Darryn Robinson and received a Good rating from Ofsted in its most recent inspection in 2024, a grade it has held consistently across both its 2017 and 2024 inspections. The Ofsted report awarded Good marks across all assessed categories, including quality of education, personal development, behaviour and attitudes, and leadership and management, indicating solid and stable performance across the board.

In terms of academic outcomes, the school does not publish its own Progress 8 score in the available data, but the Staffordshire local authority average Progress 8 score stands at -0.18, which provides a useful benchmark for context. The school’s most recent Ofsted inspection in 2024 rated the quality of education as Good, with the report noting that pupils achieve well across the curriculum. The previous inspection in 2017 also rated the school Good overall, with leadership and management and sixth form provision both scoring 2 (Good) at that time, though the school now operates only up to Year 11. The school’s consistent Good rating over two inspections suggests that it maintains a reliable standard of teaching and learning, and parents can expect a solid academic foundation for their children, particularly in core subjects, without the volatility sometimes seen in schools that change rating frequently.

Moorside High School offers a notably broad range of facilities, including a library, swimming pool, gymnasium, sports hall, ICT suite, art studios, dining hall, tennis courts, and even a chapel, which is unusual for a non-religious state school. The sports programme is extensive, featuring rowing, hockey, football, rugby, badminton, dance, rounders, netball, and martial arts, while extracurricular clubs include coding, book club, orchestra, newspaper, and film club. The school does not have a sixth form, so pupils will need to plan for post-16 options elsewhere. With a Good rating and a wide array of activities, this school is well-suited to families seeking a balanced secondary experience with strong pastoral care and plenty of opportunities beyond the classroom, particularly those who value sports and creative pursuits alongside academic study.

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