Education

Plans for a new academy in Spalding have met with a barrage of opposition. Springwell Alternative Academy is proposing to convert the former Post-16 Centre at Matmore Gate. The centre is in the grounds of the existing Spalding Academy and would be used for students aged from five to 16 who may have been excluded from other schools, or who ...

Spalding Grammar School staff and pupils celebrated the 16th annual European Day of Languages with educational games, a themed dinner menu and two multilingual speakers. Head of Languages, Ms Dungarwalla, said she prepared a playlist of modern French, German and Spanish music to be played before school and during break time. Quizzes included a Guess The Country Eurovision Form Competition, ...

A new strategy to tackle the rising rate of permanent exclusions in Lincolnshire’s schools has seen the number in primary schools drop by half to 24. However The Inclusive Lincolnshire Strategy – which was introduced to address the problem of a rising and unsustainable rate of permanent exclusions form Lincolnshire schools – has not been so successful in secondary schools. ...

A huge 20 per cent rise in Spalding Academy pupils achieving five A* to C grade GCSEs signals a “new era for secondary education in Spalding,” says headteacher Laurence Reilly. Teachers and pupils were jubilant this morning in the hall. While pupils opened their results envelopes, Spalding Academy Deputy Headteacher Karen Joel said: “We’re so, so excited. It’s all down ...

Controversial new reforms to A levels seemed to have little impact on results in South Holland. Both Spalding Grammar School and Spalding High School students achieved good outcomes, according to headteachers. There were smiles and tears alike at Spalding schools as the big day arrived last Thursday. Two years of hard work and study culminated in that breathless and emotional ...

A Spalding academy has been rated as good in its first ever Ofsted inspection.   Wygate Park Academy, Witham Road, received the rating in each of the five key areas looked at by inspectors.   “The headteacher, trust and local governing body have successfully established a culture of high expectations among pupils and staff,” the report, which was published on ...

Vulnerable teenagers in a South Holland children’s home were able to take a car after staff left keys in an office door, an Ofsted report has revealed.   Young people do not feel safe and measures to combat bullying at the home are said to be ‘ineffective.’   The un-named home, which is registered to Broadwood Education Services, had ‘serious ...

Students from Spalding Grammar School have had their work displayed at a top national arts exhibition.   Four A-Level artists were entered into the National Students Exhibition at the Mall Galleries in London where their work featured alongside paintings from some of the finest professional artists.   Tom Beardwell, a Year 13 veteran of this competition, produced ‘Chimera’ – an ...

A Spalding Grammar School pupil has beaten off competition from more than 1,200 students in a bid to land a place at one of the top 10 universities in the world.   Edward Tranter has become the first pupil from the Priory Road school to ever be selected for the Sutton Trust US Programme.   The Bentley House captain is ...

Staff feel valued, pupils are increasingly confident and teaching is good at Donington’s Thomas Cowley High School, inspectors say. In a short Ofsted inspection report published last week (June 3), the school was judged still to be “good.” The report, to headteacher Ian Dawson,  said: “The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school.” It added: ...

Holbeach Primary has been judged ‘good’ in its first Ofsted since becoming an academy.   The school, in Boston Road, was judged ‘requires improvement’ before it reformed as an academy in 2014.   In a letter to parents, headteacher Sue Boor, who has been at the school throughout, said: “It is particularly pleasing to have detailed in the report how ...

The Donington Cowley Primary School has been told by Ofsted inspectors that it “requires improvement”. A report said personal development, behaviour and early years provision at the school were “good,” but leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment and outcomes for pupils were not up to par. Headteacher Marina Faulkner said steps have already been taken to address ...

Staff in a very small South Holland school work closely as a team and have maintained its “good” standard, inspectors have reported. A short inspection was made of Shepeau Stow Primary School and a report issued to headteacher Alison Buddle and published last week. It said: “The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last ...

An autistic lad is looking forward to the next academic year in a new school which better suits his needs. Eight-year-old Meredydd Humphreys had been struggling in mainstream education for some time but due to a dearth of special-needs school places the best which Lincolnshire County Council, the local education authority, was able to offer was private schooling in Brigg, ...

Some schools in South Holland will see budgets cut by as much as 35 per cent by 2020, according to the National Union of Teachers (NUT). The Department for Education (DfE) disputes the figures and maintains funding for schools is rising in real terms, but Lincolnshire County Council and school leaders disagree. The Rev John Bennett, chairman of governors at ...

Hundreds of families face disruption as some schools are closed for use as polling stations for upcoming county and general elections. Some Spalding primary schools will close and Holbeach Bank Primary School faces an outlay of hundreds of pounds as it makes arrangements to take pupils to alternative venues. Christine Wright, headteacher at Holbeach Bank, said she has appealed for ...

“Babies love investigating and enjoy spending time outside” and “children enjoy the company of adults and friends” at a children’s nursery in Pinchbeck, inspectors said. Little Treasures Nurseries, in Knight Street, which has 35 children on roll, was found to be “good” in all areas in its latest Ofsted report. It said babies are cared for in a warm, welcoming environment ...

Lincolnshire County Council says 94.3 per cent of children have been given a place at their primary school of choice through the admissions system this year. That figure is a rise on 2016. Along with the rest of the country, Lincolnshire has experienced high numbers of families wanting their children to start school in September. There are nearly 7,500 children ...

A decision to suspend lettings at the Spalding Academy site has met with anger and frustration. South Lincolnshire Academies Trust, which runs the school, has given regular users of the Neville Avenue site five months’ notice to find an alternative. The trust says “a number of operational issues” have arisen since the start of the academic year which has led ...

A nursery where staff work to surpass their already “excellent abilities” and children have “memorable early years,” is celebrating an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted.   Inspectors awarded The Willows Day Nursery, in Old Main Road, Fleet Hargate, the highest possible rating.   A report said: “The manager is inspirational and, over time, has nurtured a team of staff who share her drive, ...