Ofsted: Spalding Academy needs to be in special measures

Education inspectors have ruled the new Spalding Academy requires special measures after visiting just six weeks after a full leadership change at the school.

An Ofsted report published on Friday (Dec 16) recognises “newly appointed leaders have drawn up plans for improvement quickly and precisely”.

However, it deems little improvement has been made at the school since the previous inspection in March 2015  and states special measures are required.

The school says it is seeing the report as drawing a line under the “difficult recent history” of what was formerly The Sir John Gleed School.

A statement said: “The school recognises that the inspection came too early for there to be sufficient evidence to present to Ofsted in terms of student progress to influence the judgements, apart from the improvements in attendance and behaviour that were evident to the Ofsted team.”

Headteacher Laurence Reilly said: “I was surprised that Ofsted visited us so early after we came to the school, we had not even had time to collect our first set of whole school student performance data.

“The team were apologetic but had to make their judgements based on the results since the previous inspection of the Sir John Gleed School and the leadership of the school at that time, whilst acknowledging the many fundamental changes that we have already introduced.

“Our aim is to make this a good school (in Ofsted terms) within two years, a big challenge but an achievable one. The students here are delightful and appear genuinely pleased with the education and opportunities that we are providing for them.”

“The Sir John Gleed had been in special measures for two years before the March 2015 inspection when it was lifted out of the lowest ranking though still deemed to need “significant improvement.”

The school became Spalding Academy on September 1 this year and was brought under the umbrella of South Lincolnshire Academies Trust, which also runs Bourne Academy. Mr Reilly took over as headteacher at Spalding Academy later that month and the governing body was replaced.

The latest Ofsted report states:

• Governors have not held senior staff to account
• The school’s use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils has not helped these pupils to make sufficient progress
• All groups of pupils made poor progress from their starting points in 2015 and 2016, across a wide range of subjects and year groups
• The teaching does not take sufficient account of what the pupils know, understand and can do already
• Too much teaching has been ineffective, especially in science and mathematics
  Inaccurate information about the progress pupils made has led to school leaders believing that progress has been better than it actually was
• Assessments of pupils’ work have been overoptimistic and led to inaccurate priorities for improvement
• The systems used to improve the behaviour of some pupils, especially boys, have not been effective. Behaviour has improved this term
• Attendance has been well below average but has improved this term
• The school has experienced a significant number of leadership changes within a short space of time. Staff and pupils feel that too many of the school’s policies have been ineffective and expectations for different groups of pupils have been too low
• Only a small number of subjects are on offer for sixth-form students to study. Too few students have been able to move on to higher education

Positives, it states, are:

• Newly appointed leaders have a strong record of accomplishment in a school with a similar pupil intake. They have drawn up plans for improvement quickly and precisely, and have improved site security and the school’s learning environment
• Pupils and staff are very positive about the many changes introduced since September 2016. They confirm that behaviour is improving and expectations for achievement are higher. They believe that the school is improving rapidly

Mr Reilly’s letter about the Ofsted report, published on the school’s website, reads: “This Ofsted inspection draws a line under the difficult recent history of Sir John Gleed School; the report states that ‘Leaders and managers have not improved any aspect of the academy since the most recent inspection, in March 2015’.

“However, Ofsted has given a positive endorsement to the newly launched Spalding Academy. Although this has only been in operation since 1st September 2016, Ofsted stated that ‘Almost all aspects of leadership have changed within the last six weeks’ and that the ‘Newly appointed leaders have a strong record of accomplishment in an academy with a similar pupil intake. They have drawn up plans for improvement quickly and precisely, and have improved site security and the academy’s learning environment.’

“They also recognised that ‘The South Lincolnshire Academies Trust has deployed a substantial amount of appropriate support and capacity for teaching from Bourne Academy.’

“The Ofsted team commented on the changes that have taken place since September 2016 being recent, but their scale is significant. The report reflects positively the new curriculum, new assessment systems, updated targets for attainment and progress and improved systems to reward behaviour, all implemented since September.

“Ofsted also acknowledged the early impact of the new trust on the school community: ‘Pupils and staff are very positive about the many changes introduced since September 2016. They confirm that behaviour is improving, expectations for achievement are higher and believe the academy is improving rapidly.’

“The school recognises that the inspection came too early for there to be sufficient evidence to present to Ofsted in terms of student progress to influence the judgements, apart from the improvements in attendance and behaviour that were evident to the Ofsted team.

“The Headteacher of Spalding Academy said ‘I was surprised that Ofsted visited us so early after we came to the school; we had not even had time to collect our first set of whole school student performance data. The team were apologetic but had to make their judgements based on the results since the previous inspection of the Sir John Gleed School and the leadership of the school at that time, whilst acknowledging the many fundamental changes that we have already introduced. It is no surprise that we are basing the model of the new school on the methodology adopted successfully at Bourne Academy in recent years.

“However, I recognise the unique identity of Spalding Academy and am very proud of the strong teamwork that is already in place which unites the staff and students in what is a community school with exciting potential. Our aim is to make this a good school (in Ofsted terms) within two years, a big challenge but an achievable one. The students here are delightful and appear genuinely pleased with the education and opportunities that we are providing for them.”