However, following the first inspection of the school since it joined The GORSE Academies Trust three years ago, John Smeaton Academy has been rated ‘Good’ in all areas, with Ofsted describing the turnaround as “startling”.

Inspectors said the school had become “a beacon for its community”, with students well-behaved, staff believing in them, and ambitions set high in all areas of school life. Ofsted says that students at John Smeaton Academy now “flourish”.

The full report can be read here: www.johnsmeatonacademy.org.uk.

However, when GORSE was asked by the Government to take the school on in 2021, it was a different story. The school was beset by long-standing problems including poor exam results, high staff turnover, bad behaviour among some students, and years of entrenched failure.

Today’s Ofsted report tells how GORSE has transformed the school and includes a string of highlights, including:

• “Leaders and staff have worked closely with pupils to bring about a startling transformation at this school.”
• “Pupils share the ambitions that staff have for them and value the kindness shown to them.”
• “This school is now a beacon for its community. Pupils, staff, parents and carers are right to be proud of all that they have achieved.”
• “Staff have worked with pupils to transform standards of behaviour. A consistent ‘positive discipline’ approach, rooted in caring kindness and active intervention, is consistently in place throughout the school.”
• “Pupils behave well. They are kind to their peers and speak to staff and visitors with warmth and respect.”
• “Pupils increasingly benefit from the well-considered curriculum that is in place.”
• “Older pupils speak of the positive changes they have seen and the opportunities that they now have. They know that the school is providing them with ‘the gift of choice’. They are increasingly well prepared for their next steps.”
• “The school is determined to address disadvantage, to raise pupils’ ambitions and give them opportunities to develop their talents and interests. The enrichment clubs and activities are numerous, well-attended and include the ‘Big 3’ of karate, rowing and volleyball. Pupils experience many exciting trips and competitions alongside opportunities to give something back to the community. All of this, and more, helps pupils to flourish.”
• “Trust and school leaders have swiftly improved the quality of education.”
• “All staff know the role that they have in improving attendance. A range of strategies are in place, including schemes such as the 100% attendance club.”

Andrew Moncur, Principal at John Smeaton Academy, said: “I am delighted with what has been accomplished at John Smeaton Academy. Ofsted’s report is superb. But it confirms what we already knew – that this is now a really good school.

“Today’s success is a real team effort that has taken place over three years. It’s down to the hard work and dedication of our students, our talented and committed staff, our supportive parents and the backing and expertise of The GORSE Academies Trust. Everyone involved with the school has played their part. I am proud of what we have achieved together.

“This isn’t the end of the story though – we will keep working hard for every student here every day so that they have a great education.”

Sir John Townsley, Chief Executive Officer of The GORSE Academies Trust, said: “The GORSE Academies Trust will always stand ready to take on schools that need help – because the children and young people in those schools, and in every school, deserve it. It doesn’t matter if it is hard or difficult, our job as educators is to give children the best chance to succeed and fulfil their potential. That is what we have done at John Smeaton Academy, and Andrew and his team deserve so much credit. They have done an exceptional job.”

Ethos College was praised by Ofsted inspectors for creating an ‘ambitious curriculum’ and facilitating an ‘inclusive environment’ for all pupils. Ethos supports pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH), other medical needs and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The report outlined how ‘empowered’ pupils felt and noted the ‘dedicated staff who want to see every pupil flourish’.

This is a monumental achievement for the school under the new Ofsted framework as a report revealed that only 17% of 370 “outstanding” schools kept their grade when they had a full reinspection in 2021-22. In addition, Ethos College joins a small number of alternative provisions that hold this prestigious title and is the only alternative provision in Kirklees to do so.

The Ofsted report praised the school’s strong commitment to helping pupils ‘succeed’ and noted that leaders are engaged in ensuring an ‘inclusive school’ environment that is well-designed to meet the needs of each pupil. The inspection highlighted the personal development of pupils as a ‘significant strength’ of the school. The curriculum is based on a well-designed foundation of personal, social, health and economic standards. It offers the freedom for pupils to develop their talents and interests through an array of sports and music tuition.

“Leaders and staff ensure the school environment is positive. Relationships between staff and pupils are strong. Pupils feel safe in school. Staff and pupils respect each other. The school is calm and orderly. Pupils say that bullying does not exist in their school. They also felt confident that staff would deal with it effectively if it were to occur.”

The Dewsbury-based school boasts a robust safeguarding policy in place – to help keep children and young people safe by providing a safe environment for children and young people to learn and develop in the school setting.

Furthermore, the report also mentioned the school’s safeguarding arrangements as ‘effective’ and noted that staff are equipped with ‘extensive safeguarding’ knowledge.

The school, part of Ethos Academy Trust, has been supporting the need for specialist provision in the area and offering opportunities for children with social, emotional and mental health needs and other medical needs to flourish academically and personally. Additionally, the inspectors described how the school’s leaders received strong support from the multi-academy trust.

Many pupils start at Ethos College after long periods of absence from mainstream school. Some have had a less than positive experience of education before joining the school and initially find it difficult to adjust to this new phase.  The staff and teachers were applauded for working ‘patiently’ to improve pupils’ attitudes towards school and how each of them was ‘well cared’ for and ‘happy’.

“Teachers successfully adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of pupils with SEND. This ensures pupils with SEND achieve exceptionally well. Pupils access an ambitious curriculum across a wide body of subjects.”

The pupils were described as ‘well behaved’ due to consistent efforts displayed by the ‘highly skilled’ staff who were mentioned as a key reason for the ‘significant attendance’ improvement of the pupils.

Reflecting about this historic landmark and how the school is making a positive impact in the lives of children with special educational needs and disabilities, Head Teacher of Ethos College, Rebecca Smith, said: “We are so pleased with the outstanding results of the Ofsted report. It is a culmination of hard-work and dedication of the entire team at Ethos College.

“Our pupils come from various backgrounds and mostly require specialist support to meet their needs. Our bespoke and tailored curriculum has been curated to meet the requirements of each pupil and aims to provide them with highly effective education and support.

“Moreover, we have focused our priority on nurturing an inclusive learning community for our teachers and pupils, which has enabled us to achieve this outstanding outcome.”

Jayne Foster, CEO Ethos Academy Trust, former head teacher of Ethos College, was delighted to state: “I am immensely proud of Rebecca and the entire team at Ethos College which includes our pupils, past and present. Like all of our schools, Ethos College undertakes a holistic approach to ensuring pupils’ needs are identified and met throughout their journey with the school. They have adopted a curriculum that addresses their academic needs as well as SEMH needs through quality first teaching and targeted interventions, devotion and determination – preparing them for the next stage of their lives and bright futures ahead.”

To find out more about Ethos Academy Trust please go to https://www.eat.uk.com/

The Government watchdog recently took part in an unannounced inspection of St Andrew’s College which provides education in a secure setting and is located on the Billing Road mental health site in Northampton.

There are currently 22 students aged between 13 and 19 who attend the college full-time. They are also patients at St Andrew’s Healthcare hospital which means they all have complex mental health conditions.

The inspection took place between Tuesday, June 29 and Thursday, July 1, 2021. The report has just been issued and the college has been rated ‘Good’ overall and ‘Outstanding’ for behaviour and attitudes.

Headteacher Cheryl Smith said: “To be awarded ‘Outstanding’ in behaviour and attitudes, considering the type of service we are, is a huge achievement. It demonstrates how hard we work to support our learners, ensuring they feel safe and respected. The relationships between our staff and students is very strong and this compassion and support is key to our trauma informed approach.

“This enables us to look at each learner as an individual, allowing them to work at their own pace and on a programme of education that meets their own needs. We walk their recovery journey alongside them, supporting them to achieve as much as possible as they develop as a person.

“I am extremely proud of our team and would like to thank each and every member of staff for their hard work, commitment and passion for the job they do.”

The Ofsted report said that parents of the young students were “positive” about the education their children were receiving and that they believed the college had “changed their children’s lives for the better”. The inspectors also stated that students’ behaviour when in school is “exceptional” and they are “respectful, calm and enthusiastic to learn”.

Chair of the co and CEO of St Andrew’s Healthcare Katie Fisher (pictured) said: “Cheryl and her team have worked tirelessly to create a calm, caring environment within the college. Our highly-skilled and patient staff combine well-established and structured routines with positive reinforcement which has given our pupils the confidence and ability to focus on their education.

“Our students’ personal development is also a high priority and I’m glad that Ofsted identified this. We have a high attendance rate and if the pupils are not well enough, our teachers deliver lessons to them on the wards. I’m extremely proud of what has been achieved at our college and I’m so pleased that Cheryl and her staff have received the praise that they truly deserve.”

Abbot’s Lea School saw this as an exceptional opportunity to help Ofsted shape its inspection of special schools and also to use it to learn about the process ahead of its own planned inspection which is now overdue, and expected to take place any time, and no later than next school year.

The experience was helpful and positive, and resulted in a number of findings, all of which support the school’s self-evaluation.

Four Ofsted Her Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs), including senior HMIs, praised the school for its clearly presented and well-triangulated strengths.

The school leaders received helpful feedback about the suggested focus for the next steps in the school’s development journey towards becoming an international centre of Autism education, research and professional development, and all of the pointers will feed into the School Development Plan 2021-24 which the school is currently consulting on with the students, staff and the families.

Ofsted benefited too; the experience of practising the new inspection approaches in a special school setting proved particularly helpful for the team and many of the suggestions made by the Abbot’s Lea School leaders will contribute to the revising of the protocols for the actual visits.

Headteacher, Mrs Ania Hildrey said: “As a school leader, I want what is best for my students. This is neither governed, directed or limited by Ofsted inspection framework, handbook or the actual inspection visit process. Ofsted is therefore neither a matrix of what we must do as a school, nor the main indicator of whether we are superb at what we help our students achieve. Ofsted can, however, be a very helpful additional moderator of a school’s effectiveness and so, with that in mind, I always welcome another view and perspective.

“Our engagement in the pilot provided a brilliant opportunity to pause – after a very turbulent time of the pandemic operation – and invite an external view of whether the ambition we have for our students, and the ways in which we support them, is solid.

Mrs Hildrey added: “I am delighted with the appraisal received and it re-affirmed our own evidence that the school is outstanding, particularly in the most complex area of positive behaviour support, personal development and raising aspirations for adulthood and independence.

“As ever, the more you look, the more you find and it was equally helpful to have four pairs of “fresh” eyes, with no prior knowledge of our school, give us feedback on what we could do better. We are actively working through all of the pointers and will include them in our work this term and in the coming year.”

Mrs Hildrey concluded: “As a school we are also committed to improving practice beyond our own walls and so, I am personally very pleased to have been given an opportunity to shape Ofsted’s approach to inspecting special schools and I trust that my feedback will enhance the experience for other schools – and for us, too, as we are in the “inspection window” any time soon!” 

“School leaders expect to be held to account. Children only get one chance at an education and it is absolutely right that arrangements are in place to monitor quality and to take action where problems exist – quite frankly, the stakes are simply too high not to. But accountability systems should always be tested against their ability to improve standards. In the 25 years since Ofsted were formed they have helped transform educational standards in this country. Now, the vast majority of schools are good or better. This changed landscape demands a different approach if Ofsted are to continue to be a force for improvement in education.

“The NAHT-led commission on accountability publishes its own report next Friday. It examines how well accountability arrangements are working and will make recommendations to reduce the negative impacts of the current system and sets an alternative vision for the future of school oversight.”

Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School, in Brays Lane, has been given the top grading from Ofsted inspectors.

The rating was celebrated with a non-uniform day where everyone was treated to ice creams and a bouncy castle.

The school, which is part of the Romero Catholic Academy, was judged to be Outstanding in all areas including outcomes for pupils; teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare as well as leadership and management.

The quality of the children’s reading and writing is particularly praised in the newly-released report, which says: “Pupils’ progress and the quality of their writing are Outstanding. Over the last five years, pupils’ attainment at the end of Key Stage 2 in writing has been above, or well above, the levels seen nationally.”

The report refers to Principal Paul Madia as ‘inspirational’ and says that there are high-quality processes in place to continually improve teaching and excellent training for new leaders.

Parents are described as having ‘unwavering’ praise for the staff and leadership, commenting to inspectors that ‘the school is superb’ and ‘the teaching is strong’.

The pupils themselves are also described as a credit to the school, with the report stating that they are ‘polite, well-mannered and mature’ and that their ‘work ethic in lessons is terrific’.

Paul Madia said: “We are extremely proud to be rated as Outstanding for the second consecutive time.

“We have been through a number of Ofsted framework changes and each time the bar has been raised making it even harder to achieve outstanding, which makes the outcome of our latest inspection even more rewarding.

“The report praises everyone from across the school, including our incredible staff and senior leadership team, our Local Academy Committee and of course our excellent children.

“We are a united team working towards the same goal, and at the end of the day it’s all about the children so we are delighted to provide them with a school they can be proud of.

“Myself and Executive Principal Helen Quinn would like to thank everyone for their support in helping us achieve this Outstanding success.

“One of the school’s main strap lines is where memories are made – so of course we celebrated in style by holding a non-uniform day where we had a bouncy castle and a visit from an ice cream van.

“We now look forward to the next exciting stage at Sacred Heart as work on our new nursery building has begun.”