Stanley High School rated inadequate and put into special measures
Stanley High School in Southport has been put into special measures after another horrendous Ofsted report
The latest report Ofsted report states:
Effectiveness of leadership and management, Inadequate
Quality of teaching, learning and assessment, Requires improvement
Personal development, behaviour and welfare Requires improvement
Outcomes for pupils Requires improvement
Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement.
Summary of key findings for parents and pupils
This is an inadequate school
Leaders have not acted quickly enough to bring about the necessary improvements from the previous inspections.
Despite the previous two inspections judging the school as requires improvement, the school is not yet good and still requires improvement in all areas.
Leaders’ own evaluation of how well the school is doing is not accurate. Leaders were unable to provide sufficient and reliable evidence to support their evaluations.
The standards reached by disadvantaged pupils, those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities and the most able are not high enough.
The quality of teaching continues to be inconsistent and the needs of pupils are not always being met.
Pupils’ literacy skills are not well supported and the quality of marking for literacy is not of a high standard.
Attendance is below the national average and the number of pupils who are persistently absent is too high.
Not enough has been done to engage effectively with parents.
The school Governors have sent the following letter to parents trying to gloss over the failings.
Dear Parent/Carer
As you know, there was an Ofsted inspection in our school late in the summer term. I am now in a position to share details with you. The inspection found many strengths which include:
Personal development of pupils, and promotion of British values
Safety of pupils, including the support offered to pupils with emotional difficulties
Notable improvement in progress in mathematics
A high proportion of students leaving the school move into education, training or employment
The program of professional development to improve teaching and the support for newly qualified teachers
Staff are very supportive of the school and feel valued and supported
Strong governance
The full Ofsted report and the schools response can be accessed via the following links:
https://stanleyhigh.co.uk/documents/…-july-2016.pdf
https://stanleyhigh.co.uk/documents/…-june-2016.pdf
Overall the school was recognised as making improvement, however the improvement is not fast enough to warrant a Good rating. As this is the third Ofsted inspection without a Good rating we are automatically rated as Inadequate and are put into Special Measures. Obviously everyone is very disappointed about this judgement, as the school has made real improvement since the last inspection in 2014. We are really pleased that the school recorded a positive Progress 8 score in 2016 which means that the students who left this summer made the progress expected of them over five years. Even more pleasing is our Year 10 exam results, which indicate that students are making progress which exceeds national averages in the subjects they have been examined in thus far. For example, 74% of Year 10 students achieved a grade C or better in their Core Science exam in 2016. This gives us confidence that the trajectory of performance is improving rapidly.
Despite the disappointing outcome from the inspection, there are a lot of positive and exciting things to look forward to. The first and most important outcome of the Ofsted inspection is that Stanley High School will now become an Academy. This is the rule for all schools in our circumstance, and we will soon be assigned a sponsor school to join us as part of a Multi-Academy Trust. There are two possible sponsor schools (both local schools) and each of them have submitted a proposal to the Department for Education outlining how they can help to improve our school quickly. A decision on which school will sponsor us will be made on the 14th September and I will of course inform you of the decision as soon as possible.
To help you understand more, we are planning a question and answer session in school on the 20th September at 6pm and you are welcome to come along or to send your questions in advance of the meeting to eavery@stanleyhigh.co.uk. After the session, I will publish a summary of the questions and answers and share them with you.
I would like to stress that this is a new and exciting chapter in the history of our school. Although some elements remain uncertain at the moment, I am confident that with the support of everyone; our pupils, teachers, support staff, parents, carers and governors, we will make our school emerge stronger and better than before.
Throughout this whole process I want to be as transparent as possible and look for your support and energy as our school embarks on this new adventure. As and when more information becomes available I will update you promptly.
Yours sincerely
Ruth Williams
Chair of Governors
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