Hannah Gray chats to the headteacher Alan McMurdo to find out how he feels the last 12 months have gone.

The pupils left behind three schools, Hereward Community College, John Mansfield School, and Deacon's School, to be part of what was the largest single school in the Government's much talked-about academy programme.

A year later, and things couldn't be going better for TDA.

The school's A-Level results were as teachers had hoped they may be, with 60 per cent of candidates receiving grade C and above. Taking into account the International Baccalaureate results as well, the pass rate was 95 per cent.

For younger pupils taking their GCSEs, the results were well above the national average, with 84 per cent of all grades coming in at C or above.


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The Voyager School: 12 months on
Hannah Gray chats to the Voyager School headteacher Hugh Howe to find out how he feels the last 12 months have gone. 4 September 2008

Education: news, information and features including a feature on The Thomas Deacon Academy.


As you might expect, headteacher Alan McMurdo is feeling quite pleased with all this.

He said: "The results were very very promising really, particularly the five A to C GCSEs, which were 10 per cent up on the average across the three schools.

"When you look into them, the kids from all three schools have done better than they were expected to do. We're delighted really, it's a great springboard for the future."

The results marked not only the end of year of hard work by the new school, but also some extensive preparation beforehand to get everyone ready for the transition.

Work had to start three years before the opening to ensure the pupils were on similar courses.

Once the building was open, staff and pupils alike had to then get used to their new home.

Alan said: "We worked quite hard at that, and part of the challenge that we faced was that we weren't really able to have the pupils here in advance of opening up because we were a building site.

"We had to work very hard at getting them in and showing them around and helping them make the best use of the facilities.

"But the kids quickly settled down and got used to it. They got into the swing of it very quickly and they've had a great year."

Bringing together children from three different schools was no mean feat, and special care was given to ensure they bonded.

Alan said: "We knew that was going to be a priority, and we used a company called Human Utopia to help in bringing the three groups of people together, staff and pupils.

"We had a plan to focus on three things – on learning, on expectations, and on relationships.

"We found that really quite useful, we wanted to get relationships right throughout the school, get the kids learning and ramp up the expectations for them all. This is a place where they come to learn and achieve and the kids responded brilliantly."

Now the majority of the pupils are happy with their new TDA identity.

"The mindset is 'Thomas Deacon Academy'," Alan said.