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Ofsted inspectors: Voyager School making progress to raise standards
Voyager School in Peterborough is planning to establish a new trust to help raise standards following disappointing GCSE results.
Voyager School in Peterborough is planning to establish a new trust to help raise standards following disappointing GCSE results.Plans to establish a new trust at the school, in Mountsteven Avenue, Walton, Peterborough, have been unveiled and a meeting for parents and carers of pupils to discuss the issue will be held at the school tomorrow at 6.45pm.
The trust will include representatives of The Co-operative College, an educational charity which has been involved in school trusts across the country.
It will also involve the Association of Professionals in Education and Children's Trusts (ASPECT) - the only professional association and trade union for children's services employees -and Sawtry Community College, which is a designated maths and computing and training college.
It is hoped that by introducing the trust, which will be known as The Voyager Learning Cooperative, exam results at the school will improve.
The different partners will help bring more resources to Voyager, as well as offering information on improving exam techniques, revision and mentoring.
The trust will also work with local employers, to open pupils' eyes to what life may hold after school.
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Headteacher Hugh Howe admitted he was disappointed with the latest GCSE results the school had achieved, with just 23 per cent of pupils passing five GCSEs, including English and maths.
He said: "We are hoping that the trust will be in place by April or May this year.
"The trust will allow us to work with a wider group of people, from employers to schools and colleges.
"By working with other schools, we will be able to look at exam techniques and revision sessions and ASPECT will give us greater access to employers, making sure our pupils are ready for life after Voyager."
Malcolm Groves, chair of governors at the school, added: "The Co-operative College is part of a network of 200 schools across the country.
"This network of schools is one of the most important parts of the trust and we expect to be in regular contact with the other schools.
"I think we have things to offer to other schools, but there are a lot of things we can take from them.
"The external partners that we would be working with would give us a unique chance to bring more expertise into the school. In the long term we hope that we can share the expertise with the other schools in the Voyager cluster."
He said the trust also gives parents and other members of the community a say in what happens in the school.
He said: "It is important that they do get involved."
The final decision about trust status will be made by school governors at the end of March. The deadline for people to have their say on the proposals is February 10.
A further meeting on the issue will be held January 28 at 6.30pm for staff, parents and carers, governors of partner primary schools and members of the wider community. Parents can view the plans and make comments at www.thevoyagerschool.com.
Next page: New trust to boost results at VoyagerNew trust to boost results at Voyager
SCHOOLS inspectors have told Voyager it is making satisfactory progress in its quest to raise standards.
Inspectors from Ofsted visited the school on December 1, in a follow up visit to an assessment carried out in November 2008.
After the 2008 inspection, the school was told it needed to improve standards, teaching, pupils behaviour and progress.
Following last month's inspection, a letter sent to the school from Ofsted said: "The school has made satisfactory progress in making improvements and satisfactory progress in demonstrating a better capacity for sustained improvement.
"Although standards at the end of Key Stage 4 are still low, there are encouraging signs that the legacy of underachievement caused by insufficient progress before the students joined the school is reducing."
The letter added that leadership and teaching had improved at the school during the year.
It said: "Senior leaders have restructured and refined roles and responsibilities and, as a result, leadership at all levels is improving.
"Subject leaders use data on student progress more confidently to target intervention where students are in danger of underachieving."
Councillor John Holdich, cabinet member for education, skills and university, said it was pleasing the school was moving forward.
He said: "It is encouraging to see the inspectors have recognised the determination of the headteacher, staff, pupils, parents and governors and the local authority to raise standards at The Voyager School.
"There is still more work to be done but this monitoring visit report illustrates that the school, with support from the city council, is moving in the right direction."
Chair of governors Malcolm Groves said: "This routine monitoring visit from Ofsted has been particularly valuable to us both in confirming the progress we continue to make as a young school and also in affirming our view of the work that still lies ahead."
What do you think?
Comment below, email us: news@ peterboroughtoday.co.uk or write us a letter now.
Related:
Secondary school league tables, 13 January 2010.
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