Academy trust threatened to be stripped on Fenland school unless 'significant improvements' are made
An academy trust has been warned that it must improve standards or be stripped on a Fenland school.
Following a recent inspection, Ofsted inspectors have raised serious concerns about achievement levels at Neale Wade Academy in March.
Inspectors, who visited the school in January, found that pupils at the school “do not achieve well” and that “over a sustained period of time, their progress through the curriculum has been limited.”
In response, the Department of Education has issued a termination warning notice to the Active Learning Trust, which oversees the school. The letter also threatened the funding of the academy.
The letter states that: “Any funding agreement of an academy can be terminated by the Secretary of State where special measures are required to be taken in relation to the academy or the academy requires significant improvement.
Regional Director Jonathan Duff said: “I need to be satisfied that the trust has capacity to deliver rapid and sustainable improvement at the academy. If I am not satisfied that this can be achieved, I will consider whether to terminate the academy’s funding agreement in order to transfer the academy to an alternative academy trust.”
The Ofsted report into the school’s achievement continued: “Pupils' results in national tests taken at the end of key stage four are consistently low. These weaknesses in achievement range across different pupil groups and across most subjects. Much of this is linked to historical weaknesses in the curriculum that leaders have identified and have begun to address.
“Pupils who are disadvantaged achieve less well than other disadvantaged pupils nationally. Likewise, pupils of different prior attainment groups, including high prior attainers, consistently achieve less well than similar pupil groups nationally. Pupils’ low achievement, including in mathematics and English, means that many are not as well prepared for their next steps as they should be.”
The trust must now make representations to the Department for Education by June 5.
A spokesperson for the Active Learning Trust said: “Neale-Wade’s recent Ofsted report clearly pointed to the improvements and progress that have already been made. We know that there is more work to be done and we have continued to make meaningful progress and improvements since our inspection in January.
“We are confident that Neale-Wade is on the right path, with a robust and thoughtful plan in place to help support further improvements. We are also grateful to be taking part in the Department for Education’s RISE programme to help accelerate these improvements.
"This is a two-year programme, and at the end of year one, we are already seeing the difference this has made in targeted curriculum areas. We will continue to work together to support these improvements to continue at pace. We are writing to parents and our local partners to ensure they are updated on our plans for further school improvement.”
To view the report in full, visit https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/provider/23/139272.