City of Peterborough Academy: School remains 'inadequate' with 'serious weaknesses' but improvements recognised by Ofsted

A monitoring report has praised the progress made by leaders of the City of Peterborough Academy but has warned that the school remains inadequate and has serious weaknesses.

Ofsted carried out a monitoring visit just 67 days after a report in February by the body rated the school as overall inadequate.

Concerns were raised, which including that pupils did not have the confidence to report bullying and that racist and homophobic language were commonplace and part of the school culture.

Since the first inspection, a special educational needs (SENDCo) coordinator has been appointed and many executive leaders from the Greenwood Academies Trust have taken up leadership roles at the school.

The report has highlighted the positive work that has been done by the trust following the report.

It noted: “Trust leaders have a clear and detailed understanding of the school. They are highly supportive in helping school leaders address the areas for improvement. They have carefully balanced providing support with challenging your thinking.

“Their support is effective. It has helped you plot the path to improvement, and ensure that the improvement is sustainable. Trust leaders regularly report progress to the experienced trust board, who take an active role in overseeing the improvements.

"Bullying has been raised to the same level of priority as safeguarding. Reported incidents are tracked and monitored in the same way as safeguarding concerns.

"Leaders are expected to react in the same timely manner to support pupils who have reported being bullied. You have given pupils reassurances about the seriousness of how you will deal with reported incidents of bullying.

"This has begun to restore pupils’ confidence, although they are not as certain when they talk about online bullying."

The inspector noted that small changes to the behaviour policy have clearly defined what is an acceptable and unacceptable way to speak to others, and pupils are reported to ‘value this clarity’.

It was also recognised that: “Pupils were equally positive about how additional learning has helped them understand protected characteristics. They are beginning to see difference in its widest context and celebrate the diverse community they are part of.”

Wayne Norrie, Chief Executive of Greenwood Academies Trust, said: ‘I am incredibly proud of the pupils and my colleagues at the City of Peterborough Academy and, in addition to this recent positive report, was delighted to see so many pupils celebrating their GSCE and vocational grades this summer following another strong set of results at the academy.

"Pupils do not achieve such strong grades if behaviour and attitudes in a school are inadequate.

“I would like to thank our parents and pupils for their continued belief in the academy and GAT after the inspection. They told me they didn’t recognise the academy from the original inspection report and didn’t feel some of the findings were accurate or fair.

“I share their concerns and remain perplexed by some of the findings in the report which resulted in Inadequate judgements in some areas, however, we remain focused on supporting the academy and continue our commitment to its improvement journey. It is pleasing to see the confidence we have in the academy, combined with our support, has led to positive comments in the most recent monitoring visit.”