Ofsted note huge progress at Shuttleworth College

The Ofsted inspectors were extremely pleased with the massive strides forward the school has made since their last inspection in 2014 and said it was no longer a cause for concern.

Head teacher Ruth England, who took over in September 2014, said: “We are now on the next stage of the journey, having been taken out of a category of concern and moved to requires improvement.

“We are particularly pleased to have made this rapid progress despite a more challenging Ofsted framework being launched in September 2015.”

The inspectors in their May 2016 report stated: “Shuttleworth is a very different school from that described in the previous inspection report in 2014.

“This is testament to the hard and effective work of the newly formed senior leadership team.

“The head teacher, and leaders at all levels, have successfully created a culture of higher expectations of staff and pupils and there is a determination to improve pupils’ life chances.

“The motto: ‘Think big. Chase dreams. Succeed together,’ permeates leaders’ decisions and actions.”

Mrs England said: “It’s been five terms since the last full inspection and our massive improvements have been seen and highlighted.

“We are moving forward, the progress we have made has been acknowledged and we will continue our development as we will soon become an Academy.

“This is an exciting opportunity for Shuttleworth and there is a lot of potential here which we will be building on.”

The inspectors praised the way the ‘effective guidance’ of the teacher and leaders had improved the school quickly, the behaviour of the pupils and their attendance and the progress of the pupils in a range of subjects, including English, maths, music, science, technology and art and design.

They also said the ‘pupils feel safe’, teaching has improved and transition is well-supported.

Mrs England was encouraged that Ofsted agreed with her senior teams’ judgement of current standards in the college and priorities to move to good and outstanding.

She said: “We already have plans in place to address the areas highlighted by the Ofsted team as ‘requires improvement.’ I am confident that standards will continue to improve a pace across all areas over the coming months.”

The Ofsted inspectors noted that overall attendance has improved significantly, however too many disadvantaged pupils are persistently absent.

Ofsted also acknowledged the improved and improving outcomes in many subjects but they did note that history and geography need to improve further. They also stated there is still some variability in the quality of teaching in some areas.

Mrs England said: “This is to be expected at this stage. I have made many new appointments in all areas. Many have had time to show an impact already. Others have just started and we have a new leadership team heading up the geography and history department starting in September which will strengthen those subjects.