A STALYBRIDGE high school says it is ‘thrilled’ to have turned around an Ofsted rating of ‘inadequate’ to ‘good.’
Copley Academy, on Huddersfield Road, found itself at the bottom of the ranking system in 2018.
But six years later, improvements have seen it rise up the chart – and inspectors believe what is part of Great Academies Education Trust can get even better.
In a report, they state: “The school, with the support of the trust, has overseen a number of improvements to the curriculum in recent years.
“This has resulted in positive changes to the overall curriculum offer. The school has raised the aspirations of pupils in key stage 4. This means that the proportion of pupils studying the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects is increasing.
“Furthermore, the school has broadened the range of vocational subjects available, allowing more pupils to pursue their particular career-related interests.
“The quality of education on offer for current pupils is considerably stronger than it was in the past.
“This is because the school has designed subject curriculums that allow pupils to build their knowledge in a logical way.
“In recent years, the pace of school improvement has increased. The trust has supported the work of the school financially and through the appointment of additional staff into various positions.
“This has strengthened the school’s capacity for further improvement.”
Copley was also praised for the way staff can identify pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and how it works with them.
Even how it deals with unruly students was talked about positively, with the report adding; “A small proportion of pupils in each year group do not behave as well as they should.
“However, the school, with the support of the trust, has been creative in seeking ways to address this issue.
“This has led to a reduction in the proportion of pupils who are suspended from school.”
Copley’s principal Ruth Craven, who took up post in June 2020, has led the academy to be upgraded from inadequate to requires improvement in an inspection in 2022 and now to the new judgement that it is a good school.
She said: “I am absolutely thrilled that we have received the good grading and report from Ofsted.
“I would like to thank all involved in our journey to good. It is a massive accolade of the improvements we have made and I am really proud of all our achievements.
“As a committed and dedicated team, we endeavour to continue improving the provision at Copley Academy in our journey to outstanding and we are relentless in always striving to provide an exceptional education for students.”
The role of Great Academies Education Trust was also noticed by inspectors with the comment: “The trust has supported the work of the school financially, and through the appointment of additional staff into various positions.
“This has strengthened the school’s capacity for further improvement.”
And its chief executive, Brendan Loughran, added: “This Ofsted judgement is well deserved for Ruth and the wider Copley Academy community.
“It is a great example of an academy school thriving in a multi-academy trust, where we can draw on our expertise and resources to rapidly secure school improvement.
“When I was appointed to the chief executive position in 2019, the trust’s four schools were graded as one good, one requires improvement and two inadequate.
“Five years later, three schools are now graded good and the remaining one previously judged as requiring improvement is well on its way to securing the improved grading.
“This confirms Great Academies Education Trust’s status as a strong trust with both the capability and capacity to improve schools.”