'Inadequate' Shrewsbury school placed in special measures
A Shrewsbury school has been rated inadequate and placed in special measures by Ofsted.
Inspectors visited Shrewsbury Academy in May and found that it failed in every area.
On their visit to the school, which has 834 students, they found that pupils regularly ignored teachers, failed to attend lessons and a large number of students required escorting back to their lessons by staff.
Their behaviour was having a ‘detrimental’ effect on the school.
The leadership of the academy, which was formed following the merging of Sundorne School and The Grange in 2016, was also found to be inadequate.
Inspectors said that the quality of teaching at the school was inadequate and added staff were regularly absent and there were a high number of vacancies.
IN FULL:
Last week, it was announced that the academy, which was formed following the merging of Sundorne School and The Grange School in 2016, was in consultation to join the Marches Academy Trust. Extensive due diligence is currently being conducted and a decision is due to be made on July 11.
Inspectors said that the new headteacher, Jon Arnold had brought ‘much needed stronger leadership to the school’ but they added: “Senior and middle leaders are not as effective as they could be and do not support the work of the new headteacher and trustees adequately.”
Inspectors said that the quality of teaching at the school was also found to be inadequate.
Staff are regularly absent and there are a high number of vacancies.
As a result, pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational need and/or disabilities, are underachieving across all subjects.
Disadvantaged
The inspectors added that much of the teaching seen was poorly planned and did not meet the needs of individual pupils. The teaching of mathematics is ‘weak and does not develop pupils’ deep understanding of mathematical topics’ however inspectors said there was a ‘small amount of good teaching in the school, most notably in science’.
Inspectors also found that while most pupils say that bullying is not a problem in the school and that, when it does happen, it is usually dealt with effectively by staff, over half of the parents who responded to Parent View disagree.
The outcomes for the pupils was also below standard.
“Since the school opened in 2016, outcomes for Year 11 pupils leaving the school have been consistently poor. Outcomes for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND are particularly weak. In 2018, pupils at the end of Year 11 underachieved considerably across all subjects,” said the inspectors.
School statement:
In a statement headteacher Mr Arnold said: “There is much work to do in almost all areas of the school. Standards are still too low and the quality of teaching needs to improve much faster.
“Now that the budget is balanced, the new curriculum is in place and with good news about the support of the Marches Academy Trust, we will continue to address each and every aspect of the report to ensure that Shrewsbury Academy is the school of choice for all in north Shrewsbury.”
Most of the parents who responded to Parent View questionnaire are not happy about the quality of education their children are receiving. Only a third of those who responded would recommend the school to others. Their main concerns are poor-quality teaching and poor behaviour.
