Hinckley Academy rated as inadequate by Ofsted
A SCHOOL in Hinckley is facing special measures after it was rated Inadequate in an Ofsted report.
Teaching at Hinckley Academy and John Cleveland Sixth Form College was described as “mundane and repetitive, failing to enthuse pupils”, while disadvantaged students’ progress was said to be too slow.
Sixth Form students were commended in the report as being keen to do well although teaching for Years 12 and 13 also needs improvement, as teaching quality is “too variable” and pupils’ progress “is not consistently good”.
The Butt Lane centre was rated inadequate for effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, personal development, behaviour and welfare as well as outcomes for pupils.
Its 16 to 19 study programmes were rated as requires improvement.
The report said: “Although pupils are underachieving in all the main subjects, progress in science is particularly poor.
“The school’s tracking data indicates that too many pupils are underachieving across key stages 3 and 4.”
However, inspectors said it was too early to see the positive effects of some changes, such as efforts to improve teaching in Biology, Eng- lish Literature and Media Studies.
The academy also recently arranged support from a local teaching school alliance.
Principal Richard Cahill, who became head in 2016, was said to be insisting on a “much-needed focus on teaching” with the introduction of the ‘HAJC6 way’.
The report said: “However, this is yet to lead to pupils making con- sistently strong progress.
“Leaders accept that their strategy for improving teaching changes too frequently.”
The sixth form was also commended for its careers advice and the opportunities outside of school for pupils to develop their personal and employability skills.
Mr Cahill said in a letter to parents: “We have already begun our work in undertaking the improvements required which were identified by the inspection team.
“Governors, leaders and staff are fully committed in our continued drive to improve the education and experience of all our young people.
“We know from the vast majority of our parents/carers who have completed our surveys over the last two years, that you support us in what we are trying to achieve.
“However, we recognise that there is still some work to be done in raising standards and ensuring consistency.
“We are anticipating even better outcomes for our students this summer and we are confident that with the sharper focus on what is important, we will go from strength to strength.”
The full report is available on the Ofsted website.