‘Good’ school is a study in success
STOCKPORT Academy was judged to be a ‘good’ school in its latest Ofsted report.
Inspectors visited the Cheadle Heath school in October and reported that it ‘continues to be good’.
It praised the ‘strong leadership team’ put together since the previous inspection in 2015, adding: “Leaders share the headteacher’s vision to improve pupils’ aspirations so that pupils strive to be the best.”
Inspector Erica Sharman said that systems to monitor pupils’ progress had been improved, however she noted that the progress of disadvantage children had fallen below that of pupils nationally.
Her report said that parents and carers are happy with the school and feel their children are safe and well looked after. It said that ‘staff are proud to be part of the school community’ and ‘governance is strong’, while ‘the trust supports the members of the governing body in their role and governors benefit from regular training’.
Concerns over exclusions from school had been addressed since the last inspection and Ms Sharman said principal Janine McCann and her behaviour team had ‘worked hard to help pupils to manage their own behaviour’.
“As a result, pupils’ behaviour has improved significantly,” she added.
In order to improve, the report said teachers should ‘use assessment more effectively to plan activities to meet the needs of disadvantaged pupils and move their progress closer to the progress of other pupils nationally’ and should ‘further reduce the proportion of pupils excluded for a fixed period’.
Mrs McCann said: “Everyone across the academy is delighted with this report, which recognises the significant progress we have made in recent years. The inspectors have given us a hugely encouraging report in which they have noticed the significant steps forward we have taken in pupil achievement, behaviour and attendance.
“These improvements are down to the hard work and dedication of our fantastic staff who work tirelessly for our pupils. This report is testament to all our staff who, as the inspectors rightly said, are so valued.”