School shows improvement

Which was given notice to improve is now good

A major secondary school in Peterborough has shown it has been transformed after being given a good Ofsted grading. Two years ago the then Peterborough City Council-controlled Stanground College was given notice to improve by inspectors.

Since then the buildings have been demolished and a new 1,350-pupil Stanground Academy built at a cost of £24 million which is run by the Greennwood Dale Foundation Trust.

It has just been given a good grading after the academy’s first inspection in February.

Lead inspector John Mitcheson states that pupils h ave made go o d p ro g re s s at the academy and praised teachers and leaders.

He adds: “The principal’s good leadership is focusing all staff on raising achievement throughout the academy. This is raising students’ aspirations and ambitions.

“Teaching is usually good i n most s ub j e c t s b e c au s e teachers have high expectations and challenge students to work hard. There are examples of outstanding teaching in music and philosophy.”

However, he s a i d there were a number of things staff could do to help the school become outstanding at the next inspection.

He said teachers should work hard to make lessons stimulating for pupils to capture the interest of all the youngsters.

He added there needed to be a refinement to support proc edures for pupils with English as an additional language.

Ged Rae, principal, said: “The res u l t o f o u r re c e nt Of s t e d i n s p e c t i o n is exceptional when we consider that the a c a d e my h a s o n l y been open for a little over four terms, and that the predecessor had faced a significant number of challenges.

“Our academy has made rapid progress and the staff and pupils are rightfully proud of their achievements. Our relentless commitment to the highest