Schools wins high praise from Ofsted
OFSTED has declared a Runcorn special school a place ‘where dreams become a reality’.
The comment featured in Cavendish High Academy’s latest assessment report, published following a visit from the education watchdog on March 7.
Pippa Jackson Maitland, Her Majesty’s inspector, told headteacher Elaine Haver that the school continued to be ‘outstanding’ and had been taken from ‘strength to strength’ since she took charge in 2015.
Mrs Maitland said Mrs Haver had involved staff more in planning and making improvements.
She said teachers and pupils were ‘passionate about learning’ and youngsters ‘relish’ their education. In addition, safeguarding was effective and bosses made good use of Pupil Premium funding for disadvantaged youngsters.
She added that parents, the local authority and external agencies hold the school in ‘high regard’.
Pupils ‘enjoy’ going to school and the ‘over- ● whelming majority of pupils are in school on time every day’.
The closest the inspector came to criticising the school was for those responsible for governance to take steps to ‘ensure they have the skills, experience and expertise to provide the highly effective, strategic leadership required to maintain the school’s outstanding provision’.
In her inspection report introduction, see said: “For many of your pupils, a place at college and a job seem like an unobtainable dream when they join the school.
“However, at The Cavendish High Academy, you and your staff make these dreams a reality.
“In addition, staff told me how they had developed their own careers since coming to work at your school.
“On your team, there are lunchtime assistants who have trained as teaching assistants, teaching assistants who have trained as teachers and teachers who are now qualified school leaders.
“This is a school where people’s dreams become reality.”