Principal’s palace visit as school wows inspectors and Royals
THERE has been a double celebration at Stockport Academy thanks to Ofsted inspectors and a Royal appointment for the principal.
The improving school, on Heathbank Road, Cheadle Heath, has been rated as good in its latest Ofsted report.
And principal Frank McCarron spent the day at Buckingham Palace after he was invited to a garden party in recognition of his services to education.
Ofsted described him as ‘passionately committed’ and praised student behaviour as well as the ‘drive’ of staff in its report. It was an improvement form the previous one that judged the academy as ‘requiring improvement’.
This time areas for improvement were listed as sixth form pupils’ achievement and monitoring of strategies to improve literacy and numeracy.
Mr McCarron said: “This report acknowledges the hard work of students, staff, parents and governors over the last three years and I would like to thank them for all they have done for Stockport Academy.
“We are delighted that the inspectors saw strong evidence of how far the academy has come in recent years and we are particularly pleased that they described the behaviour of students as impeccable.
“However, we will not become complacent and will continue with our relentless drive to improve and provide the best education for the students in our care.”
The principal has had 21 years as a headteacher and it was the work at Stockport Academy and other schools that saw him invited to Buckingham Palace.
He added: “It was an absolute honour to be invited in recognition of doing a job that I love. This was a once in a lifetime experience.”