Littlehampton Academy praised for ‘rapid improvement’

Axiom staff accepting their award at the National Housing Federation's Community Impact Awards in Sutton Coldfield. 6th May 2014. Photo: Simon Hadley www.simonhadley.co.uk

It followed the school being placed into special measures earlier this year.

In a letter to the academy, Ofsted inspector Emma Ing highlighted the success of school’s newly-formed Academy Improvement Board, which she said had a firm grasp on which aspects within the school need to be improved.

The letter also notes improvement in the engagement of staff, parents and the community and praised the ‘solid work to introduce robust tracking of students’ progress’.

However, in spite of the praise, Ofsted still said more needed to be done to get the academy back on track.

The inspector said: “Despite the many positive actions taken by staff, systems are not in place to ensure that the pace of improvement will be fast enough.

“There are not yet enough leaders of change and improvement at different levels in the school.”

She also said the academy’s improvement plan was ‘not fit for purpose’.

“Although appropriate actions and overall objectives are outlined in it, there is too much detail,” the inspector added.

Woodard Academies Trust, which runs the school, said a ‘detailed action plan’ was now in place.

Barbi Goulding-Parr, academies chief officer, said: “The letter to the principal is positive.

“There are obviously areas that still need improvement but the great strides we have made in the last six months have been recognised by Ofsted.

“While Ofsted has said that the Academy Improvement Plan is ‘not fit for purpose’, they have qualified this as meaning it is too detailed. We accept their point but do not necessarily see this as being negative. ”

Ms Goulding-Parr said the length of lessons would be changed, come September, with a new curriculum being introduced at the same time.

Robust training for senior members of staff will also be taking place, she said.

She added: “We recognise that there is still a considerable amount of work to be done, but importantly, we know that the appetite is there among all members of the academy community to establish the academy as a beacon of success.”