Waltham Toll Bar Academy 'making rapid progress' after 'extremely positive' Ofsted report

waltham toll bar academy 'making rapid progress' after 'extremely positive' ofsted report

Principal Nigel Whittle (left) and assistant principal Ollie Fothergill with students at Waltham Toll Bar Academy, which Ofsted has said is ‘good’.

North East Lincolnshire’s largest secondary school is celebrating an “extremely positive” Ofsted inspection – though it has lost its long-held “outstanding” rating.

Instead, Waltham Toll Bar Academy has been awarded a “good” rating by Ofsted. The school, which has almost 2,000 pupils, including 200 in its sixth form, had been rated outstanding for more than a decade.

Inspectors found pupils enjoyed attending school, benefited from the education they received, and displayed conduct of a high standard. Principal Nigel Whittle welcomed the report and thanked staff for their “brilliant” work.

Mr Whittle, who joined the academy in April 2022, said: “The report is an extremely positive reflection of the school’s work. It is testament to the expertise, skills and commitment of every member of staff and the brilliant support provided for our young people.

“This is a large school and change takes time to embed. But we are making rapid progress and parents can be reassured about our trajectory. My team and I are determined to ensure that when inspectors return, this school will be outstanding across all areas.”

Inspectors found that the school had developed an ambitious curriculum. Bullying and other unkind behaviours were rare and pupils knew how to raise concerns with an adult. A new school behaviour policy was well understood by pupils and adults and this was credited with helping “to reduce significantly” the number of suspensions for poor behaviour.

The inspectors suggested that the school could improve monitoring of pupils’ progress in some cases. They also highlighted the lack of a programme to support students in the early stages of learning to read. However, the inspectors highlighted extra support for pupils with English as a second language and pointed out that “the school uses a number of strategies to include reading in subjects, as well as during tutor time”.

Philip Bond, who is chair of both the school governors and the Lincolnshire Gateway Academies Trust, which runs the school, pointed out that the latest Ofsted report used a different inspection criteria to when the school was last inspected. He said: “Waltham Toll Bar has been inspected under a different framework to the one when it retained its outstanding status 10 years ago. The latest inspection report is a positive reflection of the academy’s current position, with improving standards, especially since the appointment of the new principal.”

Martin Brown, the chief executive of the parent trust, said: “Under the leadership of Nigel Whittle and his senior team, we are very confident about the academy’s future. It has now added a fabulous enrichment programme, the likes of which I have not seen anywhere else. Inspectors picked up on this.”

Mr Whittle told parents that the school was listening and would be improving communication and engagement in the coming weeks. He said: “Parents should have no doubt about our forward momentum.”

The best interests of children were served when the school worked in partnership with parents. Mr Whittle added: “This is what changes to the way we communicate and engage will, hopefully, achieve. We want to take the whole school community with us on our mission to be outstanding across all areas.”

The report comes at a time when, nationally, Ofsted’s school inspections are under greater scrutiny, following the death of Reading headteacher Ruth Perry, who took her own life while waiting for an inspection report in January last year. Inspections were paused earlier this month to allow for the mental health training of inspectors.

On Friday, Ofsted said school leaders would have new guidelines showing them how to stop an inspection if staff showed signs of distress. Ofsted is set to publish a new policy on pausing an inspection of a maintained school or academy “where a serious issue has been identified” as part of its response to senior coroner Heidi Connor’s prevention of future deaths report..

Mrs Perry killed herself after an Ofsted report downgraded her Caversham Primary School, in Reading, from its highest rating to its lowest over safeguarding concerns. In December, Ms Connor concluded that the Ofsted inspection, on November 15-16 in 2022, “likely contributed” to Mrs Perry’s death.

She then urged the watchdog to act to prevent further deaths in a report sent to Ofsted and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan. Among her concerns were the impact on headteacher welfare that the current system may have, and “the almost complete absence of Ofsted training” for inspectors looking for signs of distress in school leaders.

News Related

OTHER NEWS

FA confident that Man Utd starlet will pick England over Ghana

Kobbie Mainoo made his first start for Man Utd at Everton (Photo: Getty) The Football Association are reportedly confident that Manchester United starlet Kobbie Mainoo will choose to represent England ... Read more »

World Darts Championship draw throws up tricky tests for big names

Michael Smith will begin the defence of his world title on the opening night (Picture: Getty Images) The 2024 World Darts Championship is less than three weeks away and the ... Read more »

Pioneering flight to use repurposed cooking oil to cross Atlantic

For the first time a long haul commercial aircraft is flying across the Atlantic using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). A long haul commercial flight is flying to the US ... Read more »

King meets world business and finance figures at Buckingham Palace

The King has met business and finance leaders from across the world at a Buckingham Palace reception to mark the conclusion of the UK’s Global Investment Summit. Charles was introduced ... Read more »

What Lou Holtz thinks of Ohio State's loss to Michigan: 'They aren't real happy'

After Ohio State’s 30-24 loss to Michigan Saturday, many college football fans were wondering where Lou Holtz was. In his postgame interview after the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame 17-14 in ... Read more »

Darius Slay wouldn't have minded being penalized on controversial no-call

Darius Slay wouldn’t have minded being penalized on controversial no-call No matter which team you were rooting for on Sunday, we can all agree that the officiating job performed by ... Read more »

Mac Jones discusses Patriots future after latest benching

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) Quarterback Mac Jones remains committed to finding success with the New England Patriots even though his future is up in the air following ... Read more »
Top List in the World