Improvements praised at "happy school" which has moved out of special measures

George Hastwell School Special Academy has received its first Ofsted inspection since it became a sponsored academy through the Queen Katherine School Multi-Academy Trust in September 2015. The Walney school was placed in special measures in April 2014.

In the Ofsted report released this week, the two to 19-years school was judged to require improvement overall and has been graded as good for both early years and 16 to 19 years provision.

Ofsted said George Hastwell is "a calm, orderly and happy school," where pupils are "well cared for and safe" and relationships are strong.

The education watchdog said the establishment of a ‘rapid improvement committee’ by the governing body has brought about "a collective urgency" to improve the school’s performance. The watchdog said "leaders have a deep and accurate understanding of the school. This has helped them put together a credible improvement plan. As a result, the legacy of poor performance is being eliminated."

The report says headteacher, Karen Baxter, has "a clear vision for the school and her aspirations and expectations" are shared by the new senior leadership team, governors and multi-academy trust directors.

Ofsted said the new appointed SLT have "a proven track record of school improvement."

"They have already improved the early years, 16 to 19 provision and attendance at George Hastwell School. They have the confidence and support of the staff team. This senior leadership team are already starting to have influence across the rest of the school. As a result, teaching and pupils’ outcomes are improving," the report says.

Early years provision is "a strength of the school" and "strong leadership" has "transformed" the 16 to 19 provision, with the sixth form students gaining a wide range of qualifications and college places.

Ofsted said the SLT have an "accurate view" of the school's strengths and weaknesses. The report says the quality of teaching and learning is "inconsistent" and the curriculum, most notably at key stage two and three, is "not sufficiently flexible" to adapt to the wide range of pupil needs. But Ofsted said "Senior leaders now keep a closer eye on the quality of teaching and learning."

Mrs Baxter said the school is revising the curriculum to ensure it meets the needs of all of our pupils and is clearly linked to pupils’ Education Health Care plans. The school has purchased a new assessment system which will be fully in use from the autumn term.

George Hastwell is further improving teaching and learning, reducing variability and improving middle leadership and subject leadership. The school is continuing to work with families to improve attendance, it is developing more opportunities for pupils to have roles and responsibilities and the outdoor areas of the school are being improved.

Mrs Baxter said: "This is our first inspection as an academy, and I am very pleased and proud that the school no longer requires special measures.

"I would like to thank staff, pupils, parents, governors and the Multi-Academy Trust for their support and hard work as the school goes from strength to strength.

"We have had a busy term, and recently organised a Race for Life involving several schools and organisations on Walney, and this has raised over £1,300 for Cancer Research. We also organised a Bake Off for Stand Up to Cancer, and had a visit from Louise Renicks, a former Commonwealth athlete who won a gold medal in judo at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

"Pupils, parents and staff have enjoyed football tournament, sports day and our summer show "George Hastwell's Got Talent."

Stephen Wilkinson, chief executive officer of the Queen Katherine School Multi-Academy Trust said: "On behalf of the trustees of the QKS MAT, I congratulate the local governing body, leadership team, staff, pupils and parents for their efforts over the last three years to move George Hastwell out of special measures. This is a massive achievement and a major milestone in the journey to an overall outstanding judgement we know the school can achieve at a future inspection."