December 2016
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Schools
Olympus Academy Trust in running to take over troubled secondaries
T
he Bradley Stoke based Olympus Academy Trust, which already has responsibility for seven schools in South Gloucestershire, has announced that it is in discussions with two other trusts about taking over a number of troubled local schools. Patchway Community College, operated by Fusion Schools Trust, had already been in talks about joining Olympus, but matters have recently been
brought to a head by a damning Ofsted inspection report which rated the Patchway school ‘inadequate’ and placed it in ‘special measures’ (see below). Elsewhere in the local area, the Ridings Federation (TRF), which operates Winterbourne and Yate International Academies along with a number of other, smaller educational establishments, has announced plans to hand over control of its schools to a multi-academy trust (MAT)
through a process known as “re-brokering”. TRF’s decision to relinquish control of the schools follows the revelation that there is a £1 million shortfall in its budget, staff strikes and Ofsted inspections which rated the two academies as being ‘in need of improvement’. In follow-up inspections, Ofsted has noted that the quality of teaching has failed to improve, blaming poor leadership by senior teachers and ineffective governance.
Olympus is one of three trusts to have announced an intention to submit a proposal to take over the TRF academies, the others being Oasis Learning Trust and Greenshaw Learning Trust. All three trusts have now entered a period of “due diligence” and will soon submit their proposals to the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC), who is expected to make a decision by the beginning of January. ● www.olympustrust.co.uk
Patchway school placed in ‘special measures’ following damning Ofsted report
P
atchway Community College (PCC) has been placed in ‘special measures’ following the publication of a damning report by Ofsted inspectors who visited the secondary school in early October. Assigning the lowest possible overall rating of ‘inadequate’, lead inspector Kathy Maddocks concluded that standards at the school have declined in recent years, and criticised school leaders and governors for being too slow to implement necessary changes.
The quality of teaching at the school is described as “poor”, pupils do not make sufficient progress in a range of subjects and measures to guarantee pupils’ safety are “weak”. All five of the individual effectiveness measures assessed by the inspectors resulted in an ‘inadequate’ grading. One of the few positive observations contained in the report is that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are “achieving well”.
Inspectors do, however, note that the new headteacher, Karen Cornick, only took up the post four weeks prior to the inspection and remark that “there is evidence of her positive impact already”. In a letter sent to parents on 21st November , the headteacher describes the report as a “huge blow” and points out that, while the school had much improved outcomes at GCSE and Post-16 in 2015/16, the inspection team had been obliged to consider progress over the last three years.
As a consequence of being placed in special measures, the school’s governing body has been in further discussions with the Olympus Academy Trust (which it had already approached about joining back in January 2016) and the Regional Schools Commissioner. Olympus, which already has responsibility for two local secondary schools (Bradley Stoke Community School and Abbeywood Community School), issued a statement saying it was “frustrated that an agreement has still not been reached about levels of funding support for Patchway from the Department for Education (DfE) and the Education Funding Agency (EFA) in order for Patchway to join the trust”. The statement added: “We hope there will be a swift resolution by the DfE and EFA so that learners and staff at Patchway are able to benefit from joining the trust without further delay.” Parents and carers of students at PCC were invited to attend a meeting at the school on Monday 28th November when the proposal to join the Olympus Academy Trust was due to be further explained, along with the school’s plan for addressing the key issues arising from the Ofsted inspection. ● Ofsted report and head’s letter: http://bit.ly/bsj-mag-links
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