Ofsted Reports

This page will enable us to display our current and previous Ofsted reports for Maltings Academy. These reports will be sorted in accordance to date.

OfSTED Report March 2011

I am pleased to let you know that our OfSTED report from our Section 5 visit is available for you to . If you are unable to access it and would like a hard copy, please contact jjoiner@maltingsacademy.org.

Although we did not reach our target of ‘good with outstanding features’, when you read the report you will see that it is extremely praiseworthy. I was particularly proud of the way our students, your children, responded during the two days especially as one of the inspectors commented to us that “Any headteacher would give their right arm to have students as well behaved as yours.” We have come on a long journey from when we were in special measures 2½ years ago.

The many good and outstanding features include:

• Capacity for improvement
• The extent to which students feel safe
• Students’ behaviour
• The extent to which students contribute to the school and wider community
• Students’ attendance
• The extent of students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development
• The extent to which the curriculum meets students’ needs
• The effectiveness of care, guidance and support
• The effectiveness of partnerships in promoting learning and well-being
• The effectiveness of safeguarding procedures.

We still have areas in which we need to make improvements and we will be putting together an action plan in order to ‘make our best better. We will continue to have high expectations for this summer’s exams and if we achieve this I am sure we will be viewed as ‘good with outstanding features’.

John Szynal

Principal

• Download: Ofsted Report March 2011
• Download: Letter to Parents/Carers
• Ofsted web site: http://www.ofsted.gov.uk

Ofsted Report 2010

Inspectors spent most of their time in lessons. They observed 25, 2 were outstanding, 15 were good and 8 were satisfactory. Importantly, there was no inadequate teaching. The inspectors judged key outcomes to be good including the quality of teaching, the curriculum, care, support and guidance, behaviour and attendance. Inspectors recognised that students now value and enjoy their education and form positive and constructive relationships with teachers and each other.

The inspectors also recognised the hard work that staff have put in to improving the academy praising the focus on the quality of teaching. They also recognised that governance was strong and effective and that governors regularly hold members of the senior leadership team to account.

The inspectors rightly recognised that the improvement in the GCSE examination results have been crucial in improving the students’ overall performance and that this remains the biggest challenge to the academy to maintain the upward trend.

Although this was only a monitoring visit and the inspectors only give one overall judgement, that of progress, for which the academy received ‘good’, the inspectors also agreed with the academy’s self evaluation which currently rates itself as good. Hence I firmly believe that the academy is well placed to be outstanding by 2012.

I would like to thank parents and carers for their continued support.

Ofsted Report March 2010

Maltings Academy has been given a vote of confidence by Ofsted inspectors. The inspectors have judged that the academy is "making good progress towards raising standards" in their first monitoring visit. The government's school inspection agency, Ofsted, monitors the early progress of all academies prior to making a full inspection a year later. Inspectors observed the academy at work, scrutinized documents, met the principal, staff, pupils and chair of governors. Maltings Academy is delighted that their early judgement is very positive. In a detailed letter to the academy Ofsted set out where the school was making the greatest progress and singled out a number of areas for praise:

Among the strengths highlighted are:

Maltings Academy made use of increasingly “challenging targets to raise aspirations and expectations across all cohorts, and to identify students at risk of under performing”.

• The “majority of teaching seen was good, with some that was judged outstanding”.
• Most students make “good progress because teachers have good subject knowledge and plan lessons to provide a variety of different learning opportunities”.
• The “range of curriculum opportunities provided in Key Stage 3 is a positive feature”.
• Standards at the end of Key Stage 4 are rising, because of “a stronger focus on the quality of teaching and learning, greater flexibility in subject choices, and targeted intervention through mentoring”.
• The academy also successfully maintained the “above average results of its predecessor school in science as a result of course choices well matched to students’ needs”.
• Current student’s progress data and GCSE results already secured indicate an “improvement in the proportion of students expected to gain A*-C grades in both english and mathematics”.
• Sixth form results in 2009, “indicated that the pass rate at A2 was in line with the national average, an improvement on 2008”.
• Assessment and tracking systems provide “regular analysis of progress”.
• “Effective behaviour management systems are in place”.
• “Unauthorised absence has decreased and punctuality to lessons is good”
• Governance is strong and effective.
• The “provision of training and development is a strong feature”.

To download the letter from the HM Inspector, click here.