Caistor head optimistic for school's future

In 2015, Ofsted rated Caistor Yarborough Academy ‘requires improvement across the board’, and while the July 2017 visit acknowledges improvements to ‘good’ in two areas, the overall rating remains the same.

Head teacher Mark Midgley, who joined the school in a consultancy role as principal last November, is proud of the progress the school has made since the last report and is convinced if inspectors had visited this term, the outcome would have been very different.

“The timing of the visit was good, but also unfortunate,” said Mr Midgley.

“We did not have the GCSE results at that time.

“All students performed well, in line with national expectations.

“We could tell the inspectors how well the students were doing, but because the results weren’t out, we didn’t have the data to back it up.”

One area inspectors did note in their key findings was the pupils’ achievements in English and science, which they described as ‘consistently strong’ since the last inspections.

The report also recognised the improvement in leadership and management, with Mr Midgley being praised for his ‘inspirational’ work which has brought about ‘very rapid improvements to the school in a short period of time’.

Mr Midgley, one of the Talented Leaders in the government scheme, said: “It is a whole team approach; it is not just about me.

“We have a new leadership team in place and eight new members of staff, who are all good or outstanding teachers.

“We want each child to reach their full potential and we are working with other schools in the area, and further afield, to develop good practice - as well as working with the local community at large.

“It is not about Ofsted, it is about what the children get on a daily basis - and that is good. This report is a stepping stone on our journey, it tells us where we are, and where we are going.

“We have a solid foundation to move forward and ensure all children get world class opportunities and educational experiences.

“We have organised a skiing trip, which hasn’t been done for a long time, and are improving the learning environment by refurbishing the school as we go.”

Ofsted findings:

Leadership

Middle and senior leaders have been empowered to help drive the improvements needed.....

Teaching

Teaching is now improving quickly, though there remains room for further improvement.

Personal development

The pupils know that they are valued and cared for and taught by staff who are determined to help them secure the best chances in life they can.

Outcomes

While pupils are making much better progress, improvements have not been in place long enough to ensure outcomes are consistently good. across the school