A CLEETHORPES school has answered criticism that it needs to raise standards before becoming an academy – by revealing a good Ofsted report.
As reported, St Andrew's College is the only remaining local authority controlled school in the area but is now consulting on becoming a faith-based academy, sponsored by the Nottingham Roman Catholic Diocesan Education Service (NRCDES).
Members of the public have criticised the college for its low attainment levels with just 42.5 per cent of students achieving five GCSEs at A*-C, including English and maths, and role numbers have fallen considerably in recent years.
Its attainment rate – just above the national floor target of 40 per cent but well below nearest neighbour Tollbar Academy, with 92 per cent – led to the school being judged as inadequate at the last full Ofsted inspection in February.
However, a further inspection took place in September – to check if the recommended improvements had been made – and showed attainment levels rose by 7.5 per cent compared to 2011, with only 35 per cent getting five A*-C grades, including English and maths.
The report said the school was making "good progress" in improving attainment, which principal Louise Wilson believes will continue.
She said: "People have said that standards need to improve but what this shows is that in the last 10 months we have already made significant progress.
"The report recognises the capacity to raise standards and converting to an academy is something that will help us continue to do so.
"We can use the help and support of the Catholic diocese, which runs other good and outstanding schools, to consult on ways to further improve our attainment levels by seeing what works for those other schools." St Andrew's College, if it became an academy, would still remain as the only faith-based school in the area.
As reported, the school took £336,000 forward from last year's budget that is to be spent on converting to an academy – without which NRCDES may be forced to pull out.
Mrs Wilson added: "The funds are necessary for our conversion but, as this Ofsted report shows, any under-spend did not have a detrimental impact on any of our students."
