Peterborough: Voyager Academy Rated Inadequate

18 March 2014, 15:39 | Updated: 18 March 2014, 16:12

Ofsted has rated the Voyager Academy in Peterborough as 'inadequate' and placed the school into Special Measures.

The results from an inspection in February this year have just been published by the education watchdog.

The school is said to inadequate in all areas, including achievement of pupils, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management.

The summary of key findings from the report reads:

• Students leave the academy with GCSE results that are well below the national average. Achievement in Years 8, 9, 10 and 11 is inadequate.
• Students make less than the expected progress in English and mathematics. Progress in the current Years 8 and 9 is especially slow.
• The quality of teaching is inadequate. Teacher's expectations of what students can achieve and their standards of behaviour are too low. Marking is variable, but poor overall. Too few teachers insist on high standards of presentation, or that students come prepared to lessons on time and with the right equipment.
• Poor behaviour disrupts too many lessons, limiting the learning of whole classes.
• Attendance is low and in decline. Large numbers of students are late in the morning. Equally large numbers abscond and miss lessons throughout the day.

Leaders and governors have not been effective in bringing about improvements in teaching or behaviour. 

However Ofsted does say the sixth form at the school is good, saying ''Students make good progress, and teachers have high expectations of what they can achieve."

OFSTED

In a statement from the education watchdog, Ofsted have told Heart: "Strategies to improve the education outcomes for children and young people in Peterborough are having positive results, a report published by Ofsted today finds.

Ofsted carried out an inspection of Peterborough Council’s arrangements for school improvement between 3 and 7 February this year. This was in response to concerns about the achievement and progress of pupils in primary and secondary schools, and the proportion of young people aged 16 to 18 not in education, employment or training. 

The overall support for school improvement is found effective, with improvements made across GCSE results, attendance, reducing exclusions and improving students’ participation in education, employment or training post-16. 

Senior leaders and the team of school improvement advisers are held in high regard by schools, working well with local leaders of education and head teachers to support schools that are causing concern.

Sean Harford, Ofsted Regional Director for the East of England says:

"The inspection of Peterborough Council found examples of positive practice, and while these steps are in the right direction, council officers recognise that there is still some way to go. The proportion of pupils attending a good or better primary school is still well below the national average, and although primary results have improved year on year, these too fall short of national levels.

To continue improving achievement and ensure all pupils in Peterborough attend a good or better school, Ofsted recommends the local authority should:

1. clarify milestones and targets in strategic plans and specify how each school will contribute to raising standards for all children and young people;
2. focus relentlessly on supporting and challenging schools to improve outcomes for pupils who speak English as an additional language and those supported through pupil premium funding;
3. embed high quality school-to-school partnership in order to promote the sharing of good practice and increase the autonomy of primary schools; and
4. improve information, advice and guidance in schools and broaden the provision of work-based learning opportunities so that young people succeed along their education and training pathways.