Good start for new school

A Rochdale secondary school has been rated satisfactory by Ofsted – after being open for just over 12 months.

Kingsway Park High School was visited by inspectors in October who said it is “improving rapidly.”

The school, currently based at the former Balderstone Technology School site, opened in September 2010 and was a merger between Balderstone and the former Springhill High School.

Work is underway at the Springhill site and students will move into those premises when complete.

The Ofsted report, written by inspector Stephen Wall, said: “This is a satisfactory school.

“It is improving rapidly and securely because good and purposeful leadership and management, including the governing body, are setting high expectations and tackling underachievement rigorously.

“Leaders and managers evaluate the effectiveness of the school accurately and use the outcomes astutely to prioritise and target actions on areas where the school could and should be doing better. As a result, students are making increasingly rapid progress in their learning.

“Attainment is rising securely, especially in English and mathematics. Consequently, the school is showing good capacity for sustained improvement.”

Mr Wall added: “In 2011, GCSE results were low. A significant proportion of students did not make at least expected progress from their Year 7 starting points in these key subjects, reflecting the legacy of underachievement inherited by this new school. School predictions, supported by inspection evidence, show that achievement, especially in English and mathematics is rising rapidly and securely.

“Significant gaps in the achievement of different groups of students in 2011 such as White British boys and between boys and girls are also closing rapidly. At the heart of the rapid improvement lies the rigorous action taken by the school to improve the quality of teaching and its impact on learning and progress. As a result, the proportion of good or better teaching is growing quickly. However, the school accepts that further improvement is necessary to accelerate students’ progress even faster to overcome fully the legacy of underachievement.”

Mr Wall also noted that the move to a single school site has been “managed effectively” and that students from the two schools that closed get on well together.

Headteacher, Deborah Ball, said: “There is much to celebrate and build on in this inspection report and it is a real credit to the staff and students at KPHS. I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved in such a short space of time.”