Ollerton primary school gets 'good' rating after being taken over by The Forge Trust

The Parkgate Academy, which was previously known as Ollerton Primary School from 2005, had only ever received ‘Requires Improvement’ judgements from Ofsted in four inspections since 2005.

The school in Whinney Lane, Ollerton, became The Parkgate Academy in September 2016 after being taken over by The Forge Trust and they were visited by Ofsted last month and were given a ‘good’ raising.

Mark Nunn, The Parkgate Academy principal, said: "The ‘good’ judgement is a culmination of almost three years of hard work since The Forge Trust took over Ollerton Primary School and it became The Parkgate Academy.

"The success has been built on a ‘back to basics’ model of ensuring that teaching is of the highest quality in class sizes of less than 20 pupils.

"As a school and as a Trust, we firmly believe in promoting high standards and hard work which the staff and the children at Parkgate have completely bought in to.

"As Principal, I feel immensely proud that Parkgate is getting the recognition that it deserves.

"We’ve gained more than 100 extra pupils on our roll since September 2016 which shows that the local community has recognised the positive changes that have taken place.

"We are looking to go from strength to strength as we continue to strive to provide the best possible education for the children of Ollerton, Boughton and the surrounding area."

The school was rated good in all categories which include effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, personal development, behaviour and welfare, outcomes for pupils and early years provision.

The report said: "The quality of pupils’ writing is rapidly improving. However, some teachers do not consistently address weaknesses in pupils’ spelling and handwriting.

"The curriculum is broad, balanced and engaging. However, the curriculum for science is underdeveloped. Some pupils do not have a deep understanding in this subject.

"Teachers and teaching assistants have good subject knowledge and know pupils well. They use this knowledge to provide highly effective, tailored feedback to pupils.

"Pupils enjoy coming to school. They are tolerant, polite and friendly. Pupils behave well."

Carl Braithwaite, consultant principal at The Forge Trust, said: "On behalf of The Forge Trust I would like to congratulate the staff at the Parkgate Academy on their hugely successful Ofsted inspection and recognise the contributions made by the team, in the dramatic turnaround that has taken place at the Parkgate Academy.

"The current principal, Mark Nunn, joined the school in January 2017 as vice principal and brought additional capacity and strength to the leadership team. Quickly getting to grips with the Forge approach, Mark led on improvements in behaviour management and demonstrated his potential as a future head.

"Becoming Principal in December 2018, Mark has taken the academy from strength to strength and built a superb team.

"The school now stands on the cusp of outstanding and I have no doubt that the excellent leadership team and dedicated staff at the school will work tirelessly to achieve this for the pupils and community they serve."

Advice was given on how the school can continue to improve.

The reports said: "Improve the effectiveness of leadership and management by ensuring that the provision for pupils’ cultural development is strengthened so pupils learn about other religions, cultures and traditions and are increasingly well prepared for life in modern Britain and leaders continue to develop the curriculum for science so more pupils acquire a deeper knowledge and understanding of what has been taught.

"Improve the effectiveness of teaching, learning and assessment and improve outcomes by ensuring that teachers, including those in the early years. Use assessment information more effectively to plan activities which are well matched to pupils’ abilities, particularly lower-attaining pupils, so more achieve the expected standards in reading, writing and mathematics and consistently address errors in pupils’ spelling and handwriting so more achieve the expected standard in writing."