Aldworth visited by Ofsted after being told to improve

Aldworth School, in South Ham, had a remote monitoring visit from Ofsted in March, and a report on its findings published in May referred to the “significant changes in leadership” since the last inspection in June 2019, when it was told to improve.

The school, in Western Way, seconded headteacher Paul Jenkins from Court Moor School in Fleet, in January 2020 to “support the governing body in making improvements to the school and to give time to recruit a new substantive headteacher”.

A deputy headteacher was also seconded, and new appointments were made to subject leadership.

The Ofsted report said: “Leaders are resolute in their drive for improvement in all areas of the school. The positive impact of this work has been recognised by pupils, parents and staff.”

Parents who responded to an Ofsted questionnaire were said to be “very positive”, with one commenting that staff deserve “a huge thank you for all they have done”.

Ofsted said: “The school’s strong sense of community has continued to flourish during the recent period of remote education. The ‘Aldworth Live’ online show on Friday afternoons was welcomed by pupils and staff as a fun way to stay connected during an uncertain time.”

Work to improve the school’s curriculum began in June last year, and Ofsted said this had resulted in teachers “beginning to have a much clearer understanding of the purpose and content of the subjects they teach”.

However, some of this work has been slowed by the pandemic, which Ofsted said leaders were aware of and were “working with teachers to establish consistency and quality across all areas of the curriculum”.

It added: “The governing body shares the headteacher’s drive and determination to improve the education of their pupils. There is clear evidence of robust decision-making and actions to strengthen the leadership of the school.”

Aldworth, which has 902 pupils, is now benefiting from collaborative work with Court Moor School.

Ofsted inspector Aimee Floyd said: “Teachers value this partnership and its impact in continuing to improve the school’s curriculum. The local authority’s school improvement partner knows the school well and supports leaders and governors in their ambition for Aldworth as it looks to the future.”

Posting on Aldworth’s website, Mr Jenkins referred to the “challenging few years” and the “declining reputation” of the school, adding: “I am pleased to be leading the team who are renewing the school and reviving its good standing in the local community.”

He was initially seconded to help at Aldworth while a new headteacher was recruited, but said the governors were “unable to appoint a suitable candidate” and so asked Mr Jenkins to “guide the school through the next phase of its improvement”.

“By then I had seen the huge potential of Aldworth and believed I could make it a truly great school,” he said, adding: “When I first arrived at Aldworth I did what you would normally do, read the Ofsted report, looked at the results and came to some lazy conclusions about students with poor attitudes and weak teaching: I could not have been more wrong.

“Whilst there were clearly a number of issues around some students – which were rapidly addressed – what I found was a body of great students and strong teachers just in need of clear leadership and belief in what they could achieve.”

In a statement sent to the Gazette, Mr Jenkins said: “Ofsted's visit was to focus on the return to school after lockdown however the school were pleased to note how the inspectors recognised the rapid improvements made to the school despite covid.

“They acknowledged that the school was aware of the points for improvement and already had plans in place to further develop those areas.

“Most pleasingly 90% of parents said in the Ofsted survey that they would recommend the school to others, up from 60% at the previous inspection; this reflects the renewed faith of the community in the improvements made.”