Another Inspiration Trust primary said to be facing Ofsted inspection pressure

Schools in the academy chain founded by the minister overseeing the system, Lord Agnew, seem to be under pressure over their results. But how are Ofsted inspectors reacting?

Rumour has it that one of the longest-established schools in Lord Agnew’s Inspiration Trust, Great Yarmouth Primary Academy, was inspected before Christmas, with results certainly low enough to put it in “special measures” territory.

My analysis of last year’s Sats data reveals that the school had the 135^th-worst reading progress results in England (-5.4); the 219^th-worst data for writing progress (-5.3) and the 978^th-worst figures for maths progress (-3.7), out of more than 15,000 schools.

All of these scores are, sadly, described on the DfE’s league table results page for the school as “well-below average”.

The school serves a disadvantaged community – although progress measures are supposed to take this into account - and while it might seem harsh to focus on one institution, the many close observers of this trust will be watching closely for any looming inspection judgement.

After all, Great Yarmouth Primary Academy was last inspected back in 2014, when it was rated “good”, so an inspection visit was expected.

Last year, the trust and Ofsted faced a lot of controversy after it emerged that another of its primaries, Cobholm, received a “softened report” from the inspectorate after inspectors returned for a second look, having initially put together a highly critical verdict on that school.

As I reported, Cobholm eventually escaped an “inadequate” verdict despite some of the worst results in England the previous year: they were actually marginally worse in reading and maths than Great Yarmouth primary academy’s were in 2018.

At secondary level, Thetford Academy has just had a report published which confirms the school’s “good” rating, with its GCSE results, on the main “Progress 8” measure, just below the national average (0.1).

This report, following a short inspection visit, does have elements of criticism, with inspectors noting that “overall attendance has declined during the last three years and continues to do so”. Inspectors promised that the next inspection would be a fuller one.

Progress data was also broadly average (-0.02) at the much-reported-on “super-strict” Great Yarmouth Charter Academy, though an “above average” 0.32 at Ofsted-outstanding Hethersett Academy.  

Finally, the Hewett Academy in Norwich, which has been in a struggle over pupil numbers, recorded the second-lowest Progress 8 score of any mainstream secondary in Norfolk in the GCSE data published today, with a “well-below average” figure of -0.53.

It was only inspected last year, however, emerging with a “good”, so perhaps there will be no inspection to worry about for a while.