Commenting on the findings Mike Gibbons, the Federation’s Chief Executive said:

“We welcome the advice of the Inspectors and are keen to work as closely with them as possible to accelerate the progress we are making.  We have come from a very low starting point and to make a significant impact takes time.  But I believe we are well on the way.  We are keen to work with the Inspectors on strengthening areas of weakness, particularly post 16 and to examine our plans for improvement.   Everything is in place.  It is now only a matter of time and a lot of hard work”.

“I am delighted that we have had such a rigorous monitoring inspection and it was good to see the Inspectors acknowledging the hard work by all concerned in getting to this point.  I am especially pleased by their acknowledgement that safety issues and behaviour, the two main triggers for the December Ofsted inspection, are being effectively tackled.  With those in place improvements in attendance and teaching and learning will follow.  Teaching is our responsibility; attendance is a joint responsibility and I would appeal to parents and our community to join with us to improve attendance even further.  We must be a united team to continue improvement”.

Commenting on the way forward, Mike Gibbons adds:

“This visit shows that in all areas our planning is beginning to pay off.  We are realistic and know that there are no instant fixes in the precious business of improving education for young people  It is obvious that Russ Wallace and his team are making immense strides from that very low point at the end of January when it was felt necessary to remove the previous leadership.  Much has been done in four months; but we know this is a long haul and we have much to do.  We will do it and look forward to our next monitoring visit in the autumn.   However, we have found this first visit invaluable”.

Ofsted monitoring report June 2009 (pdf - 424KB)