SCHOOL TRANSFORMATION
Once a struggling school in
special measures, St Aidan’s
Academy went on to become
the fastest changing school
to academy. Alan Dick, assistant
principal, tells their story
The story of
St Aidan’s
OR EVERYONE at St Aidan’s as Eastbourne School, and with this came a reputation another local school was considered. This subsequently Since becoming an academy, the school has
F
Academy, 2009 was a big year; one peppered with troubles. became embroiled in much controversy and was soon significantly improved in a number of areas. We have
to celebrate. There has been a new It was declared bottom of the national GCSE league dropped. The next proposal appeared more promising; some of the best educational facilities in the region, and
name, a new build, and a complete tables, six headteachers arrived and promptly departed to turn the school into an academy, and this was the all teaching areas have been designed to incorporate
transformation in achievements. within as many years, staff turnover was high, the trigger that prompted the start of our transformation the latest ICT to deliver the curriculum effectively and
It has been a long, demanding and school suffered soaring truancy levels, and parental programme. efficiently.
challenging journey, and yet through support was low. In just six months, Eastbourne School was turned into The new building’s student capacity is 700.
the commitment and dedication of many, St Aidan’s is Unsurprisingly, it was placed in special measures. Eastbourne Academy, the fastest ever transformation of Exam results have improved, exclusion levels have
an academy that we are all extremely proud of. Drastic action was needed to turn the school around to this kind. decreased, and student attendance figures have risen
This is a far cry from the situation the school was ensure that closure was not the next option. For the new Eastbourne Academy, there were few via the implementation of rigorous policy, practice and
in just a few years ago. At this time we were known Initially, to combat these issues, a merger with changes; it was the same building, the same teachers, supporting systems.
but the one factor that made it so different was an Our inclusive ethos, meanwhile, is helping students
inspiring ethos. to enjoy their education and expect more from their
Union address: NUT
This supported our core values of care, respect and future lives. Students have developed a strong sense
responsibility. It was here that the change in direction of loyalty to the academy, their attitudes to education
became apparent; Eastbourne Academy began to thrive have improved hugely and it is clear that they want to
Standing up to Ofsted
and the future ahead looked promising. achieve highly.
The turning point Tackling the challenges
From this point, further gradual changes were For any school, embarking on relocation to a new
Christine Blower reports on complaints
implemented. For instance, the curriculum was building is a major project and can prove a demanding
modified to be more vocational to reflect the needs of and stressful challenge, with countless decisions to
the students. We also introduced a new uniform and consider at each stage of the project.
from union members about the new Ofsted
PE kit, which the students have really taken pride in Our ICT provider has been instrumental in
wearing. facilitating the transition to our brand new academy.
inspection framework and calls for change
One of the more subtle changes was stopping the The investment in technology is a major contributor to
school bell. This has proved highly beneficial as it has our growing success as it is helping to motivate staff
appeared to calm the students down, and has given the and students and improve learning.
OFSTED’S DECISION to “raise the bar” in its new The NUT is determined to change school inspection control back to the teachers. Sometimes it is the small Through taking this approach, a number of new
inspection framework, introduced in September, is into a system which supports not punishes schools. changes that have a big effect. and innovative technologies have been implemented,
causing a great deal of anxiety among teachers. The evidence for change is crystal clear. Nowhere The next major step was to plan the new build. This including cashless catering, a library system and
We have received a number of complaints and has this been made more obvious than by the House phase was a joint venture between the academy and parent pay, as well as other resources such as video-
reports that inspectors are using trivial issues to of Commons Education Select Committee which our local authority. Our funding has come from the conferencing, IPTV and media-streaming, desktops,
downgrade schools. has urged that major changes take place in school government and our sponsors, the Church of England interactive whiteboards, print management, and LCD
The new framework contains “limiting judgements” accountability. and business entrepreneurs Anne and David Crossland. information displays.
on pupil attainment, safeguarding, and equality of Inspection has failed to bring about sustained David was the face behind Airtours’ success story; Cashless catering is a good example of how the
achievement – this means that if schools receive a low improvement because of its separation from he has been an enormous support and by investing in academy has embraced technology. It is a modern form
judgement in one of these areas, they can rarely get a developmental support, and from schools’ own education is making a positive difference to children’s of payment system which means that students need not
higher judgement. improvement work. lives in Darlington. bring cash into the academy.
Examples the union has received include: Despite the inclusion of elements of self-evaluation, The project is as much about the internal environment Instead they simply top-up a card and use this for
• Schools being marked down for failing to record school communities do not own the process of as it is the new building, and to help deliver our vision payment. It reduces the risk of students mislaying
centrally employed staff on the single central evaluation of their schools. Inspection is done to rather for ICT, the academy partnered with an ICT provider. money, while the academy benefits too as it facilitates
register. than done with school communities. At this time, our staff and students were quite management reporting and simplifies the cashing up
• The lead inspector, on entering a school on the What is needed is a fundamental review of the diverse in terms of their ICT skills and abilities, and process.
first day, marking down the school because the whole system of internal and external evaluation. The the equipment available was extremely limited and Since all of these changes, the academy now boasts
head has not immediately asked for their Criminal inspection system needs to be changed to one which did not facilitate progression. To help overcome this record-breaking GCSE results. This year, 62 per cent
Records Bureau (CRB) check. ensures ownership by school communities of school and encourage them to build their confidence with of students achieved A* to C grades, an extraordinary
• Inspectors paying little attention to contextual evaluation and allow for co-operation rather conflict. technology, a sample area was created to allow people improvement from just three years ago when only 19
value-added (CVA) data and just concentrating on It must be sensitive to the local context and earn to experiment with a range of new solutions. per cent of students gained this benchmark. Attendance
raw results. and maintain credibility with teachers. The limitations The following year was viewed as a training at the academy is also booming and student admissions
• A first school being marked down because of the of the Ofsted approach can easily be redressed by programme to up-skill our staff and students before increased while exclusions have plummeted.
low height of its perimeter fence. the adoption of externally validated school-led self- the move into the new build. What we found quite When the academy was established, we knew that it
At a meeting called by the chief inspector just evaluation, which Ofsted themselves has generally incredible was the fact that the proposed ICT solution would be a long journey to reach where we wanted to
before Christmas, we pressed for immediate changes confirmed as being accurate. changed on several occasions during this time to be and there are still improvements to make. However,
to the inspection framework. The meeting achieved: We need to see the joy of learning not fear of reflect the improved technological skills of our staff we are definitely on the right road.
• A commitment to tackle any aggressive and failure put back into our classrooms. and students. This highlighted the extent and speed of It has been a real privilege for everyone to be so
abrupt behaviour from inspectors. The factors that most contribute to school progress being made, it was a great achievement. closely involved with the new building which will be
• More clarifying guidance on safeguarding from improvement are staff commitment and evaluation, a centre of learning for decades to come. Together we
Ofsted and a commitment not to use trivial reasons and the school ethos. Catapulting a sometimes ill-
New beginnings
have turned the academy into a thriving, exciting and
to downgrade schools. informed inspector into a classroom for a brief period To celebrate and coincide with the relocation to the prosperous learning environment, something that we
• A direct contact for any unresolved cases. cannot, and does not, give a true picture of a school’s £16.4 million new build in September 2009, and to lose have worked tirelessly to achieve.
• A review of the 20-day window for HMIs visiting achievement. the stigma of times gone by, we changed our name to Well done to everyone at the academy for all that has
schools deemed satisfactory, a window which has St Aidan’s Academy. (Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne was been achieved and showing that “together we can”. SecEd
massively increased the inspection tensions among • Christine Blower is general secretary of the National a great educator who died in 651. He was the founder
teachers concerned. Union of Teachers. Visit www.teachers.org.uk and first bishop of the famous monastery on the island • Alan Dick is assistant principal at St Aidan’s Academy
of Lindisfarne off the Northumberland coast). in Darlington, which uses Ramesys as its ICT provider.
12 SecEd • January 21 2010
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