Chelmsley Wood school delighted by turnaround

REMARKABLE PROGRESS:  Students Sana Khan, Kyle Billingsley,
Abbie Heslington, Maisie Taylor, Madison Sherriff, and Kyle Baker.

THE principal of the Grace Academy has hailed the news that the school has received a "good" rating from Ofsted, only a few years on from being told it was performing well below par.
In September 2013, inspectors had noted "serious weaknesses" at the Chelmsley Wood site and identified a raft of improvements that would need to be made.
Key criticisms included poor retention of students in the sixth form and failing to make the most of additional funding which had been made available to help struggling Year 7 pupils.
The following year it was confirmed that Darren Gelder had been appointed as principal and he set to work on implementing a tough new action plan to turn performance around.
In the time since, the school has seen its results improve dramatically and a record 70 per cent of students achieved A*-C in English and maths last year. This compared with just 37 per cent in 2014.
Mr Gelder, who has previously worked with schools in Skegness, Grimsby and East Sussex, welcomed the latest Ofsted report.
"We have, as an academy, focused on getting it right in lessons and putting the students at the forefront of everything we do," he said.
"Every single member of the teaching and non-teaching staff have contributed to the outcome we have achieved. I would also like to thank parents and carers for their continued support and belief that we could make the Academy what it is today."
Several secondary schools in the north of the borough have struggled with inconsistent performance.
Most recently it was recommended that Smith's Wood Sports College be placed in special measures.
Inspectors attended earlier this year and in a report published in March noted that standards had “declined significantly” since the last visit.