Barclay Academy in Stevenage has been rated good with elements of outstanding in "the best Ofsted report in the history of the school".

Ofsted has found the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, and sixth form provision at the school to be good, while leadership and management, and personal development, have been rated outstanding.

"Pupils and students at Barclay Academy know they attend a school where expectations are high for their achievement and behaviour," the Ofsted report published last week says.

READ MORE

Ofsted found pupils "are happy and feel safe" at the school, and that "provision for pupils’ personal development is exceptional".

The range of extra-curricular clubs is also exceptional, the report says, and leaders have an ambitious vision for the curriculum.

"In the core subjects of English, mathematics and science, pupils achieve very well as the result of very well-designed, well-sequenced and well-taught programmes of study," Ofsted found.

It also found effective strategies are used in class to identify and support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. 

READ MORE

This is the first inspection since the secondary school was taken over by Future Academies Trust in 2019, after it was rated inadequate and put in special measures by Ofsted in 2016.

"Parents, staff and trust leaders rightly recognise the determined and principled work of the headteacher and his leadership team in improving the school since it opened," Ofsted said.

It has identified two areas for improvement, relating to "a small minority of pupils not yet able to self-regulate their behaviour effectively", and to leaders having "not planned a curriculum that includes sufficient content or details of what pupils should learn" in a small number of foundation subjects.

Principal Dr Matthew Laban said: "This is the best Ofsted report in the history of the school and it is a testament to the hard work of the staff and students and the support we receive from the community we serve. Thank you to everyone.

"We can all take pride in this wonderful achievement for our school. This very positive Ofsted report confirms the great strides we have made.

"The journey is not over because we will now work on the areas they have identified so that we can achieve outstanding in every category next time."