Improving Staffordshire school delighted as it gets 'good' grade from Ofsted
A Staffordshire school has shown improvement and has been rated good across the board by education inspectors.
Staffordshire University Academy (SUA), in Hednesford, which was previously rated as 'requires improvement', received the new rating from Ofsted following an inspection last month.
The Ofsted report states that students receive a good quality of education and praises the academy’s well-behaved, respectful and well-mannered students.
It also highlights the significant improvements in curriculum, behaviour and attendance.
Principal Rowena Hillier said: “We are thrilled that we have an Ofsted judgement that accurately reflects our high aspirations, creative and challenging curriculum alongside the engagement and amazing behaviour of our students.
"Our team of staff have worked incredibly hard to transform our curriculum, which is well-sequenced, ambitious and engaging in every subject; we are all so very proud.”
The report describes the academy as ‘caring’ with ‘a strong sense of community’ and mentions the wide range of extracurricular activities, charity and community initiatives that the students take part in.
Caroline Jobling, chair of governors, said: “We are delighted that the academy’s relentless work to improve the quality of education has been recognised.
"I would like to praise the hard work of the staff and particularly the young people who rightly received praise in the report for being ‘respectful’ and ‘well-mannered’; comments that are echoed by the many visitors the academy has.”
Staffordshire University Academy was oversubscribed for the first time in its history in September.
Bosses say it is a reflection of the academy’s growing reputation and high standing in the local and wider community.
Dr James Capper, chief executive officer of Staffordshire University Academies Trust, said: “Staffordshire University Academy is a fantastic school with dedicated staff who are extremely proud to work there and with students who are determined to succeed.
"The academy leadership and staff team are innovative in their approaches to teaching and learning, which with the support of Staffordshire University as sponsor, is driving continual improvement.
“I am delighted that the Ofsted inspection has recognised the dedication and hard work of the academy principal and her leadership team, combined with that of the whole staff team.
"The clear vision at SUA, around the values of ‘Aspire, Believe and Achieve’, combined with that of our trust’s mission to ‘Achieve Better Outcomes’ for children, runs through everything we do across our family of schools. It is testament to the hard work of all involved that this has been recognised by Ofsted following their recent inspection.”
