Gateacre School is on the up!

Pupils and staff at Gateacre School are celebrating after a rapid increase in standards led the Department for Education to withdraw its plan for it to become an academy.

The secondary school, which has 1,000 young people on roll, was placed in special measures two years ago by Ofsted, which meant it was at risk of a multi academy trust taking it over.

Last year, following the appointment of a new head, the school achieved some of its best results in recent history for GCSE and A-level/vocational exams, with the latter being among the top 10 percent in the country.

In October 2017, it was taken out of special measures and the sixth form provision was graded as ‘good’.

And earlier this month, the school was written to by Vicky Beer, the regional schools commissioner, who confirmed the academy order is being revoked, meaning it will remain a community school.

Head Jason Roberts said: “A huge amount of hard work has gone into making substantial changes in the school over the last two years and for that I would like to thank staff, governors, pupils and parents for their support and commitment.

“Although we are all immensely proud of the progress we have made we still need to focus relentlessly on improving attendance and getting our exam grades above the national average.

“It is absolutely vital that we all work together to give our pupils the very best start in life so that they are able to achieve their potential and make a success of their lives.”

Councillor Barbara Murray, cabinet member for education, said: “Congratulations to everyone at Gateacre School for the huge turnaround over the last couple of years.

“It is testament to the commitment of everyone involved that Ofsted have been so impressed by the progress that has been made to lift the school out of special measures and remove the academy order.

“It is great news that a period of uncertainty is now over and they can now concentrate on delivering the best education for their pupils.”