Wolverhampton academy praised by Ofsted inspectors
A headteacher has been hailed for having an "ambitious vision" after a Wolverhampton academy was praised across the board in its Ofsted report.
Craig Cooling, principal of Ormiston New Academy in Fordhouses which was inspected on February 15 and 16, has been described by inspectors as having "galvanised" staff members.
And the Marsh Lane school was also praised by Ofsted as "good" for its quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and sixth form provision.
The report said leaders are "taking the right steps, in the right order, to secure improvements for the school" and praised them for creating a "culture where positive behaviour and discipline are celebrated".
However, the school has been criticised by the report for failing to use assessments correctly in Key Stage 3, and it criticised the teachers' ability to meet the needs of students requiring additional support.
The report said: "In a few subjects, and particularly at key stage 3, teachers' use of assessment does not help them to identify when pupils have not understood something they have been taught. As a result, gaps in pupils’ knowledge persist.
"On occasion, the work given to pupils is not well matched to their needs. This is because not all teachers understand how to meet the needs of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities."
Mr Cooling, who is "immensely proud" of the report said they plan to keep improving.
He said: "Magic happens in classrooms up and down the country every day but it doesn’t happen enough.
"I’m driven to create a school environment where magic happens in every corner of the school, it’ll continue when students go home and it’ll mature when they leave us and become fantastic, loved, happy members of society.
"I have an incredible staffing body here at NEW Academy and we aren’t settling for good, we continue to plan, evolve, grow and provide our young people with the best opportunities.”
Councillor Chris Burden, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for education, skills and work, added: "This is a very positive report which highlights excellent progress at Ormiston NEW Academy thanks to the strong leadership of Principal Craig Cooling and his team, and I would like to congratulate everyone involved on achieving this Good outcome."
