The head teacher of a new state-of-the-art academy says he is "super confident" his school will soon achieve an 'outstanding' Ofsted report.
Hertswood Academy head Peter Gillett made the comments after an Ofsted inspection in September concluded Hertswood was showing signs of improvement.
Pupils began this year in the new £34m building after a "difficult" couple of years in temporary accommodation, which saw Hertswood’s Ofsted rating slump to 'inadequate'.
The new entrance at Hertswood Academy
Inspectors visited on September 11 and 12 and upgraded the rating to 'requires improvement' – but Mr Gillett is aiming much, much higher.
He said: "Now we are in our new buildings, we are confident we will be able to quickly address these improvement areas in time and move our academy to the next level.
"I took the school from ‘requires improvement’ to ‘good’ but the move to temporary accommodation and funding cuts made it very difficult for the school.
"But this is a new starting point for the school. I’m super confident this school will be outstanding in two to three years time. We want to be greater and greater.”
New 6th form study room
In the latest Ofsted inspection, pupils’ behaviour and attitude was praised and personal development was rated as 'good'.
Hertswood was described as a "calm and pleasant place for pupils to learn".
The report says pupils told inspectors that “staff encourage pupils to aim for extraordinary goals in life” and that they "enjoy" going to the new school and "appreciate the remarkable new buildings".
The school canteen
But there are improvements to be made too.
The quality of education, leadership and management, and sixth-form provision all requires improvement - the sixth form was rated as 'outstanding' in the previous inspection.
Hertswood says its main targets are ensuring teaching in Key Stage 3 is "ambitious" for all pupils, and ensuring teachers meets the needs of all students with special educational needs.
Mr Gillett added: "We would like to thank our parents and students for their support during the inspection process and we look forward to continuing to improve our provision for the whole community."
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