A successful academy claims Spalding students are being tempted further afield to make the most of what it has to offer.
While the town’s Sir John Gleed School struggles to change its fortunes following a damning Ofsted inspection which placed it in special measures, Bourne Academy has just received a “good”grade from the school watchdog.
And the marked differences in the two secondary academies have not gone unnoticed by parents in Spalding when choosing where to send their children, with 134 students – or about 10 per cent of Bourne Academy’s total roll – coming from Spalding.
Isobel Copley, Bourne Academy’s Community Business Development Co-ordinator, said: “We are pleased that more and more parents are choosing Bourne Academy for their children, taking advantage of the excellent bus links from Spalding and surrounding villages.
“Currently 134 students come to us from Spalding with a further 19 currently enrolled for next September.
“September will see not only an increased intake from other towns, but also exciting developments in the school curriculum – we will be the only school in the area to offer A-Level food technology and A-level English Language.”
Ofsted has just published its report following a visit to the school last month, during which one inspector described the positive behaviour of the students as “angelic”.
Headteacher Laurence Reilly was “delighted” by the feedback from the inspectors, who found the school to be “good” in all aspects of pupil achievement, quality of teaching, behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management.
The report says pupils achieve well during their time at the school and standards in English, art and design and technology are well above national average.
It says most teaching is good with some examples of outstanding practice and the large majority of students in the sixth form make good progress and move on to training or higher education.
But the school has been told it is not yet an “outstanding” school because teachers are not setting challenging enough progress targets for the students and some are not giving students enough opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning.
Mr Reilly said: “Bourne Academy continues to strive to be one of the best schools in the area and one of which the area can be justifiably proud.
“It continues to develop its curriculum to support and stretch its students of all abilities, in order to exceed challenging targets and provide a first class education within a modern, dedicated environment with excellent facilities.”