Individual School Information - I-L | Kent Independent Education Advice

Individual School Information - I-L

(updated 13 January 2012 )

Invicta Grammar School. Has not been fully subscribed for the past few years and a number of girls have been admitted on appeal. Uses a KCC appeal Panel. I am please to say that all five of my clients were successful on appeal in 2010, a 100% record for the past three years. Is Federated with Valley Park School. The Federation has become an Academy. Just fully subscribed on 1st March 2011, so one can expect some appeals to be successful.

Isle of Sheppey Academy A new Principal, Mr David Day has been appointed for September 2011. Mr Day is an excellent choice having been a highly succcessful head at Wrotham School, where his personal and pastoral skills saw the school's reputation and popularity reach great heights. He faces a very challenging task at a school that has seen any number of headteachers fail to turn it round but has the ability to do so. The acadamy opened in September 2009, with a troubled birth, with much controversy over its nature and the abolition of the Middle Schools which were the strength of the education system on Sheppey, whilst the 13-18 Minster College had been in difficulties for many years, having been placed in Special Measures and seen a considerable turnover in headteachers and staff. It really does need a fresh start, as the people of Sheppey had lost confidence in the school, even though the Middle Schools had done a good job. First Principal, Dr Mortimer, retired early in 2010.

The Academy opened on two sites at the current Minster College and Cheyne Middle School. Parents will be able to apply for a place at either site, but the school will allocate site placements. The lead sponsor is Dulwich College, the others being the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury and Kent County Council. The Academy has dual specialisms of Business & Enterprise and Sport.

At 8% of students regularly being unauthorised absent, the highest in Kent for 2009-10 (next is 5.6%).

March 2011: The Isle of Sheppey Academy, has had a monitoring visit from OFSTED. The main conclusions were that: "While the academy has demonstrated capacity to improve recently it has made inadequate progress since opening. This monitoring inspection has raised serious concerns about the standard of education provided by the academy and I am recommending a further monitoring inspection". If this had been a full Inspection, the Academy would have failed. You will find the Visit Report here. Sheppey Academy is significantly undersubscribed for 2011 for, although there were just 30 vacant spaces at allocation on 1st March, the true number is masked by the 40 children allocated there who did not apply for the school.

April 2011: The Academy has had £54 million approved for its new buildings, which could see a change in its fortunes in the future. Construction of buildings on two sites, one on the East and one on the West of the Island, is due to start in May 2011,

OFSTED Dec 2011: - Notice to Improve (failing). Some excerpts from Report: Information about the school - The Isle of Sheppey Academy is much larger than the average-sized secondary school. Within the academy, students join one of five mini-schools. Three of these schools are on the East site in Minster, and two on the West site, about two miles away in Sheerness. Each school has a headteacher and a deputy headteacher. A specialist unit, the Nova Centre, has been established to re-integrate a small number of disaffected students back into education. Most students are White British and almost all have English as their first language. A very high proportion of students have special educational needs and/or disabilities, including significant numbers with behavioural, social and emotional difficulties and moderate learning difficulties. The proportion of students known to be eligible for free school meals is above average.The academy opened in 2009. Its lead sponsor is Dulwich College, and it is also sponsored by Kent County Council and the Diocese of Canterbury. It has been designated as a specialist business and enterprise school since opening. The original principal left after a year, and for most of the academic year 2010–11 the academy was led by the two executive headteachers in charge of each site. The current principal has led the academy since September 2011. The new Chair of the Governing Body is a representative of the lead sponsor. Main findings - In accordance with section 13 (3) of the Education Act 2005, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector is of the opinion that this school requires significant improvement, because it is performing significantly less well than in all the circumstances it could reasonably be expected to perform. The school is therefore given a notice to improve. Significant improvement is required in relation to the learning, progress and behaviour of students and to the consistent effectiveness of teaching, especially in mathematics. Since a monitoring inspection in February 2011 found the progress of the academy to be inadequate and reported serious concerns about the quality of education, improvements have been made in key areas. Students’ attendance has improved considerably through the very effective work of pastoral staff with students and their parents and carers, and is now broadly average. Students’ attainment, although low, has risen in successive years and meets national minimum standards on the key measure of five or more GCSEs at grades A* to C, including English and mathematics. Systems are well developed to identify those students most vulnerable to underachievement and those whose well-being is most at risk. Actions put in place to support these students are beginning to narrow gaps in attainment and progress with their peers. Good systems are in place to keep students safe. The curriculum has been effectively redesigned to provide students with a very broad range of options at Key Stage 4 and clear pathways through to work or study in their main areas of interest. The business and enterprise specialism drives innovative projects with the local community which offer rich opportunities for students to develop an understanding of the world of work. The sixth form’s effectiveness is satisfactory and continues to improve. These improvements all reflect well on the increasingly effective use of monitoring information by leaders at all levels in the academy to evaluate performance and plan for improvement. This confirms that the academy has a satisfactory capacity to improve further. The new principal has a very clear strategic view for the academy’s development and has been strongly focused on ensuring improvements are made in the quality of teaching and learning.There remain, nonetheless, important shortcomings in students’ academic progress. Although progress in English in GCSE examinations has improved markedly, improvements in mathematics have been slower, and too few students make the progress they should. The quality of teaching and learning in lessons across the academy, and in mathematics in particular, is highly variable, ranging from outstanding to inadequate. Students’ behaviour around the academy site is generally calm and orderly, although a small but significant minority of lessons are disrupted by poor behaviour. This is linked in part to weaknesses in teachers’ planning to engage and motivate students across the attainment range. In some lessons students are highly dependent on the teacher’s direction and do not always demonstrate creativity or independence of thought. While students’ individual needs are clearly identified in lesson plans, activities in too many lessons are not systematically adapted to take account of students’ varying capabilities. The progress of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities is improving through some good and well-monitored special intervention programmes, but it remains inadequate overall because of a lack of consistently effective teaching in the classroom.

John Wallis Academy Ashford. The new Academy was due to open in September 2010 in the current Christ Church CofE School premises, although the website gives no indication this has happened (September 19th)! The Academy will have a CofE designation. The proposed sponsors are: The Diocese of Canterbury, Benenden School, Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent County Council. There will be a Sixth Form opening in September 2011, the whole to move into new premises in 2013. The new headteacher is John MacParland, recently head of the successful St Simon Stock RC School in Maidstone. The original proposal included an amalgamation with Linden Grove Primary School to form Kent's second all through (4-19) Academy, but this part of the proposal has now been delayed, apparently on cost grounds. KCC described the proposal for the all aged Academy as "a systemic response to the historic repeated failing of education provision in south Ashford was planned ".135 vacancies before KCC allocated other pupils to the school in 2010, the largest number of any school in Kent.The Academy is currently waiting the Autumn Spending Review to discover if the new rebuild will go ahead. More popular for 2011 entry, but still a quarter empty on allocation 1st March 2011.

The Judd School The most selective school in Kent selecting purely on the aggregate score in the Kent tests. For entry in 2009 the cut off point was 411 marks (maximum 420). For 2010 entry it increased to admit all boys with a score of 415 or more, and some with 414, for 2011 it rose still further to 417 in 2011. Appeals are organised by the Skinners Foundation, who have endured successful Ombudsman complaints most years. A successful complaint secures a fresh appeal only, most of which will still be unsuccessful. 88 qualified first choices oversubscribed on 2nd March 2010, 84 in 2011. It looks as if the Appeal Panel will generally offer a further 4-8 places, but they have the right of course to offer none.

A complaint to the Schools Adjudicator about the oversubscription criteria was rejected and the status quo is now expected to continue for some years. For 2011 entry, the cut off point on the Kent Test has risen further to 417. Popularity has soared above Skinner's for 2011 entry with 84 qualified first choices turned away on March 1st.

King Ethelbert School, Birchington. Has become an Academy in conjunction with Dane Court Grammar School. OFSTED 2009 judged the school to be outstanding. It described the school as: "King Ethelbert School is smaller than many secondary schools. It draws its students from the local area where over 30% of secondary age pupils are selected for grammar schools. The great majority of students are from White British backgrounds with a few from minority ethnic groups. The proportion of students with special educational needs and/or disabilities is above average and covers a broad range of needs. The proportion with statements of special educational needs is high. An above average number of students are in local authority care. In September 2006, the school gained its specialism in visual arts. In January 2009, it entered a formal federation with Dane Court Grammar School and operates under a single governing body. An executive headteacher has overall responsibility for both schools and a head of school took up her post when they federated". It was 29 first choices oversubscribed in March 2010, before grammar school appeals took place. Now has brand new buildings completed under BSF. The combination of factors has seen its popularity soar for 2011 entry, becoming sixth most oversubscribed non selective school in Kent, 74 first choices turned away on March 1st (before grammar school appeals reduce this number).

Knole Academy, Sevenoaks, opened in September 2010 combining the old Bradbourne and Wildernesse Schools. The building costs of new premisies have fallen. "The final decision made, having considered all the complexities, is to build a large extension on the space where the back car park is at Knole West (formerly The Bradbourne School) with the school's own sports hall, bigger and more acoustically friendly performance hall, and many other exciting learning spaces, which we hope will also benefit the community of Sevenoaks. The advantage to this scheme means that we can retain the ex Bradbourne buildings, which are in good condition and have excellent facilities, including the £2 million extension opened in 2004 and paid for by Kent County Council. Although a slightly smaller site than the ex Wildernesse site, the main advantages are that the existing buildings are in a good state of repair, the highway access is good and we will continue to make use of the extension which cost £2 million in 2004. The new extension will be built first with refurbishments of existing blocks to follow and should be complete by summer 2013". Sponsors include KCC and Sevenoaks private school. Early publicity for the proposed Academy suggested it is also expected to cater for children of grammar school ability, who currently have no selective school in Sevenoaks. The new Principal is Mrs Mary Boyle, previously head of The Bradbourne School. For girls, Bradbourne School had 8 first choices oversubscribed on 2nd March 2010. for boys, Wildernesse School had 83 vacancies before KCC allocations. The academy was just fully subscribed on March 1st for 2011 entry.

Leigh Technology Academy, Dartford. Uses a commercial Company to organise and run its appeals. Recognised as Outstanding by OFSTED. this was originally Kent’s only City Technology College, but has returned to the state fold as an Academy, where it has now moved into completely new buildings in Dartford. It has the distinction of being Kent’s most oversubscribed school for the past two years, with 200 first choice applicants being turned down.

Siblings take priority, then the school admits pupils across the ability range only from its catchment area, split into inner and outer areas, in the proportions 70/30. All applicants are tested for ability, then divided into five ability bands. Pupils are selected randomly from each band in the required proportions. Currently vacancies are made up from the waiting list. There are few successful appeals, for it is very difficult to make a case against random selection. Details are here. It is now in a Federation with the new Longfield Academy. 218 first choices oversubscribed on 2nd March 2010, again the most oversubscribed school in the county. For 2010 entry there were 4 successful appeals for admission out of 65. Most oversubscribed school in Kent for fourth consecutive year, 199 first choices turned down for 2011 entry.

Longfield Academy OFSTED May 2011. Good. Some Excerpts: Information about School: "Longfield Academy opened in September 2008 in the same accommodation as its predecessor school. The academy is due to move into new buildings in September 2011. Longfield is in a hard federation with The Leigh Technology Academy and Willmington Academy and is sponsored by The Leigh Academies Trust, Kent County Council and the University of Kent. The academy is non-selective, but operates in an area with grammar schools. Although currently of below-average size, the academy's popularity has risen and it is now full in the lower year groups. Sixth form education is provided in collaboration with a number of other schools and colleges. The academy has specialist status for science and the arts. The large majority of students are from White British backgrounds. A relatively large number of students have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The Spectrum Centre is managed by the school and provides specially resourced provision for 35 students who have statements for autistic spectrum disorders. Many of these students travel long distances to attend. While some support is provided in the centre, students spend most of their time in lessons". Some key Judgements: Things have changed dramatically in the three years since Longfield opened. Much has improved and a number of aspects of the academy's work are outstanding. Three things in particular have supported this rapid improvement; they leave the academy extremely well placed to continue its improvement. Excellent leadership and clear direction. The principals' co-leadership model works well and provides considerable leadership capacity. Other senior and middle leaders also provide very effective leadership. Rigorous monitoring. The way in which leaders monitor and evaluate the academy's work, and check the impact of any new changes, is very thorough. Highly effective use of data about students' achievement. Students are assessed regularly, and excellent use is made of this information to check the progress of individuals and groups. Improving teaching has been leaders' top priority. The overall quality is now good, although a little variability remains. As a result, achievement is rising rapidly. The way in which staff care for and support students, and keep them safe, are also significant strengths. The impact of this can be seen, for example, in dramatic improvements in attendance and behaviour. The academy's highly successful partnership work within the federation has been instrumental in its improvement. Construction on new buildings on the same site has already started at a cost of some £25 million, to be completed during 2010/11 will completely replace the previous 1960s buildings which are in an appalling condition. Indeed it is apparent that the main reason for forming an Academy here is to secure new premises – the school is rural, not failing and in a good socio economic area – meeting none of the normal conditions for an old style Academy. The Sponsors of the Academy are the Leigh Technology Academy Trust, the University of Kent and Kent County Council. Attracted considerable attention being oversubscribed for the first time in memory, with 22 first choices oversubscribed on 2nd March 2010. Uses a commercial Company to organise and run its appeals. There were no successful appeals for September 2010 admission. Popularity is maintained for 2011 entry 26 first choices oversubscribed.