Delight as inspectors hail previously failing Mansfield secondary school

The Manor Academy, Park Hall Road, Mansfield Woodhouse, is officially a Good school.

The Manor Academy, Park Hall Road, underwent a full Ofsted Inspection earlier this month securing a good rating for overall effectiveness and all four main categories of pupil outcomes, teaching and learning, behaviour, and leadership.

This rating shows how much the school has transformed after being placed in special measures in 2016 following a damning report that it was “failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education”.

In the new report, Ofsted said “the quality of the education has been transformed since the last full inspection”.

The report highlighted the highly effective leadership of headteacher Katrina Kerry, who, with her leadership team, has ensured previous weaknesses have been tackled decisively and effectively, leading to good quality teaching and learning in all subject areas, including the Sixth Form.

Ms Kerry took over as acting principal in June 2017, following the resignation of previous principal Donna Trusler.

There was also praise for the strong links built with The Two Counties Trust and in particular the support provided by Dick Vasey, chief executive officer,in driving forward whole school improvement.

The report also stressed that academy governors were skilled and knowledgeable in monitoring the academy’s performance.

Mr Vasey said: “The Ofsted rating of good validates all the hard work Katrina, her team of dedicated staff and the students have undertaken during this last 18 months.

“Katrina’s appointment of headteacher from September 2018 underlines our commitment to drive forward and secure a truly outstanding education for all students, one in which every child who attends The Manor Academy can aspire to achieve their potential in a caring and safe environment.”

The inspectors saw strong teaching throughout all the subjects, while some teaching in maths and English was described as “exceptionally strong and truly inspiring”.

This was supported by pupils’ achievements and outcomes which are now judged to be good.

The quality of leadership at all levels of the academy was highlighted as a strength and staff morale is judged to be high.

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