School celebrates first ever Good grade

Staff and students at Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy are celebrating their latest report card

A Derbyshire school has been handed its first ever 'Good' Ofsted report.

The Ormiston Ilkeston Enterprise Academy has been graded Inadequate or Requires Improvement since forming in 2012, when it replaced Ilkeston School Specialist Arts College.

But the most recent visit to the school, run by the Ormiston Academies Trust, has resulted in a Good overall rating.

Principal Simon Leach, who joined the Ilkeston school in January 2023, said he felt incredibly proud of the staff and students.

Inspectors said the academy is “a caring and welcoming school” where well-behaved children “enjoy their lessons and do their best”.

The report found the quality of education was good, staff and pupils enjoyed positive relationships, and the school offers a wide-range of experiences.

Mr Leach said: “The staff are incredibly passionate and work hard every day, the students have embraced all the changes and everything we’ve asked of them.

“We focused on improving school culture, we generated our values and we spoke about them constantly. Everybody knows what that means.

“The other things that made a difference were introducing strong routine, and we made sure we teach pupils the things they deserve to know.”

The school has been under the direction of a new principal since January 2023

The verdict is likely to be one of Ofsted’s last inspections with an overall grading, a practice scrapped by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer this month.

Ofsted will continue to inspect schools against the same standards, but will now only issue gradings related to individual aspects of performance.

Mr Starmer said it would provide parents with a "richer picture" of what a school does well, and where it requires improvement.

Education professionals had for years argued whether one overall grade can sum up the complexity of a school - a debate which intensified following the death of head Ruth Perry, who took her own life after learning her school was set to be deemed Inadequate.

Mr Leach said: “The devil is always in the detail but what Ofsted do doesn’t change my role - all we want to do is to improve as much as we can.

“What we do is really important and we have 1,000 students that rely on this school being the best it can be.”