A Principal at a Bradford school that was wrongly given a poor grading by Ofsted has said it has galvanised staff at the school to provide an outstanding education for their pupils.
Whetley Academy was given a ‘requires improvement’ grading from the school regulator but later overturned their original verdict, given in June, and issued the academy a good rating.
In a letter, a spokesman from Ofsted ‘apologised unreservedly’ for any distress it caused to staff and parents and confirmed the school would be awarded a good grading.
Principal, Trish Gavins, 53, said that the corrected rating was for the parents
Trish Gavins said the new grading was for the parents who stood by the school.
who supported the school after they were wrongly given the poor classification.
She said: “It was really disappointing for the parents and a real shock for the staff here because we got good ratings in many areas. We knew the grading was not correct.
“But after the feeling of disappointment was a ‘right we’ll show them that we’re outstanding’ attitude and it mobilised us.
“School improvement is a bit like a jigsaw puzzle really, we want to improve upon our attendance and our good teaching.
“We’ve got all the pieces in place, we just have to sustain them and improve them. We have a great backing from the parents so nothing can stop us.
“We won’t be complaisant now we have the good, it’s just galvanised us to become outstanding.”
Whetley Academy has an above average number of pupils who are on free school meals and come from families where English is not spoken as a first language.