Ventnor school St Francis major Ofsted improvement

St Francis Academy has been praised by Ofsted after the findings of its November inspection were revealed.

In its report, inspectors saw all the adults at the academy share 'the same determination' for all pupils to achieve well, including those who need extra support.

They say pupils were proud of their learning, achieved well in all subjects and felt happy and safe.

The academy has joined the Diocese of Chichester Academy Trust but was previously part of the Portsmouth and Winchester Diocesan Academies Trust from 2017.

The last time Ofsted inspected the school, in January 2016, it was judged to be inadequate.

Since then changes, under the different trusts, has led the school to be branded as inclusive by Ofsted, and said leaders are ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Inspectors said appropriate and effective support helps these pupils to achieve very well across the curriculum.

St Francis Academy pupils celebrating their Ofsted.

An area the school needs to improve, however, is monitoring how well pupils have learnt the curriculum, in subjects other than maths and English.

Another area Ofsted said for improvement was "leaders have broadly identified the knowledge and skills for each subject. However, this is not accurate enough to ensure that staff can precisely build on pupils’ prior learning."

Action is said to have already been taken to 'address the weakness' with training for subject leaders to help them more accurately check what pupils have learned and remembered.

Principal of St Francis, Alex Augustus, said they were delighted with the outcome.

He said: "It recognises the hard work and dedication of staff and children at our school and is a big step towards realising our vision of providing an ‘outstanding’ education for the children and the families of Ventnor."

Mr Augustus also acknowledged the support of their new trust, which was highlighted in Ofsted's report.