School 'over the moon' with Ofsted report as new head is praised for improvements

School pupils and staff are ‘over the moon’ after inspectors praised their recently-appointed headteacher for making ’real improvements’.
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Boldon School was rated as ‘Good’ at its latest Ofsted inspection in September, after several years of being told to do better.

In May 2017 the secondary school underwent a full inspection and was rated as requiring improvements.

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Following a monitoring visit in March 2018, Ofsted said leaders and governors were not taking effective action to tackle the areas in need of improvement.

Boldon School headteacher Ian Noble.Boldon School headteacher Ian Noble.
Boldon School headteacher Ian Noble.

Now headteacher Ian Noble - who took over the position in March 2019 - has been recognised for his efforts to ensure the quality of teaching is improving in areas which have not performed well in the past.

In the report, which was published on October 7, Ofsted also said that good teaching and behaviour management is allowing students to progress well, with pupils’ personal development deemed as ‘exceptional’.

Pupils are also more interested in subjects and are achieving better exam results than in previous years.

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“We’re absolutely over the moon. The parents, the staff and students are all just delighted,” said Mr Noble.

Students at Boldon School enjoy a music lessonStudents at Boldon School enjoy a music lesson
Students at Boldon School enjoy a music lesson

“We have just implemented a much stronger behaviour monitoring system that looks at our achievements with teaching and learning at regular intervals throughout the year, and something we call disruption free learning, which makes a massive difference and helps with these achievements.”

He added: “We have excellent staff who go the extra mile for the kids and that is reflected in the personal development section where we were rated outstanding, which we are very proud of.

“[The report] was so positive about the students and the staff and that’s something that we really value.

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“It’s lovely for the staff to feel that final recognition that we are a good school and it’s given everybody at the school a massive vote of confidence in what we’re doing.”

Deputy head, Alison Ayre added: “This report is reflecting the good progress that we have been making for two or three years now and if you look at our recent exam results, this progress is reflected in that.”

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