It is always good when external bodies demonstrate their faith and confidence in your work and over the last few weeks Archway has been lucky enough to have had not one but two such shows of appreciation. On Monday 26th November Amanda Spielman, HM Chief Inspector of Education visited Wollaton Park to film her piece for the launch of Ofsted’s Annual Report. This report was aired on television and covered fully in the media. Amanda toured the Academy, met with student leaders, was interviewed by student reporters and had lunch with a group of student representatives from across the Academy. In her speech Amanda stated: ‘…I was lucky enough to visit Bluecoat Wollaton Academy…, which is not only a fantastic school, but one which prides itself on high expectations for SEND pupils and sees them making strong progress as a result…’ Amanda was accompanied by Emma Ing, the Regional Director for Ofsted based in Nottingham. Emma was equally positive about Bluecoat Wollaton explaining that; ‘Inclusivity is at the heart of every aspect of this school…’ Branwen Jeffreys, the BBC Education Correspondent covered the event. The Nottingham Evening Post also covered the story of the visit which you can find here.
In addition to all of these very supportive comments Stuart Anderson, Principal of Bluecoat Wollaton also won this year’s Nottingham Evening Post Awards for head teacher of the year. This built on our successes of 2017 where the Principal of Bluecoat Beechdale Academy won School of the Year and Alan Butters won Support Staff member of the year. It is great to have both national and local recognition of the schools across the Trust.
Written: December 2018