John Ferneley headteacher keen to continue making progress after latest Ofsted rating

The latest report rated the Scalford Road school as hitting the ‘expected standard’ after the previous inspection gave a grading of ‘requires improvement’ two years ago.

Inspectors praised the way the school has improved attendance record of students and how they are given leadership roles which promote responsible behaviour.

One of the most telling passages in the report states: “John Ferneley College is a welcoming, friendly and inclusive school.

"Pupils enjoy being part of its community. They feel happy and safe. Staff know pupils well and relationships are generally very positive.”

Mr Claridge, who took over at the school shortly after the last Ofsted report, told the Melton Times: “I’m really, really delighted with the outcomes, considering where we were two-and-a-half years ago it’s a real achievement for us.

"A lot of the areas we needed to work on were around the quality of education and around consistency of delivery and systems in the school and also improving the culture of the school because at that time it certainly felt it wasn’t a particularly cohesive school culture.

"So a lot of our work since then has been improving quality of education, introducing the whole school system for how we want lessons to be delivered and structured and also particularly involving students in a lot of the decisions that we make.

"Also making sure we have better relationships with the community and with families, which we’ve really tried to do over the last two-and-a-half years, and that was recognised in this latest Ofsted report.”

He added: “That opening statement that it is a welcoming, friendly and inclusive school is heart-warming considering where the school was at before.”

The inspectors found that ‘rates of persistent and severe absence have significantly reduced’ at John Ferneley College although they noted that ‘pupils' overall attendance is below the national average, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities’.

Mr Claridge, who praised the support of the wider Mowbray Education Trust, said strategies were in place to continue improving attendance records: “We’ve tried lots of different strategies to encourage students back into school and to encourage better behaviour.

"We have lots of personalised strategies. We write birthday cards for every single student and deliver them on their birthday, we do lots of shout-outs in assembly about things that pupils have achieved, we have lots of competitions between tutor groups for best attendance and best reward points and lots of prizes for those tutor groups that win those across each year group.”

Each tutor group also elects ambassadors, who serve as a link between pupils and teaching staff to give feedback and suggest changes.

Mr Claridge, who has more than 1,000 students at John Ferneley College, added: “It’s about recognising that if you want to have a successful school every stakeholder – students, staff, parents – everybody has to feel like they have got a voice.

"If we want the school to be high achieving, but developing students holistically as well, it is about creating that community and culture where everyone feels they are an important part of the institution.”