School achieves first 'Good' rating in its history -- only five years after being 'Inadequate'

Park Vale Academy, in Top Valley, which teaches 900 pupils, aged 11 to 15, was branded ‘Inadequate’ by Ofsted only five years ago.

But it progressed to ‘Requires Improvement’ in 2021, and now it is celebrating the second-best rating that can be gained.

Beaming head teacher Steve Bowhay said: “This achievement is a credit to all the amazing staff, but also the students who impressed the inspectors with their conduct. Thankyou too to those parents who fed back such positive comments about the school.

"It goes to show that, as long as students attend well, they get a great experience at Park Vale and have every chance of success in the future.”

Park Vale was formerly known as Top Valley School, but changed its name when becoming an academy in 2012. It is now part of Redhill Academy Trust, which is run by chief executive officer Andrew Burns and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Simon Healy.

The inspectors’ report said the school was “well-led and managed”, with trust leaders providing “effective support”.

"Pupils enjoy attending and the school has high expectations of what they can achieve and how they should behave,” the report continued.

"Staff and pupils say the school has improved. It is calm and orderly, with clear routines that pupils understand and follow. Most pupils behave well, and they enjoy socialising and taking part in different activities and clubs.

"There are positive relationships between staff and pupils, who are polite and well-mannered and treat each other respectfully.”

Ofsted found that Park Vale and the trust had “worked well” to create a “broad and ambitious curriculum”. Most teachers “used their good subject-knowledge”, while most pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) achieved well.

There was “a clear system to deal with behaviour issues”, which meant lessons were “rarely disrupted”, while the school’s decision to ”prioritise improving attendance” was “starting to have an impact”, although it could still be improved.

Inspectors also praised “a well-thought-out programme for pupils’ broader development”. They learned about online safety, healthy eating, different religions and equality, and also benefited from ”comprehensive” careers support that “prepared them well for their next steps”.