Edenthorpe Hall Academy Astrea Academy Trust
EDENTHORPE HALL PRIMARY CELEBRATES ENDORSEMENT FROM
EXTERNAL REVIEW
++ National Charity praises Doncaster primary school for strong pupil progress ++
++ Edenthorpe recognised as “Good” in all categories ++
Doncaster primary school, Edenthorpe Hall Primary Academy, is today celebrating the findings of an external review by national education charity, Challenge Partners.
The professionally-led peer review praised the primary school for setting high aspirations and creating a supportive environment to enable pupils to improve, inside and outside of school.
Challenge Partners is a charity that works with over 400 schools nationally, carrying out annual Quality Assurance reviews of schools focusing on teaching and learning. Edenthorpe Hall is part of the Astrea Academy Trust, a family of 27 schools in South Yorkshire and Cambridgeshire.
The review took place earlier in February, and a school inspector and independent peer reviewers noted the following:
- School leaders have made many positive changes as part of a rapid improvement plan which has helped Edenthorpe to make significant progress across all year groups.
- Leaders are praised for making in-year improvements, for example the newly introduced ‘chatterbox’ and ‘reading gladiators’ – reading, speech and language initiatives which are giving pupils a “more diverse, interesting and challenging curriculum”.
- Children feel confident to contribute and ask questions, and they “know what academic success looks like”.
- Staff benefit from a range of training initiatives to ensure they are effective in their roles.
- Pupils respect each other. The teachers have “high expectations” of pupils’ behaviour which is “consistently positive” across the school.
- Pupils “love the challenge of learning”. They build confidence and resilience through learning and stay focused. They are highly engaged and progress for most pupils is strong.
Under Jonathan Moody’s leadership, Edenthorpe Hall Primary has established a number of new initiatives improve the quality of education, including a new music curriculum, introduced wider opportunities for pupils to take part in enrichment activities – like the baking club, debating club and trips to the theatre, and launched a new ‘house’ reward system, which the inspectors noted pupils respond well to. Children are also benefiting from significant investment in classrooms, which are now fit for purpose, vibrant and conducive for learning.
Challenge Partners’ findings also resonate with the improvement that Edenthorpe Hall is seeing academically. In 2017, 59% of children achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. In summer 2018, this increased to 63%.
Libby Nicholas, Chief Executive of Astrea said:
“This is an extremely encouraging set of findings from Challenge Partners, recognising the great work that has been going on at Edenthorpe Hall Academy. The school faced a number of challenges over the past few years, but the conclusions of Challenge Partners show just how far the academy has come in a relatively short space of time.
“We will now build on these very positive foundations, so that we can deliver the education that local children deserve. Our commitment at Astrea is that every one of our academies will provide an education that inspires beyond measure, and it’s clear that Edenthorpe is now well on its way to making that vision a reality. Huge congratulations to Jonathan and his team for this very positive endorsement.”
Principal Jonathan Moody said:
“I am delighted with the findings of the Challenge Partners Review. This is absolutely a testament to the hard work and commitment from all our children and staff to consistently improve. The reviewers found all our practices to be “Good” but I’m particularly proud that our pupils were described as highly engaged, respectful and confident individuals, with a love for learning. This is what it’s all about and I look forward to continuing on our journey towards excellence.”
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