First Monitoring Visit Success
The King Henry School community is celebrating the outcome of its first Ofsted monitoring visit which took place on 6th December 2022. Whilst the school remains in the category of special measures, safeguarding is effective. This judgement on a key aspect of school improvement has been made possible by the support and expertise provided by Leigh Academies Trust (LAT) who are working towards finalising the transfer of King Henry School (KHS) with the Department of Education on 1st April this year, when the school’s name will proudly change to Leigh Academy Bexley.
The report highlights that “The school is going through significant changes” expertly led and managed by newly appointed John Dixon, the Principal of The Halley Academy, which achieved Good with Outstanding in the areas of Leadership and Management, Personal Development and Sixth Form just seven months ago. Ofsted have acknowledged that “leaders have prioritised pupils’ safety and the raising of expectations for pupils’ behaviour” and that there are “clear expectations for both pupils and staff”.
High praise was awarded in that “Leaders from LAT were quick to establish systems and processes to manage truancy.” Ofsted “did not find pupils walking around corridors or widespread truanting from lessons as had been identified at the previous inspection” and “incidents of truancy have decreased”.
The monitoring visit identified that the school systems to “keep pupils safe are embedded”. The recruitment of additional senior leaders has ensured that “areas of the school are well supervised”. Pupils said, ‘We feel safer at school.’” Also “pupils told inspectors that they feel things have improved”. They say “the staff are strict and that expectations are higher.”
Following the many challenges that the school has faced, LAT commissioned a full external review of safeguarding at KHS during Module 2. The resulting report commented on strong progress by leaders to strengthen all aspects of safeguarding since LAT began supporting KHS in September. The report stated that, “Students were observed throughout the day as friendly and engaging; members of staff were approachable in their responses and in their interactions with children”. Wasting no time at all, the school is already implementing all recommendations from the report through a detailed action plan so that systems are fully robust.
John Dixon, Principal at King Henry School said: “I am pleased that our first monitoring visit has been successful and that the students at King Henry School are now being effectively safeguarded and fully supported. The students, families and wider community deserve a school to be truly proud of. Leigh Academies Trust will deliver an inclusive education for all.”
Tracey Trusler, Academies Director for Leigh Academies Trust said: “I am delighted that the improvements made at the school were plain to see and would like to thank the Principal, senior leaders and staff for their hard work in bringing this about. I am confident that the school will go from strength to strength”.
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