September 13, 2016 11.17 am This story is over 90 months old

School offers helping hand to ‘special measures’ Lincoln secondary

A school in Welton near Lincoln is offering a helping hand to its neighbouring secondary after it was placed in special measures. William Farr Church of England Comprehensive School is supporting Cherry Willingham Community School to make improvements after it was placed in special measures over a year ago. The informal arrangement involves sharing expertise, staff and resources…

A school in Welton near Lincoln is offering a helping hand to its neighbouring secondary after it was placed in special measures.

William Farr Church of England Comprehensive School is supporting Cherry Willingham Community School to make improvements after it was placed in special measures over a year ago.

The informal arrangement involves sharing expertise, staff and resources in order to continue the improvements already made.

Since its inspection by Ofsted in June 2015, Cherry Willingham Community School has had three monitoring visits with each confirming improvements across the school.

The latest visit observed that “there has been an improvement in the quality of teaching” as a result of “increased focus on improving the quality of teaching through weekly training sessions”.

The government now wants all schools ‘requiring improvement’ to convert to academies and Cherry Willingham is currently awaiting proposals for potential sponsor academies to be unveiled.

William Farr Headteacher Andy Stones said: “The arrangement makes sense since the schools are only 15 minutes apart and we are delighted to be able to offer help and support to our colleagues in Cherry Willingham until a formal academy arrangement is sorted out.”

Headteacher at Cherry Willingham, Elaine Stiles, said: “We have come a long way in the last year and Ofsted has recognised that but we are absolutely committed to reaching our full potential and continuing to help pupils do the same.”