Glowing Ofsted report for Hadley Learning Community

In their first routine monitoring visit since the pandemic, inspectors said there was enough evidence to suggest the school would be officially judged as ‘outstanding’ if a full inspection was carried out this summer.

The report said: “This is a school which sits at the heart of the local community. Pupils are proud to attend here, and wear their uniform with pride.

“Leaders understand the community they serve exceptionally well. They have developed a highly ambitious and inclusive curriculum . . . parents are highly complimentary about the school’s work.”

Hadley Learning Community headteacher Daniel Roycroft said: “I am very proud of our wonderful staff and students.

“The hard work and commitment of all staff to ensure students have an excellent quality of education has been recognised throughout the report. This was recognised by the inspectors who said our staff went ‘above and beyond’ for our students.”

Hadley Learning Community is one of three secondary schools which are part of the Telford-based Learning Community Trust, and was judged as ‘Good’ in its last full Ofsted inspection.

On their latest visit, the inspectors commented on the ‘calm and orderly environment’ around the campus, and said pupils were ‘polite and respectful to staff and visitors’.

“There is enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if we were to carry out a section five inspection now,” they stated.

Learning Community Trust chief executive Dr Gill Eatough said: “For Ofsted to say this in the opening paragraph of their report is a huge tribute to the hard work done by our fantastic HLC team.”

“We are thrilled that Ofsted specifically recognised the efforts which are made to ensure we deliver an all-round education, built on strong relationships between staff and pupils.”

“We have worked very hard to strengthen both our academic curriculum, and the broad range of enrichment opportunities offered, and so it was pleasing to see this being acknowledged by the inspectors in their report.”

The report praised HLC’s team for continually reviewing and adapting the curriculum in response to the needs and aspirations of pupils, who were described as ‘attentive and engaged positively with their learning’.

“Pupils have a clear sense of what they are learning, and can talk with confidence about the progress they are making,” it said.

The inspectors also recognised the ‘strong subject knowledge’ of HLC’s teachers, effective safeguarding practices, and the way in which the school had adapted its practices to cope with the Covid pandemic.

When it comes to careers advice available, the report added: “Pupils receive talks from local colleges and employers so that they have a clear understanding of the next steps that are available to them.

“Staff are highly supportive of leaders, and are proud to work at the school.”