Manor School in Raunds rated inadequate as new Ofsted report criticises leadership and 'inconsistent' teaching quality

The school was last visited by Ofsted in May 2020 where it maintained its good rating, however in the years since it has seen changes to leadership and faced challenges that have seen its rating drop.

Manor School has been part of the Nene Education Trust since November 2011.

A Nene Education Trust spokesman said: "The board of trustees of Nene Education Trust acknowledge the findings of the recent Ofsted inspection report for Manor School, which rated the school’s overall effectiveness as ‘inadequate’, and it takes the judgement very seriously.

"We want to assure our community that we remain fully committed to supporting Manor School through this challenging period.

"The school’s rising results in this year’s GCSEs and A-levels demonstrated how Manor School is improving with interim principal Adam Crawte at the helm alongside the new leadership team he has implemented at the Raunds’ school.”

There are 1,003 pupils currently enrolled at the school in Mountbatten Way, which caters to students aged 11 to 19 with 148 of these pupils currently in sixth form.

On the result, interim principal Adam Crawte said: “We know that the school is making the right changes to improve the education of our students and acknowledge all the feedback following the recent Ofsted inspection, which agreed with many of the improvement priorities the new leadership team had identified.

“We acknowledge there is still work to do, however the fabulous staff, students and community that make up our school are on a journey together to make Manor a great school for our community.

"Crucially we have made the important first steps and these will continue in earnest in this academic year and beyond.”

The report, published online today (October 2), says the school requires improvement with regards to its behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and sixth form provision, and also noted that its quality of education and leadership and management was inadequate.

The departure of its former principal, Dr Louise Newman, in June 2024 after 10 months in charge has resulted in interim principal Adam Crawte taking over from July, until the end of the academic year in July 2025.

He said the visit from Ofsted inspectors in the last week of term was ‘really really bad timing.’

A passage from the report reads: "Over recent years, the school’s development journey has been unsettled by changes to staffing and leadership.

"This has affected the consistency of the implementation of the curriculum, school routines and policies.

"This has been a factor in pupils not achieving as well as they should, resulting in dissatisfaction from some parents and carers.

"The delivery of the curriculum is weak.

"Staff do not routinely check that pupils are secure in what they have learned.

"They often present new learning before pupils have applied or practised sufficiently what they have been taught.

"There are few opportunities for pupils, including those with SEND, to revisit prior learning to help them to strengthen their recall of important knowledge. Pupils receive work that does not always challenge them to think deeply.”

When the Northants Telegraph visited the school in September before the new term for its safeguarding training day, Nene Education Trust CEO Chris Hill recognised the impact leaders have on children’s development.

At the time, he said: “We need to remind everyone of the core principles. It’s a challenging job at times, so we have to listen and know that our behaviour has an impact on children.

“We have to keep pushing the positive vibes, if it is going to benefit our children, it’s worth doing."

Some parents have said that, following the changes to leadership, they do not think this is a fair reflection of the school now.

Others have been more critical in their assessment.

Mike Turner took his child out of the school due to the ‘mental health impact’ caused by what he calls ‘inadequacies’ at Manor.

Speaking about the report, he said: “After countless complaints to the school, through the trust, our MP, and finally through the Department of Education, I'm pleased that the condition of education and management at the school has been officially recognised by this Ofsted review.

"Sadly, I continue to have little faith in Nene Education Trust and just wish the school would be handed over to the government or a trust with a proven track record with secondary school management. ”This is the only secondary school under Nene Education Trusts wing and they have proven short of being able to deliver a secondary education to our children. Unfortunately the damage done to our daughter cannot be undone.”

Odette Harrison, another parent, has criticised former principal Dr Newman for putting ‘too much energy’ into uniform standards rather than the students’ education.

This comment is a reference to what some parents have called ‘shoegate’, where the school enforced strict rules about pupils’ footwear following an error on their published acceptable uniform list.

The former principal said that ‘the smart and correct wearing of uniform is directly linked to raising standards of behaviour.’

Another parent, who did not want to be named, claimed that the school mishandled the education of her autistic child.

They said: “The day Ofsted went into school they rang me saying my child would only be in an hour due to deregulation. In other words, get the challenging children out for the inspection.”

Ofsted says in the report that SEND provision is substandard because expectations for pupils are too low.

However the report does go on to say that ‘leaders have started to put in place systems to address these shortcomings’, and that strategies are in place to boost attendance, and early indications suggest these are proving effective.

The report adds: “The school has introduced a new strategy for promoting and checking on pupils’ attendance. It has started to address the barriers that pupils, particularly those with SEND and disadvantaged, may face.

"This approach is having a positive impact on securing improved attendance rates, which are now not dissimilar to those found nationally.

"With support from the multi-academy trust, new leaders have quickly identified and acted on the areas in need of rapid improvement.

"While at an early stage, the new policies and procedures are beginning to have a positive impact on improving provision. In English and in the sixth-form provision, the quality of teaching is more consistent and pupils’ learning more secure.”

It also notes that the arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Finally, interim principal Adam Crawte said: “The school's commitment to improvement has been recognised by Ofsted and the positive changes are evident in the improved outcomes for Years 11 and 13 this summer.

"Positive feedback from students, parents, and staff also reflects the improvements in the school.

"Manor School is confident in its ability to continue building on these successes and ensure a bright future for all our students.”

The full report can be found online here.