Corby secondary praised for 'ambitious' curriculum as it moves up Ofsted rankings to 'good'

Ofsted have declared a Corby school to be ‘good’ following their latest visit.

Inspectors praised Corby Business Academy’s aspirations and its ambitious curriculum.

The two previous inspections at the school – in 2016 and 2019 – found it required improvement.

A report praised the school’s support for pupils across all key areas, including the quality of education and behaviour toward the leadership and management.

The report stated: “This is a good school that serves its community well. Leaders have high aspirations for their pupils and promote the school’s values of ‘commit, believe and achieve.”

The report found that leaders have brought about significant improvement at the school, stating that they #focus on providing an ambitious curriculum for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).’

Inspectors also commented on pupil behaviour saying: “In lessons and at social times, pupils behave well. Pupils say that staff apply the behaviour policy consistently. The school is calm and orderly.”

The school’s pastoral care provision was highlighted in the report as ‘strong’ explaining that pupils know who to speak to if they have any concerns and they know that bullying is not acceptable.

Teachers were observed to have ‘secure subject knowledge’ and to be ‘passionate about what they teach’ while leaders were commended for making sure that ‘pupils with SEND can access the same ambitious curriculum as everyone else’.

The support for pupils’ personal development was praised and governance was held up as ‘strong and effective’.

Inspectors concluded that safeguarding was effective, with the report stating that ‘all staff know the exact actions to take if they have a concern about a pupil.’

Principal Simon Underwood said: “The report is a true reflection of all the hard work and dedication that our staff and students have put into transforming the school over the last four years.

“I would like to thank them and our colleagues from Brooke Weston Trust for supporting us on every step of this journey and enabling us to become the school we are today.

“Despite significant disruption to school during this time COVID-19, I am immensely proud of the collective effort made by everyone to drive improvements that has allowed us to achieve this fantastic report.”

Andrew Campbell, Chief Executive of Brooke Weston Academy, added: “Corby Business Academy has gone from strength-to-strength, and continues to improve in all areas.

“It is calm, purposeful, and respectful school environment where students want to learn. The comments made by inspectors are fantastic to read. “We are pleased that the report paints a picture of the ‘good’ school we know Corby Business Academy is.

“The whole school community deserves to be very proud of this report.”

The school, which is on the Priors Hall estate, opened in 2008 and is run by the Brooke Weston Trust. Alongside its mainstream offer it has a highly sought-after SEND provision. It also places a heavy emphasis on extra-curricular activities, with particular success in sport and music.

Headteacher Simon Underwood, a former professional footballer, took over the headship in 2018.