The new half term has started with a burst of activity. We have spent the last two days conducting a very thorough audit of every aspect of the Academy. We've essentially mirrored the official OfSTED inspection process but with a much larger team that included a trained OfSTED inspector, John Baumber, the Chief Executive of LST, our local authority link inspectors, the other two Principal´s from Hampton and Ipswich Academies and two colleagues from Sweden.
 
Over fifty lesson observations were conducted and we worked through the whole of the OfSTED inspection process. A number of student groups, including the Student Council, made a significant contribution, as did the staff, who prepared very thoroughly for the audit. We have also been looking at the information from the questionnaires filled in by staff, students and parents. Members of the Academy Council also presented parent views.
 
The benefit for me as a Principal and for the Academy as an organisation is that we have gathered an enormous amount of information so that we can celebrate where progress has been made over the last year. We can also create our Activity Plan, setting out what we need to do to make improvements as we move into the next academic year. This is the sort of process that takes considerable time and energy but signals our absolute commitment to challenging ourselves so that we can move the academy forward. I´d like to thank everyone involved in the audit process. We know that there is much work still to do but are now confident that we are a school with a good capacity for continued improvement.
 
Nick Jones, Principal