A ONCE-failing school has been “transformed” in the past two years, Ofsted inspectors have said.

The education watchdog visited Tong Leadership Academy, Westgate Hill Street, earlier this month. It was the school’s first inspection since it became an academy in December 2016.

Formerly Tong High School, a damning report in 2015 ruled the school was inadequate and had “serious weaknesses”.

Ofsted rated the school ‘good’ in four out of the five inspection areas - behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and sixth-form.

However, the quality of education and the overall rating for the school is ‘requires improvement’.

The report says: “The school has been transformed over the past two years.

“Pupils stressed this to inspectors. The current principal has made sure that any changes have been necessary and that they are sustainable. Leaders at all levels have developed their practice and the school is in a strong position to make the further improvements it needs to make.”

It adds: “Pupils enjoy being at Tong Leadership Academy, but some pupils do not always

attend school regularly.

“The school is a calm and orderly place to learn. Staff and pupils get on very well together.

“School leaders and the actions they take have a positive influence on pupils’ development.

“Most pupils have positive attitudes in lessons. If poor behaviour does happen, teachers deal with it and explain to pupils how to change their behaviour.

“Pupils told us that behaviour in the school has improved a lot over the last three years.”

Staff are said to have “high expectations” of pupils and they make sure all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, have an equal chance to study everything on offer, in every lesson.

However, the report says the quality of education requires improvement.

Dan Styles, Principal of Tong Leadership Academy, said: “I am delighted that Ofsted has recognised the transformation that has taken place over the past few years, since the school joined Star Academies.

"These improvements would not have been possible without the support and commitment of our wonderful pupils, parents, carers and staff, who have been instrumental in their success, but we won’t stop here.

“We want our school to be outstanding in all areas so we are committed to making further improvements as we continue our transformation journey to help our pupils achieve even more.”

Laisterdyke Leadership Academy, which is also part of Star Academies, has also had a monitoring inspection after being rated ‘requires improvement’ in February.

The report said: “The evidence gathered in this inspection indicates that the school has not declined from its level of performance as judged at the previous inspection in February 2019.

"However, leaders need to take further, urgent action for the school to move towards being good at its next full inspection.”

Karen Jones, Principal at the school, said: "We are pleased to have received a positive outcome following the academy’s recent Ofsted monitoring visit.

"Ofsted acknowledged that we are taking effective action to improve the effectiveness of leadership and management of the academy.

"The inspectors also recognised the impact of the actions we have taken that have ‘significantly improved’ the behaviour and attitude of pupils.

"Together with the wider progress that has been made across the school since the full inspection earlier this year, these improvements have had a hugely positive impact on the school’s culture." She added: "Like all schools, the safety and wellbeing of our pupils is our number one priority so we are pleased that Ofsted reported that ‘there is a strong culture of safeguarding in the school’. We remain committed to driving up standards further and continuing to improve outcomes for our pupils, and we have every confidence that the school will continue to improve at pace.”