NOVA Hreod Academy is celebrating after it turned its fortunes around to receive a Good Ofsted rating for the first time in the school’s history.

The Akers Way school received good ratings all round in effectiveness of leadership and management, quality of teaching, learning and assessment, personal development, behaviour and welfare and outcomes for children.

Special praise was given to the principal’s high standards of discipline and behaviour across the school, pupils making good progress across all subjects, and the warm relationship between staff and pupils.

With the addition of principal Darren Barton the school has bounced back after it was given a Requires Improvement rating in 2013.

Mr Barton said he was delighted with the news:. He said: “The feedback from inspectors demonstrates just how far the academy has come since 2014 and is a fitting reward for the dedication and hard work of all our students and staff.

“Everyone at the academy has worked tirelessly to establish and maintain high standards and expectations of what can be achieved and this is making a real difference to the education that our students receive.

“Over the past two years, we have seen significant improvements right across the school – from teaching and learning to students’ behaviour and achievements at GCSE – so we’re delighted that this has now been recognised by Ofsted. We are now in an excellent position to deliver further progress and success for our students as we aim to reach ‘Outstanding’ in our next inspection.

“Our results over the past two years have been noticed across the town and are known to be impressive and now our admissions show that we are an increasingly popular school – with our highest number of first choice applications ever for year seven.”

Lead Ofsted inspector Andrew Lovett said in his report:;“the quality of teaching, learning and assessment has improved significantly in the last two years.”

The school has had a bumpy road to Ofsted success. In 1996 the then Hreod Parkway School failed its Ofsted inspection and was put in special measures.

In 2007 the school went on the Government’s National Challenge programme for struggling schools and was told to improve within three years or be shut down. It became an academy with United Learning in 2014

The school fell short of an outstanding rating because the rates of fixed-term exclusion remain too high, and high-rates of absence among disadvantaged pupils.