A Cambridgeshire secondary school has had its Ofsted rating dropped after a “significant minority” of pupils were found to “behave poorly”.

St Ivo Academy, in St Ives, was previously rated as ‘good’ but was downgraded to ‘requires improvement’ following an Ofsted inspection.

The Ofsted inspection took place in November last year and the academy received the final report on Tuesday, February 1, which it says has been communicated to parents.

School Principal Sam Griffin said : "St Ivo is a school with huge potential, brilliant students and a committed team, and there are many positive aspects in this report. But overall, the grading is disappointing. Our improvement plans are well underway, we are seeing results, and we have a clear path to providing the best possible education that all our pupils deserve.

“I am determined to see every child in our care excel and be happy at school. That’s why we are refining some of our existing systems and establishing new routines to support all our pupils to continue to achieve their full potential.

“I am proud of our staff who continue to go above and beyond with their talent and care for our pupils, and I am pleased that Ofsted has noted the quality of education that our teachers tirelessly provide.”

The inspection report published by Ofsted rated the school as ‘requires improvement’ relating to behaviour and attitude, personal development, and leadership and management.

However, the school was rated as ‘good’ in relation to the quality of education and its sixth-form provision.

The report said that the behaviour of a “significant minority” of pupils was “not as positive as it should be”.

It added that while behaviour was “calm and orderly” in lessons, outside of class pupils sometimes “behave poorly”.

The report went on to say that some pupils do not think staff interventions stopped the poor behaviour among a “significant minority of pupils”.

It also said that not all pupils feel confident to report concerns to an adult.

The inspection report said teachers need to be provided with the “right training and support” to bring improvements in the oversight of behaviour, bullying and alternative provision.

It explained that while systems have been created to record information regarding bullying, behaviour, safeguarding and alternative provision, many leaders do not routinely share information or look at the collective impact.

Because of this, inspectors said that school leaders do not have a “sharp insight” into the quality of some of the provision at the school.

The report also said that pupils lack an understanding of how important topics such as discrimination and relationships impact on their self-esteem and identity.
Inspectors said the school needs to ensure the delivery of students’ personal development topics support them to better understand things such as respect, peer pressure and tolerance.

The report did recognise that the quality of education at the school is good, highlighting in the report that students at the sixth form achieve well.
CEO of the Astrea Academy Trust, Rowena Hackwood, said: "Mr Griffin and his team have the “right plans” in place to “deliver a brilliant education for all”.

She added: “With the support of the trust, St Ivo has established some significant ongoing improvements, including a number of changes to behaviour systems and routines during the summer term last year, a review of all procedures relating to students learning in alternative provision, and rapid changes to the teaching of personal development.

“St Ivo has a strong foundation on which to improve, Mr Griffin and his team should be proud of the quality of education they are already providing and of their sixth form provision.


“They are in a good position to continue their focus on making the improvements needed.”