A small secondary school no longer requires significant improvement, England's chief inspector of schools has ruled.

The education watchdog Ofsted states that Beacon Hill Community School in Aspatria no longer has 'serious weaknesses' following a fresh inspection recently.

Ofsted has been monitoring the 122-pupil school and tracking improvements since Beacon Hill School was judged to be 'inadequate' in June last year.

In a letter to parents, headteacher David Millne (CORR)  said: "I am delighted that the HMI (Her Majesty's Inspector) has taken our school out of 'serious weaknesses' and has stated that Beacon Hill has improved significantly since the last inspection."
He added: "This report has come at the right time for the school and has confirmed that Beacon Hill is very much moving in the right direction. 

"The inspection team acknowledged the significant challenges and changes faced by the school this past year, and recognised the leadership capacity within to move quickly to a good grading and beyond."

He also acknowledged the support he and colleagues had received from Ofsted over the last 16 months.

Beacon Hill School now 'requires improvement' overall, a grade three on Ofsted's four-point scale.

In a breakdown of areas inspected, the personal development, welfare and behaviour of pupils is now judged to be 'good'.

Meanwhile, three other areas - outcomes for pupils; teaching, assessment and learning quality; and the effectiveness of leadership and management - all 'require improvement'.

Inspectors' key findings from their visit on September 30 and October 1 include:

  • standards are rising, however too few pupils exceed the progress expected of them in English and maths
  • teaching quality is improving but it is not consistently strong enough
  • too many students are absent from school, impacting on their progress and success
  • leadership is variable across the school
  • students' literacy skills are not well developed across subjects
  • teachers' knowledge and expectations of new starters in year seven are not high enough, which slows their progress.

Beacon Hill School's strengths, according to Ofsted, include teachers' marking which helps pupils to improve their work, the reading 'catch up' programme is well organised and results in swift progress, good careers advice for pupils of all ages, French teaching and learning is strong, and pupils behave well and they have very good relationships with staff. 

The school also has a 'broad and balanced curriculum' and no pupil leaves Beacon Hill without going into further education, work or another form of training.

Mr Millne is among those credited for their efforts.

Lead inspector Dawn Platt wrote in her report: "The new headteacher and deputy headteacher have taken a firm leader in driving swift improvement across the school.

"They recognise the school's strengths and areas of development: self-evaluation is realistic."

She added that Mr Millne and deputy Danny Gee are 'outward-looking in their priority for improvement', having sought and worked with a number of organisations in their bid to drive up standards.

Suggestions for further improvement at the Aspatria school include improving leadership and governance by strengthening links with local primary schools; improving teaching by providing activities which challenge students of all abilities; and continue to drive up attendance by working with families of pupils who are frequently absent from school.