A school has come out of special measures and is continuing its "journey of transformation", Ofsted inspectors say.
Heworth Grange School, in Gateshead, was judged as inadequate in 2017. It joined Consilium Academies the following year and has now been classed as "requires improvement", bringing the school out of what was formerly known as special measures.
After the latest visit, Ofsted inspectors said that leaders were very clear about what the school still needed to do to improve.
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The report highlights the successes achieved, such as improvements in the curriculum and in the provision for students with special educational needs or disabilities.
Inspectors said: " Heworth Grange School is on a journey of transformation. Since the previous inspection, there have been significant changes in leadership at all levels.
"Leaders from the trust are driving improvement with integrity. The majority of pupils talk positively about the changes they are seeing in school."
However, they noted that a number of improvements still had to be made. "Despite improvements, behaviour is not always good, particularly at break and lunchtimes," they said.
"Some pupils still do not make the right choices and are boisterous. Not all teachers challenge this behaviour consistently.
"Leaders are focused on building a respectful culture and have prioritised messages around bullying. Pupils can explain what bullying is and how they should report it.
"Pupils say that they have trusted adults in school whom they could turn to. However, some pupils feel that bullying is not always dealt with effectively. Logs show, and pupils agree, that teachers do take action. However, this does not always stop the bullying quickly enough. Pupils feel that some staff take bullying more seriously than others.
"Leaders have an accurate view of school priorities. They are passionate about driving improvement and change. They are invested in the academic success of all their pupils. Many pupils are beginning to share in these positive attitudes towards their learning. However, leaders’ rising expectations of what pupils can achieve are not currently fully evident in all classrooms."
Speaking to inspectors, children talked positively about the changes they were seeing in school, older students explained that behaviour was getting better, whilst year seven pupils described the school as "friendly".
Youngsters also talked about the extra-curricular opportunities available to them, including creative writing, cooking, music, magic and sports. Ofsted said parents appreciated the visits and trips the school had offered recently, including to the Royal Northern College of Music and the Birmingham Computing Convention.
Headteacher Allie Denholm, who took up her post in June 2020, said: "We have made some fantastic changes already at Heworth and this report showcases that we are on the right path.
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"I am incredibly proud of the feedback students gave inspectors, where they talked positively about the changes they are seeing in school. However, we are also very clear about the changes that still need to happen in order for us to meet our student and staff ambitions.
"I want to take this opportunity to thank our school and wider Consilium team for their ongoing hard work, support, and dedication to ensuring we continue to improve every aspect of education at Heworth Grange School."
David Clayton, chief executive at Consilium Academies, added: "It is fantastic to see that Ofsted has recognised the transformational changes that have been made at Heworth Grange since joining Consilium. We all strive to ensure that our children can achieve anything they choose which is especially reflected in the excellent comments about the careers provision on offer.
"We are proud that Ofsted has recognised that leaders from the trust are driving improvements with integrity, and this coupled with Allie’s focus will ensure that Heworth Grange not only continues to improve on every area of development but surpasses that goal in time."
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