King Edward VII Sheffield: School battling academy conversion upgraded by Ofsted from 'inadequate' to 'good'

King Edward VII School, which has sites in Broomhill and Crosspool, had controversially been downgraded from ‘good’ to ‘inadequate’ by the education watchdog following a visit by inspectors in September 2022. The shock report meant it was automatically due to be converted into an academy and forced to join a multi-academy trust, in line with the Department for Education’s policy, despite the school’s leaders and many parents opposing the move.

Ofsted inspectors returned to King Edward VII School in May to carry out a new two-day inspection and the school said today, Tuesday, July 4, it had been rated ‘good’ overall and for every one of the criteria on which it was judged this time. Last time it had been rated ‘good’ or ‘requires improvement’ in all areas except for ‘leadership and management’, which was deemed ‘inadequate’, leading to the overall rating of 'inadequate’.

The new report does not appear to have been published yet on Ofsted’s website but the school’s headteacher declared herself ‘delighted’ with the outcome. The school said the ‘historic’ judgement meant the school was: “no longer eligible for intervention from the Department for Education, with reference to the academy order that was issued on the 12 December 2023, under the Education and Inspections Act 2006.”

The school said: “This historic achievement, and occasion for this iconic school, was secured in eight months, from September 2022 to May 2023. Linda Gooden, headteacher, school leaders and the governing board, led the school from an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted judgement to a ‘good’ Ofsted judgement. Rapid and sustained improvements have been made in a short period of time as a direct result of high quality, effective strategic leadership.”

It added that Ms Gooden was ‘very pleased to receive the final inspection report and she is delighted with the outcome of the inspection process’. It said school leaders were very pleased inspectors had this time concluded that ‘the arrangements for safeguarding are effective’ and that ‘leaders have taken robust action to address’ the concerns raised at the last inspection.

The school said Ofsted inspectors had this time praised many aspects, including the ‘ambitious curriculum’, teachers’ ‘strong subject knowledge’, and high pupil attendance rates. It said inspectors had identified two areas for improvement which had ‘already been included as priorities in the School Improvement Plan 2023-2024’.

In a joint statement, Sheffield Labour MPs Olivia Blake, Paul Blomfield, Clive Betts and Gill Furniss said: “We congratulate KES on this fantastic news. To see the school receive good across all areas in this report is a brilliant achievement and is credit to the tireless work of the school leadership, staff, pupils and parents.

"In light of this development, we have written to the Minister to request the academisation order is revoked, so that King Edward’s school, and its pupils, can continue to flourish."

They have jointly written to the Secretary of State for Education, Gillian Keegan, caling on her to ‘review and rescind the forced academisation order as a matter of urgency’ in light of the Ofsted reappraisal. The MPs said that the news was a ‘testament to the tireless work of the school leadership, staff, pupils and parents.’

The Star has contacted the Department for Education asking it to confirm whether plans to convert the school to academy status have now been scrapped.