Irlam & Cadishead College Newsletter

P AGE 2
I SSUE 2
Message from the Chair of Governors
You will know by now that we had our second Ofsted monitoring visit on 17th and 18th May and all parents
should have had the opportunity of reading the Ofsted letter when we sent it home to you before
the holiday. The letter has now been published on both the Ofsted and the College websites.
We were really pleased that Ofsted now judge that ' Leaders and managers are taking effective action
towards the removal of special measures'. This is a big step forward for the College and our students.
Ofsted have acknowledged that progress is being made and that there is evidence of the hard work,
commitment of staff, students and parents and Carers.
Following the last Ofsted visit, the Principal, the governors, the local authority and Salford Academy Trust
needed to take more rapid and decisive action, which has happened and these actions have also been
externally quality assured by a number of recognised experts to ensure we are implanting rigorously
where needed.
Ofsted in particular commented on the 'strong focus on improving teaching and learning', the 'careers
information and guidance programme for pupils in key stage 4 is of good quality' and 'the quality of
teaching is improving'. Positive comments were made about the changes to student services with ' a
good humoured, nurturing approach that pupils appreciate'. 'Pupils attendance ... and behaviour is improving',
' better progress is being made by pupils who are currently in key stage 3, in response to higher
expectations of teachers and better planning of learning'.
More work is still needed in pupils’ achievements and narrowing 'the gap in performance between disadvantaged
pupils and their peers' and 'the performance of pupils currently in year 10 is more promising'.
There is further work to do in making sure that' pupils get a clear picture about what success looks like'
and making sure that pupils produce work of the highest standard. So whilst we are proud and appreciative
of the efforts by all, we will continue to drive forward for the rest of this school year.
We have been busy recruiting staff this year to ensure that there are the right number of teachers for
pupils to have a much more stable staff group over into next year. We have been really lucky so far as a
number of our successful candidates have negotiated early starts with us, so many have been able to arrive
from Easter onwards. Ofsted have been particularly generous in their praise of a number of subjects
and staff, for example we are very proud of the work on the library and the surrounding resource
area.
These are exciting and encouraging times and we look forward to supporting you and your family in the
future. There should be opportunities for a number of parents and carers to visit the school between now
and the end of the school year.
S. Lightup
Chair of Governors