‘Inadequate’ Burnley school praised for progress by Ofsted

Hameldon Community College was judged to be making “reasonable progress” and is set to receive a full inspection soon which could improve the rating of the Coal Clough Lane school.

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The secondary school has been the subject of three monitoring inspections since being graded as “inadequate” in 2013 with the latest being completed at the start of the month.

Since the last inspection in July 2014 the governors had formally resolved to seek academy status with sponsor Pennine Federation but the Department for Education decided that it was not possible due to the number of students on the school’s roll.

In the report inspector Terry Holland said: “The head teacher and senior leadership team continue to provide strong and effective leadership and management of the school.

“Students’ achievement across the school continues to improve as a result.

“The systems for monitoring and evaluating the quality of teaching are now well embedded and the quality of teaching has continued to improve.

“Importantly, with the local authority’s support, the school has developed criteria to help evaluate the impact of teaching on students’ outcomes and achievement.

“The programme of support for middle leaders has resulted in greater awareness of teaching and learning in their subjects and of their contribution to the school’s overall performance and improvement.”

However Mr Holland said that the most able students still need further improvement and that teachers need to encourage students to respond to guidance resulting from marking.

The town’s MP Gordon Birtwistle, said: “I’m delighted that the school has improved and it’s a credit to the hard work of the head teacher and everyone connected with the school.

“Schools in Burnley are generally doing very well at the moment.

“We want our students to receive the highest quality of education and the schools are having to step up to deliver that.”

Head teacher Gill Broom was unavailable for comment.