A phoenix from the ashes: the fall and subsequent meteoric rise of The Deanery
The impressive turnaround at Swindon's newest secondary school
Local issues deserve local journalists holding the powers that be to account. With local news in decline, knowing what is going on in our communities is more essential than ever. We can only exist because some of our readers are willing to support our work. If you value what we do, please consider becoming a paid supporter to ensure we can keep doing it.
You’re reading the paid for edition of The Ink - curated community news straight to your inbox in association with Swindon Link. This means you will only be able to see the first part of the piece unless you are a paid subscriber.
By subscribing, you are supporting the most exciting and ambitious media venture in the South West enabling us to keep you informed and up to date with everything Swindon. A subscription gives us the ability to send news analysis, updates and features direct to your inbox.
If you upgrade to be a paid subscriber you will get news sent directly to your inbox four days a week.
Upgrade now and get your first month free. The ultimate try before you buy.
It only costs £5.99 a month - less than parking in Swindon town centre for an hour once a week - and you'll be supporting independent quality journalism in Swindon.
Bringing the education of our children back from the brink
By Amanda Wilkins
Back in September 2023, The Ink reported on the disastrous failure of The Deanery CofE Academy, following a damming Ofsted report.
The secondary school, which had opened a mere four years earlier in 2019, failed its Ofsted inspection quite spectacularly after it received a shocking ‘inadequate’ rating which put the school directly into special measures.
At the time, the Ofsted report stated that the school was failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and that the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school could not demonstrate the capacity to secure the necessary improvement required.
The initial promise made by The Deanery’s first Head Teacher, Linda Culling, before the school opened, that stated, “The innovative and challenging curriculum will nurture confident, secure, imaginative and selfless students,” now seemed woefully unachievable.
Within the first four years of opening the Deanery had gone through a staggering four head teachers, and parents’ confidence in the school and its ability to adequately educate their children was reduced to zero.
Things came to a head back in September 2023 following a litany of problems at the start of the academic school year, with parents claiming major safeguarding issues, which included a lack of timetables for students and the new Year 7 consort left in the canteen with no timetabled classes. It was, in short, an unmitigated disaster.
After the school repeatedly ignored their concerns, parents banded together in large numbers to fill in the Parentview section of Ofsted’s website to raise their fears. This resulted in 230 complaints being sent to the school’s regulating body which triggered the ill-fated Ofsted Inspection.
Following on from this inspection, the Chief Inspector of Ofsted was of the opinion that '…this school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement in the school.'
At the time of The Deanery's first ever inspection Dan Neal was head teacher, but he tendered his resignation shortly after the report, citing commuting distance as the reason for his exit, leaving Kelly Osborne-James as an interim head.
The scathing report stated that: "Pupils at this school do not receive an acceptable standard of education. Gaps in the curriculum and frequent staff changes mean that pupils do not learn well enough over time. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) do not have their needs understood and met.
"Pupils are keen to do well. They value the extra-curricular opportunities that are on offer, but they hope to be given more choice of clubs and visits in the future.
"Parents and carers do not feel listened to and communicated with. This has led to a feeling of mistrust and being ‘let down’ by the school. The trust has an overgenerous view of the school’s strengths and weaknesses. This means that not enough has been done quickly enough for the school to improve.
"The school does not accurately understand the needs of pupils with SEND. This means that teachers cannot provide the adaptations that pupils need order to learn. Pupils who do not read as well as their peers are not supported to catch up.
"There have been frequent changes in leadership since the school opened in 2019. The current school leadership structure is new and interim. Vacancies for teachers are often filled with temporary staff on a long-term basis. The trust understands that improvements are needed. However, it does not appreciate the scale of change needed to secure an acceptable quality of education for pupils. Improvement planning does not identify clear actions to take and by when.
"The school and the trust do not communicate well with parents. This has led to a sense of disappointment and mistrust. Staff want the school to be successful, but they do not always feel listened to by leaders. Repeated changes in systems and procedures, as well as staff vacancies, increase workload.”