INTERIM college principal Val Bailey is confident of putting Mid Cheshire College back on track by the time Ofsted inspectors return.

Val spoke to the Guardian about her role in improving the performance of the college following an ‘inadequate’ Ofsted rating.

Val has been in charge since June after replacing college principal Richard Hollywood.

The college achieved the top Ofsted rating of outstanding in all areas following an inspection in 2008.

However that rating had fallen to inadequate, the lowest of the ratings, in all but one of the areas looked at by Ofsted, following an inspection in January.

“To a certain extent my role is to put the college back on the right track because it had a not particularly good Ofsted inspection,” said Val.

“So the role was very much to get the curriculum and the quality back up to where it should be.

“You’ve got to put right what’s happened, and you’ve got to move the college forward at the same time.

“I am going to be here until the next Ofsted inspection, which I’m expecting to be sometime between the end of next term and the summer term.

“We need to achieve a much better grade than the college had previously, and need to ensure the teaching and learning quality and what our students experience is good.

“We are making a number of changes in terms of how the teaching happens in the classroom, how assessments are done and how we observe the staff.”

She said the aim of the action plan she and her team had produced was to obtain a decent inspection when inspectors visit again.

She said: “It has got to be an inspection whereby when the inspectors come in they say you have made significant improvements since the last inspection and the students are achieving their qualifications as they go through the year.

“I am confident we will see those improvements. It is a hard job, but I love the challenge.

“As we develop in terms of what we want to do and are going to do over this year, it is about making sure every child who walks through that door gets a really good deal.”

The college has been made safer and more secure, she said, and there was an emphasis on students wearing their ID lanyards, arriving on time and ready for work.

She added: “It’s nice to be able to say we are turning this place around, and we want it to be the best college it can be for the students.

“We want the students to come here and have a fabulous time, but this is not a holiday camp and they are going to work hard.”