DAMIAN Hinds left Winsford feeling inspired after discovering how the primary school which was once the second-worst performing in the country had turned itself around.
The Government’s education secretary spoke to the Guardian after visiting Oak View Academy, formerly known as Greenfields Primary School, on Friday.
The school was placed into special measures by Ofsted in 2012, and two years later it was ranked second-bottom in the national primary school league tables based on exam results.
But since being taken on by North West Academies Trust in 2014 and relaunched as Oak View, the school has gone from strength to strength – boasting a ‘good’ Ofsted rating and strong recent rankings for pupil progress.
“What a great school with very inspiring and amazingly committed leadership from the head and the academy trust,” Mr Hinds said.
“It has been great to meet some of the absolutely delightful kids and see some of the huge variety of what they are doing.
“It has been an amazing turnaround, a success story, and I think that is of credit to the school leadership, all the teachers and the whole school community.”
Since its relaunch as an academy, Oak View was placed in the top two per cent of schools across the country for progress two years ago.
It was also ranked as the second-best primary school for progress in reading across Cheshire three years ago, and this year it has been ranked as the county’s second-best primary for writing.
Pupils have benefitted from specialist support staff – including a speech and language therapist and a school councillor – while school hours are now longer, from 8.30am to 3.15pm.
A bursary from the Alex Timpson Foundation has also allowed youngsters to enjoy a number of trips – including the Titanic Museum in Belfast and the Houses of Parliament in London.
He said: “Education is the key to almost everything. Wherever you grow up, whoever you are born to, the opportunities that education can give you can throw wide open the doors.
“That’s a big thing this school does – it makes sure that the kids get a wide variety of experiences and a broad outlook on the world.
“Reading, writing and maths – these are the fundamental building blocks of education, and you have to get those things right in those very formative years, because otherwise you don’t access the rest of the curriculum.
“The earlier starting time has been an important innovation here to make sure that is absolutely nailed – and the turnaround in attainment and writing has been truly dramatic.”
Academy trusts across the country have enjoyed mixed success in recent years – and the Labour Party has vowed to rein in on academies if it takes control at the next General Election.
Last year, the University of Chester Academy Trust closed following financial difficulties and a damning report by Ofsted in 2017 – which suggested pupil progress at its schools was ‘not good enough’.
But Mr Hinds believes the trusts can make a positive impact – with North West Academies Trust a shining example.
“An academy trust brings something unique to education,” he said.
“It is great for sharing ideas, sharing expertise across different schools, and also for career paths – so for teachers to be able to develop their careers among different schools.
“In my job I get to visit a lot of schools. I see a lot of variety and a big part of that variety is the individual headteachers, the individual ethos and the particular atmosphere that they bring to a school.
“But also the culture of different academy trusts makes a difference as well. You can tell from talking to the folks running this one what a special group of people they are.”
The transformation of Oak View has taken place under the leadership of Fiona Whittaker, executive headteacher, and she is keen to stress that the improvements have been a team effort.
“We just continue working really hard to help our children,” she said.
“Some of them have low starting points – not all, but some do – and we are helping them to make the best progress they can, so they leave our school ready for high school.
“The thing that has really made our success happen is consistency in our approach to teaching, right across the school from early years and the support that we have put in place.
“Our staff put in a lot of time and effort into getting to know our children as individuals and supporting them to make the best progress possible.
“I think all the care and the nurturing that they get from our staff makes the children feel safe, so that this is a good place to be.”
Mr Hinds was invited to visit Oak View by Cllr Mike Baynham and Cllr James Pearson, who are both standing as Conservative candidates for Winsford Over and Verdin in next week’s Cheshire West and Chester Council election.
Cllr Pearson said: “The work of the school is terrific – how it has been turned around and how that benefits the local community is absolutely fantastic.
“It is vital that schools like this receive appropriate support. This is a success story that everybody should know about and the local authority should be encouraging projects like this to continue.”
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