A SCHOOL has been judged to be taking “effective action towards the removal of serious weaknesses” after a damning Ofsted report.

The Grange School, in Christchurch, has been the subject of a series of monitoring visits by Ofsted since it was rated “inadequate” in March 2018.

However, at its most recent visit, the education watchdog found the school to be “taking effective action”.

The report highlights the further developments that have taken place through the support of Twynham Learning, the multi-academy trust that also includes Twynham School, Twynham Primary School, Christchurch Juniors, Stourfield Juniors and Stourfield Infants.

The report said: “Senior leaders have developed an effective system for assessing pupils’ learning across the curriculum and gathering this information.

“Therefore, leaders have a better understanding of pupils’ achievements and so they are better able to fine tune their school improvement strategies.

“The trust’s chief executive officer and the director of standards provide support for the headteacher to implement the trust board’s vision for improving the school.

“The trust board makes collaboration between its schools a priority. The headteacher is in regular contact with her counterpart at Twynham School. Consequently, the trust’s plan to merge the leadership structures of the two schools by September 2021 is on track.”

Head of school, Liz Garman said: “Colleagues continue to work hard to make significant improvements to all aspects of our provision for students.

“This has been supported by our joint work with Twynham School and the backing of our trust, Twynham Learning.

“We are looking forward to developing our school further through our federated leadership with Twynham School and working with Jy Taylor, our executive headteacher, to ensure that we are able to meet the needs and aspirations of all the young people of Christchurch.”

Jy Taylor, executive headteacher of both TGS and Twynham School, added: “I am delighted that the report accurately highlights the real strengths of TGS. As we move into the future our two schools will benefit from the shared expertise and experience that exists within our teaching staff as well as the fantastic facilities we have across the two sites.

“All students across both schools now have equal access to a broad and rich curriculum which is complimented by a huge array of shared extra-curricular opportunities.

“As with all schools, there is still work to do and we continue to work hard to deliver the school that this community deserves.”

CEO of Twynham Learning, Gareth Morris said: “We are delighted that Ofsted have recognised the significant improvements made at The Grange School in partnership with Twynham Learning Multi-Academy Trust and Twynham School.

“Future arrangements for partnership indicate a strong future for quality educational experiences and opportunities for our students at The Grange School who are an amazing group of young people and deserving of the very best that we can offer.”