An under fire grammar school has been told it may be able to avoid another academy trust taking over - if it can turn around its inadequate Ofsted rating.
Colchester Royal Grammar School has faced a turbulent 14 months.
The Lexden Road school was threatened with having its funding agreement withdrawn when Ofsted found its pupils felt “unsafe” after being subject to sexist or racist comments.
The school received a termination warning notice after inspectors concluded leaders failed to address a “pervading culture in the school which does not promote equality and respect”.
An Ofsted report, published in July 2021, found school bosses had not ensured boys understand “how to interact appropriately” with girls.
A letter from Sue Baldwin, regional schools commissioner for the East of England and North-East London, first sent to the school on July 9 last year, suggested the funding agreement of the academy may be cut off.
This could lead to the school being taken over by a multi-academy trust if improvements are not made.
A new letter sent to the school from the Department for Education states chiefs are “encouraged” with the progress being made towards choosing another trust.
However, it said if improvements continue to be made and the school is no longer ranked inadequate in its next inspection, it will be able to remain under the control of its own academy trust.
Headmaster John Russell told the Gazette “real and sustained progress” has been made in response to the issues raised by Ofsted.
“This is not only evident in the reviews that the local authority and other external partners have undertaken, but also in our most recent Ofsted monitoring inspection.
“The inspectors found the school was making rapid improvements in ensuring a ‘stronger culture of safeguarding is evident throughout the school’.”
Over the summer the grammar school celebrated pupils securing some of the schools strongest ever results in its history.
85 per cent of A-levels sat achieved a grade of A or above, with 54 per cent at A* and 84 per cent of all GCSEs securing at least a grade 7.
Mr Russell continued: “Our work, however, is not done. It is important that we continue to look to the future to further understand if and how there is more that we can do for our community.”
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